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

Tabitha Miranda Rosie WATSON

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.


Keywords


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

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References


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