CHEM 183 Lecture Notes - Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Famotidine

• School: McGill University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM 183
• Professor: Joe Schwarcz

Document Summary

Spend ~. 4 billion on stomach medicine in north america for otc drugs. Stomach breaks down food, and the acid that does that is hcl. Stomach is like a pouch, digestion of food. Stomach cleaves carbohydrates and proteins --> requires acidic medium. When food goes in stomach, bathed in acidic medium. Needs to be neutralized before it goes to small intestine (basic) One class of food requires acid and the other requires basic. Stomach produces enough hcl to break down food. Can over produce hcl by eating too much, eating too fast, or eating junk food, smoking. Certain medications (aspirin) are hard on the stomach. Prostaglandins transports pain, but also protects stomach lining. When you block it, you also block the chemical that protects your stomach. To neutralize an acid, you need a base. Hcl + nahco3 ---> nacl + h2o + co2. Alka-seltzer is sodium bicarbonate with small amounts of aspirin.