Question

You will be responsible for determining if there are enough antacid tablets on the truck to counteract the vinegar. If so, you’ll need to determine how many tablets should be poured into the lake.

Results

Sample	mL vinegar	Weight tablet g	Weight tablet + vinegar	Weight after heat	Mass CO2	Weight % NaHCO3
1	0	3.242g	116.270g	115.762g	0.508g	31%
2	5	3.246g	116.678g	115.923g	0.755g	44%
3	10	3.271g	166.848g	165.939g	0.909g	53%
4	15	3.272g	116.534g	115.495g	0.1039g	61%
5	20	3.241g	167.859g	166.947g	0.907g	53%
6	25	3.285g	118.300g	117.342g	0.958g	56%
7	30	3.246g	169.093g	168.015g	1.078g	63%
8	35	3.240g	119.240g	118.175g	1.065g	63%

The real question is: how many tablets should be dumped into the lake to completely neutralize the vinegar?

To answer the question, you’ll need to know that the tanker car that spilled the vinegar was a metal cylinder with an inside diameter of 10 ft and a length of 50 ft. The tanker car was completely full of vinegar, but is now completely empty. This means the vinegar is all in the lake.

Answer 1

diamter in meters = 10 ft x 0.3048 == 3.048 m

length in meters = 50 ft x 0.3048 == 15.24 m

Volume of cylinder = pi x r² x h

= 3.14 x (3.048/2)² x 15.24 m

= 111.143 m³

For 35 mL we require 3.240 g of tablet to 63% nutratlization

for 100% neutralization, we required 3.240 /0.63 == 5.079 g

So 35 mL needs 5.079 g tablets .

we have volume of 111.143 x 10⁶ mL

So mass of tablets = 111.143 x 10⁶ x (5.079/35)

= 16.13 x 10⁶ g

Number of tablets = 16.13 x 10⁶ g / mass of 1 tablet

= 16.13 x 10⁶ g / 3.240 g

= 4.98 x 10⁶ g