THE STUDY OF THE REACTION THAT ALKA-SELTZER TABLETS HAVE
WITH WATER AND THE REACTION THAT BAKING POWDER HAS WITH
VINEGAR IN A PLASTIC BAG
Jihad Libbus
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The study was to determine the reaction of an Alka-Seltzer and water in a plastic bag. AlkaSeltzer is made of mainly sodium bicarbonate and when mixed with water it produces carbon
dioxide. Different amounts of water and vinegar were poured in to a bag with either AlkaSeltzer or baking soda. One really interesting result was that the hotter the water mixed with
Alka-Seltzer the faster the bag explodes. This is because hot water dissolves the Alka-Seltzer
faster and thus produces gas faster and explodes the bag quicker.
INTRODUCTION
An experiment that has been done Chase Coley in his experiment his purpose of his study
was to determine how long it takes for a canister to pop open with one Alka-Seltzer tablet
inside. He found out that Carbon dioxide is a gas at regular temperature and it is a gas on
Earth. In his experiment the canister was halfway filled with different types of Dasani Water
and an Alka-Seltzer was put in the water. The Alka-Seltzer tablet was timed to see how long
it took to pop it off. It was determined in his experiment that the canister pops faster when
there are two Alka-Seltzer tablets because they create air pressure faster and that is what
makes it pop faster.
Alka-Seltzer is used for the relief of heartburn and stomach aches. Alka-Seltzer is made of
sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, and anhydrous citric acid. The most important
ingredient in Alka-Seltzer is sodium bicarbonate. The ingredient sodium bicarbonate is what
makes the water fizz when you put the Alka-Seltzer tablet in the water. Sodium bicarbonate
is a salty crystalline powder. The chemical compound for Sodium bicarbonate is NaHCO 3.
This stands for sodium, three oxygen, one carbon and hydroxide. The taste of Sodium
bicarbonate resembles the taste of washing soda. They mine naturally occurring deposits of
nahcolite (NaHCO3) found in Piceance Basin in Colorado. Nahcolite was deposited as beds
during periods of high evaporation in the basin. It is commercially mined using leach
techniques involving dissolution of the nahcolite by heated water that is pumped through the
nahcolite beds and reconstituted through a natural cooling crystallization process.
Figure 1: the chemical structure or sodium bicarbonate
Water is made up of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule hence the name H2O.
Water is a liquid that has no taste or order it is transparent (see through) with a light tint of
blue. About 70 percent earth is covered in water. Water naturally replenishes itself through a
process called the water cycle. In this cycle water goes from puddles, lakes, seas, or the
ocean get evaporated by the sun into vapor. Then the evaporated vapor water condenses and
forms clouds (condensation). Then when all the condensation gets too heavy to float in the
atmosphere it rains down back to the ground (precipitation). Then all the precipitation flows
into puddles and lakes and the ocean (accumulation). And it happens all over again in a
cycle, the water cycle. People are made up of more than half water. Most people have are
made up of 55% water and a new born baby is usually made up of around 65% water and
some times as much as 85% water. People use water for everything drinking, cooking,
cleaning, bathing, and playing. Waters freezing point is 32o F and its boiling point is 2120 F.
Alka-Seltzer fizzes in water because when the Alka-Seltzer tablet touches water the citric
acid and sodium bicarbonate dissolve in the water. Then the citric acid and sodium
bicarbonate react with each other in the water, thus producing fizz.
Figure 2: what happens when Alka-Seltzer is dropped in water
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the experiments the materials that were used were beakers, hot plates, water, vinegar,
baking soda, Alka-Seltzer, plastic bags, a thermometer, root beer soda, skittles, Hershey
drops, and a bucket.
In experiment 1 Alka-Seltzer was dropped in different amounts of water and then it was
timed to see how long it took to stop fizzing.
In experiment 2 Alka-Seltzer was dropped into a bag full of different amounts of water and
was to see how long it took to fill up the bag with the air that the Alka-Seltzer produced.
In experiment 3 different amounts of vinegar was poured in to a bag with baking soda in it
and was timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 4 different amounts of baking soda was poured in to a bag with vinegar in it
and was timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 5 different temperatures of vinegar were poured in to a bag with baking soda
in it and was timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 6 different temperatures of water were poured in to a bag with Alka-Seltzer in
it and was timed to see how long the mixture took to fill up the bag with air.
In experiment 7 different amounts of Alka-Seltzer tablets were dropped into a bag with water
in it and were timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 8 different liquids were poured into a bag with Alka-Seltzer in it and were
timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 9 different small foods were dropped into a bag with Alka-Seltzer and water in
it and were timed to see how long the mixture took to blow the bag apart.
In experiment 10 Root beer was left out to fizz for different amounts of time and then it was
poured into a bag with Alka-Seltzer in it and were timed to see how long the mixture took to
blow the bag apart.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
time till tablets stop fizzing (sec)
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
amount of water (ml)
Figure 3: Alka-Seltzer placed in diffrent amounts of water.
In this experiment when the Alka-Seltzer was placed in 50 ml of water it dissolved the
slowest when it was placed in to 100 ml of water it dissolved quicker than in 50 ml of water
and when it was placed in 150 ml of water it dissolved the fastest.
