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 5. Buret
2. Ethyl alcohol 6. Mortar and pestle
3. Various strengths of aspirin 7. Phenolphthalein indicator
4. 150 mL flask 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
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
Bayer Aspirin
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
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 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
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Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
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Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
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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!