How much milk of magnesia would be required to neutralise Kawah Ijen’s acid lake?

Authors

  • Tabitha Miranda Rosie WATSON University of Leicester

Keywords:

Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Volcano, Chemical reaction, Neutralisation, Acidity, Kawah Ijen

Abstract

This paper investigates the amount of milk of magnesia, a common antacid, that would be required to neutralise the lake of sulfuric acid present in the crater of the Kawah Ijen volcano. The mode of neutralisation is discussed in terms of ionic interactions, and the theoretical volume of antacid was calculated using the mathematical relationship between pH and concentration. Assuming that the pH of the lake was, on average, 0.3, it was found that approximately 2.192x1012 400 mg milk of magnesia tablets would be required to elevate the average pH to 7.

References

Kourounis, G. (2008). Kawah Ijen Volcano - Indonesia: Boating on a Lake of Sulfuric Acid. Available at: http://www.stormchaser.ca/Volcanoes/Kawah_Ijen/Kawah_Ijen.html [Accessed 31st January 2018]

Löhr, A., Bogaard, T., Heikens, A., Hendriks, M., Sumarti, S., van Bergen, M., van Gestel, K.C.A.M., van Straalen, N., Vroon, P & Widianarko, B. (2005). Natural Pollution Caused by the Extremely Acid Crater Lake Kawah Ijen, East Java, Indonesia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 12 (2), 89-95. DOI: 10.1065/espr2004.09.118

NASA (2014). Acid Lake in Java. Available at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84305 [Accessed 31st January 2018]

Smithsonian Institution (2013). Ijen. Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of History: Global Volcanism Program. Available at: https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=263350 [Accessed 31st January 2018]

Medscape (2017). Magnesium Hydroxide (OTC). Available at: https://reference.medscape.com/drug/milk-of-magnesia-magnesium-hydroxide-342018 [Accessed 31st January 2018]

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Published

26.03.2018

How to Cite

WATSON, T. M. R. (2018). How much milk of magnesia would be required to neutralise Kawah Ijen’s acid lake?. Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics, 7. Retrieved from https://journals.le.ac.uk/index.php/jist/article/view/2681

Issue

Vol. 7 (2018)

Section

Articles

License

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