This probably happened because when more water is added it dilutes the Alka-Seltzer it
quicker.
160
75
time it took to fill the bag up with air (sec)
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
amount of water in beaker(ml)
Figure 4: Alka-Seltzer being dropped in different amounts of water.
In this experiment Alka-Seltzer was dropped in different amounts of water. When more
water was added the quicker the bag filled up with air. This is most likely because with more
water the faster the tablet dissolves and the quicker the bag fills up with air.
160
6
time it takes to blow (sec)
5
4
3
2
1
0
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
amount of vinegar (ml)
Figure 5: different amounts of vinegar mixed with baking soda in a bag.
In this experiment different amount of vinegar was poured into a bag with baking soda in it.
The time it takes to explode decreases when there is more vinegar added. This is most likely
because with more vinegar the faster the baking soda dissolves and the quicker the bag fills
up with air.
85
4.8
4.7
time it takes to blow (sec)
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.1
4
3.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
amount of baking soda (ml)
Figure 6: different amount of baking soda mixed with vinegar inside a bag.
In this experiment different amounts of baking soda was added to a bag with vinegar then it
was timed to see how long it took to explode. In this case when more baking soda is added
the time becomes quicker. This is most likely because the more baking soda added the
quicker it disperses and the faster the bag pops.
18
16
time it takes to blow (sec)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
10
20
30
40
temperature of vinegar (C)
50
Figure 7: vinegar of different temperatures poured in a bag with baking soda
In this experiment different temperatures of vinegar was added to a bag with baking soda in
it then it was timed to see how long it took to explode. In this experiment as the heat of the
vinegar increases the bag pops quicker. This is most likely because the hotter the liquid is the
faster the tablet dissolves and the quicker the bag fills up with air.
60
30
time it takes to fill up with air (sec)
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
temperature of water (C)
Figure 8: different temperatures of water poured into a bag with Alka-Seltzer
In this experiment different temperatures of water was added to a bag with Alka-Seltzer in it
then it was timed to see how long it took to explode. In this experiment as the heat of the
water increases the bag pops quicker. This is most likely because the hotter the liquid is the
faster the tablet dissolves and the quicker the bag fills up with air.
60
time it took to expode (sec)
25
20
15
10
5
1
2
3
4
5
6
number of tablets
Figure 9: different amounts of Alka-Seltzer were added to a bag with water in it.
In this experiment different amounts of Alka-Seltzer was added to a bag with water then it
was timed to see how long it took to explode. In this case when more Alka-Seltzer is added
the time becomes quicker. This is most likely because the more Alka-Seltzer added the
quicker and stronger they all are. Each time a tablet is added it increases the strength by a lot,
for example 2 tablets would have double the strength than 1 tablet.
7
time it takes to explode the bag (sec)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
water
vinagar
root beer
type of liquid
Figure 10: Alka-Seltzer was added to many different liquids.
In this experiment Alka-Seltzer was added to a bag with different liquids then it was timed to
see how long it took to explode. In this case when the vinegar and Alka-Seltzer mix exploded
the quickest. This is most likely because water and root beer are the thickest and vinegar has
the thinnest consistency.
33
itime it takes to blow (sec)
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
Hershey drops
skittles
items in the water
cheerios
Figure 11: Alka-Seltzer was added to many different snack foods.
In this experiment Alka-Seltzer was added to a bag with different snacks floating in water
then it was timed to see how long it took to explode. In this case when the skittles, water, and
Alka-Seltzer mix exploded the quickest. This is most likely because Hershey drops and
cheerios are thicker than the skittles when mixed with water and the skittles restricted the
Alka-Seltzer least.
59
time it takes to blow (sec)
58
57
56
55
54
53
0
1
2
3
time left out to go flat (mins)
Figure 12: soda was left to sit and then Alka-Seltzer was mixed in and the mix was timed to see how long it took to blow.
In this experiment soda was left to sit for different amounts of time and then Alka-Seltzer
was mixed in and the mix was timed to see how long it took to blow. In this case when the
soda was left out for only 1 minute the mix exploded the quickest. This is most likely
because the fizz from the soda helped the Alka-Seltzer tablet to pop the bag quicker and
when it loses its fizz it helps less.
CONCLUSION
The overall result is that when you add more liquid the quicker the Alka-Seltzer dissolves
and the quicker the bag pops faster. This is important to anyone that wants to explode
something with Alka-Seltzer or baking soda; it tells them for better results they should use
baking soda. The hypotheses that when you add more liquid the quicker the Alka-Seltzer
dissolves and the quicker the bag pops faster turned out to be true and important. For a future
experiment it would be good if someone figured out if the temperature of the baking soda the
Alka-Seltzer effects the popping time of the bag.
4
CITATIONS
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Coley, Chase. “THE STUDY OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF DASANI WATER WITH ALKA-SELTZER
TABLETS INSIDE THEM TO SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES TO POP A CANISTER” Cary academy,
2012.
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston “introduction to matter” Orlando
"mineral." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.
“Sodium Bicarbonate." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
"Why Does Alka Seltzer Fizz?" HowStuffWorks, Inc, 1998. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
Wolke, Robert “water” the gale encyclopedia of science. Detroit: gale group, 2013.