Aspirin Titration Introduction: Aspirin is an acid. The active ingredient is acetyl salicylic acid.

Different strengths of aspirin are based on the amount of active ingredients that they contain. Titration is a way to determine how much acid is in a solution by adding just enough base of a known concentration to neutralize the acid. In a neutralization, the number of moles of acid, H+, are combined with an equal number of moles of base, OH-. In the titration you will be performing, you will dispense base into a known amount of acid solution to find the unknown concentration. If you wanted to know the concentration of an unknown base, you could titrate the base with an acid in the same manner. The aspirin will be titrated against a standard solution of base, 0.100 M NaOH. Base will be dispensed from a buret into a beaker containing the dissolved (in ethanol) acid and phenolphthalein indicator, which will show a faint pink color in basic solutions. Purpose: In this experiment you will run a titration to determine the amount of aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid) present in an aspirin tablet. Materials: 1. 0.100 M NaOH 2. Ethyl alcohol 3. Various strengths of aspirin 4. 150 mL flask 5. Buret 6. Mortar and pestle 7. Phenolphthalein indicator 8. Goggles

Procedure: 1. Find the mass of a childrens aspirin, regular aspirin and extra-strength aspirin tablet. Grind each tablet into a fine powder by using a mortar and pestle. 2. Tare a piece of weighing paper on the balance. Carefully transfer as much powdered sample to a piece of paper and then determine the mass. 3. Place the powdered sample in a 150mL beaker. 4. Add a 10.0 mL portion of ethyl alcohol to the beaker and stir. 5. Add 25.0mL of water to the beaker. 6. Put 3 drops of the phenolphthalein indicator in your flask. Put a magnetic stir bar in your flask and place the flask on the center of the stir plate. 7. The buret is filled with 0.100M NaOH. Make sure there are no bubbles apparent in the buret. Record the initial volume on the buret. 8. Begin titrating, Add the NaOH in 1.0mL increments, making note of when the color change occurs. Continue adding base 5.0 mL past the equivalence point (the equivalence is approximately when the solution turned pink from the phenolphthalein).. 9. Repeat steps 1-11 for the remaining tablets. 10. Clean lab equipment with water, and wipe the lab surface with a wet paper towel. The pH probe should be rinsed with DI water, gently blotted dry, and put back into its storage solution.

Data: Baby Aspirin Trial 1 Aspirin type Tablet mass before grinding Tablet mass after grinding Starting reading of NaOH in buret Ending Reading of NaOH Total Volume of Base used Number moles NaOH used Number of moles Acetyl salicylic acid (C9H8O4) neturalized ______________________________________ Trial 2 Trial 3 ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Bayer Aspirin Trial 1 Aspirin type Tablet mass before grinding Tablet mass after grinding Starting reading of NaOH in buret Ending Reading of NaOH Total Volume of Base used Number moles NaOH used Number of moles Acetyl salicylic acid (C9H8O4) neturalized Generic Aspirin Trial 1 Aspirin type Tablet mass before grinding Tablet mass after grinding Starting reading of NaOH in buret Ending Reading of NaOH Total Volume of Base used Number moles NaOH used Number of moles Acetyl salicylic acid (C9H8O4) neturalized ______________________________________ Trial 2 Trial 3 ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Trial 2 Trial 3 ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Data Analysis: Show all work. Cost per gram; 1. Calculate the cost per gram of each type of aspirin tested. 2. Calculate the cost per tablet of each type of aspirin tested. Amount of Active Ingredient in Product Tested 1. Calculate the moles of base used to neutralize the acid for each type of aspirin. 2. Acetyl salicylic acid (C9H8O4) is not a strong acid, which means that for every mole that dissolves, not an entire mole of H+ dissociates from the acid. Nevertheless, what hydrogen ions that did dissociate were completely neutralized by the hydroxide added from the base. How many moles of H+ were neutralized? 3. For simplicitys sake, we are going to assume that acetyl salicylic acid is a strong acid, and, therefore, the initial moles of H+ equals the initial moles of acid. Since we are comparing aspirin to aspirin, we will be able to obtain a relative comparison of the amount of acid in each aspirin. Calculate the mass of the acid for each aspirin based on the number of moles that reacted with base. 4. Check the label on the bottles and determine if your calculation in #3 is valid. Account for any discrepancies in your calculation. Conclusion: 1. Analyze the cost differences between Bayer, generic, and baby aspirin. 2. Which type of aspirin would you buy? explain your answer 3. Explain some sources of experimental error in our experiment. (Be specific) 4. Why are aspirin substitutes used by many people? Research needed here!