1. Analysis of Vitamin C and Calcium in Commercial Multivitamins Andrew Mullenax Jesse Diehl Sam Yatzkan

2. Purpose To determine the amount of Vitamin C and Calcium in a commercial multivitamin tablet through iodimetric and EDTA titration.

3. Vitamin C Health Benefits Helps tissue/bone grow and repair Fights common cold (Despite minimal evidence) Defend against scurvy Helps the body absorb iron

4. Calcium Health Benefits Maintain bone health Maintain heart rhythm Control high levels Mg, P, K in blood Recommended for post-menopausal women and persons who are lactose intolerant

5. Procedure (Vitamin C) Prepare stock solutions ▫Starch Indicator ▫Sodium Thiosulfate (Standardized) Prepare samples ▫Crush/weight appropriate amount of tablet, titrate Repeat for three good trials while adding starch indicator just before endpoint

6. Procedure (Calcium) Adjust Ammonia buffer to pH 10 Prepare stock solutions ▫EDTA (Standardized) ▫Tablet Mixtures Prepare samples with calmagite indicator Titrate to violet endpoint with EDTA

7. Calculations (Vitamin C) KIO 3 Solution: Standardized Na 2 S 2 O 3 Solution: Trial 1: 0.074M Ascorbic Acid needed for 15mL titration Mol I 3 -

8. Calculations (Vitamin C Cont’d) Naturemade: Trial 1: Excess I 3 - Mol I 3 - Present Vitamin C present (g) Wt%0.005284g/1.3386g X100%=5.6%

9. Calculations (Calcium) CaCl 2 Molarity Standardized EDTA EDTA Molarity for Naturemade Samples Careone: Trial 1: Wt%

10. Calculations (Calcium Cont’d) Naturemade: Trial 1: Wt%

11. Results (Vitamin C) Naturemade (Advertised 180mg per tablet, [13.5%]) ▫Average: 5.1% Careone (Advertised 60mg per tablet, [16.6%]) ▫Average: 10%

12. Results (Calcium) Naturemade (Advertised 162mg per tablet, [12.1%]) ▫Average: 14.1% Careone (Advertised 45mg per tablet, [12.4%]) ▫Average: 19.2%

13. Conclusions Vitamin C ▫Average weight percent significantly lower than documented ▫Overshot endpoints Calcium ▫Average weight percent was higher than documented ▫Difficult to see endpoint with calmagite indicator

14. Possible Improvements Use a better indicator for EDTA titration Use less of crushed sample, more accurate prep. work (Vitamin C) Perform more accurate titrations

15. Resources Http://naturemade.com/ http://www.care1.info/BRANDS/VITAMIN/dail y/daily.html http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and- supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement- guide-vitamin-c http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and- supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement- guide-calcium