Aspirin Lab Reflection

The week before we went on fall break, we took a pre-lab quiz to see which groups would get to participate in the aspirin lab. My partner and I were the only ones out of the Day 2 groups to pass it and get to carry out the lab. This was rewarding, because I took time to thoroughly study the lab before-hand, and it paid off. The first thing we did was combine all of the different chemicals in a flask:

Above photo was taken by myself

After several more steps, the chemicals were put into a beaker and we heated it up:

Above photo was taken by myself

When we came back to the lab the next day, the aspirin crystals had formed:

Above photo was taken by myself

After we drained all the water out and transferred the crystals out of the beaker, this was the finished product:

Above photo was taken by myself

Overall, this aspirin lab was fun yet very educational, and I got to experience using several chemicals and pieces of equipment that I have never used before, so I learned a lot.

After I completed the lab, I wanted to learn more about aspirin and the chemicals/methods used to make it, so I did some research. Here is a very insightful website that I found to help with my curiosity:  more about aspirin