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Ever since I was a kid, which I still am, whenever I got sick, my mom would always give me either Pepto-Bismol of a mixture of baking soda and warm water. Until a few months ago I never thought much of it, but when this year's science came around and I needed an idea, I started wondering: "If Pepto-Bismol and Baking soda seem to have the same neutralizing effect on the acid in your stomach, what would happen if I put the Pepto-Bismol in some vinegar? Would it foam up like the baking-soda-and-vinegar solution?" I already knew that the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda was a basic reaction between an acid, the vinegar, and a base, the baking soda. I felt pretty sure that Pepto-Bismol had some sort of base in it too, so it would react, so I put my hypothesis to the test.

From my research, I found that the chemical formula for baking soda is NaHCO3, and that the formula for vinegar, or at least the acetic acid in it, is CH3COOH. I also found the formulas for the main chemicals in Pepto-Bismol, C7H5BiO4, and for Tums, CaCo3, which I also intended to try adding to vinegar. Another thing I learned during my research is that the chemical reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda is not one, but two steps. The first step consists of the atoms rearranging from NaHCO3 and CH3COOH to form CH3OONa and H2CO3. I was quite surprised when I found this out.

The materials for the experiment were as follows: twelve chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets, seven Tums chewable tablets, a tablespoon measurement, a tablespoon of baking soda, one and one half of a cup of vinegar, four four-ounce containers, a digital camera with four megapixels, a large glass bowl, a metal spoon, a metal whisk, a timer, a measuring cup, twenty four drops of blue food coloring, and a mortar and pestle. Once I had gathered all the objects, I began the experiment. First, I placed all twelve Pepto-Bismol tablets into the mortar, and began to grind them with the pestle. Once I was confident that it was thoroughly ground, I measured off one tablespoon of it, placed it in one of my four-ounce containers, and set it aside. Before I ground up the Tums, I had to wash the mortar out, but once I did, I placed all seven of the Tums tablets into the mortar, and began to grind. Again, once I finished grinding it, I measured off one tablespoon off, placed it in a four-ounce container, and set it aside. After the whole ordeal of grinding was out of the way, I got the measuring cup, measured one half of a cup,

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