
Aspirin Dissolution in Sugar and Starch Water
Easy
Does sugar or starch change how fast aspirin dissolves? You drop aspirin tablets into three cups: plain water, sugar water, and corn flour water. Every minute for five minutes, you check the pH (a measure of acidity) of each cup.
As aspirin dissolves, it releases acid and lowers the pH. The sugar water and plain water show a steady pH drop at about the same rate. The corn flour water barely changes, meaning the starch slows dissolution.
Compare your pH readings across all three cups to see which carbohydrate helps or hinders aspirin breakdown.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the presence of carbohydrates will not affect the rate of dissolution of aspirin.
Method & Materials
You will fill three cups with bottled water. Add one teaspoon of sugar to the second cup and one teaspoon of corn flour to the third cup. Drop one tablet of aspirin in the first cup and measure the pH of the solutions in the three cups every minute for five minutes.
You will need three transparent cups, three aspirin tablets, pH paper, a stopwatch, a bottle of water, a teaspoon, a packet of sugar, and a packet of corn flour.
Results
The results showed that the aspirin dissolved faster in the cup with water and the cup with sugar added to the water. The pH reading decreased at almost the same rate. However, the aspirin was slower to dissolve in the cup with the corn flour.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it explores how the presence of carbohydrates affects the rate of aspirin dissolution. It also shows how the pH of the solution changes over time.
Also Consider
Variations of this science project include using paracetamol or other similar medicines instead of aspirin, and testing the effects of temperature on the rate of dissolution of aspirin by increasing the temperature of the solution from 25°C to 40°C.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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