Abstract:
The purpose of this experiment was to find out what exactly is the active ingredient in Kyle’s
aspirin. In order to do this, the
... [Show More] concentration of acetylsalicylic acid in Kyle’s aspirin needs to be
determined. The identity of Kyle’s aspirin was C (may have been B, may have been a switch up in labels).
The hypothesis of the experiment was that Kyle needed to take a larger dosage of internet aspirin because
the concentration of his aspirin may not be enough. If Kyle's internet aspirin contains a lower
concentration of its active ingredient than the Bayer pills, then this explains why his dosage would be
doubled A series of titrations of Kyle’s aspirin, pure acetylsalicylic acid, and a Bayer were all completed
using NaOH as the titrant. For each of these titrations, the pH was tracked with a pH probe. For the Bayer
aspirin tablet (325 mg), the end point was at 14.40 mL, Kyle’s aspirin at 8.0 mL, and for the pure
compound. The pKa for the Bayer tablet is around 5.35. The pKa of the pure acetylsalicylic acid is around
5.27. The pKa of Kyle’s tablet is 5.77. Since these Kyle’s aspirin pKa is close to the Bayer tablet and pure
acetylsalicylic acid, it is safe to assume that acetylsalicylic acid was the active ingredient within Kyle’s
aspirin. The mass percent of acetylsalicylic acid in Kyle’s Aspirin was 47.0% and for the Bayer tablet it
was 87.7% (based off the label) and 84.2% (based off what was measured on scale). This just shows how
Kyle’s aspirin required him to take it twice the normal dosage because his aspirin is less concentrated.
Data Analysis
1. (see attached calculations)
a. The active ingredient that was in Kyle’s aspirin was acetylsalicylic acid (A acid)
b. The mass percent of A acid in Kyle’s aspirin was 47.0%
2. Some sources of error would be if there was too much titrant (NaOH) at the beginning of the
experiment because this would affect when the endpoint would appear. This could mean that
technically the mass percent for Kyle’s aspirin should be higher. The pH probe could have
inaccurately read a reading meaning the pH could potentially be less in the experiment.
3. According to the results, it seems that acetylsalicylic acid is the active ingredient in Kyle’s
Aspirin. As a result of this, after seeing the mass percent of A acid in the Bayer tablet and
Kyle’s aspirin, Kyle’s aspirin is basically half the concentration of the Bayer tablet, hence the
reason why his dosage was twice the dosage of the Bayer tablet [Show Less]