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Virtual Aspirin Synthesis Lab 1

Computer Science

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Virtual Aspirin Synthesis Lab
1. Go to the Royal Society of Chemistry Aspirin Screen Experiment and click on
“Register”
2. Enter your first name or initials (not your full name). You will be given a You
will be given a USER NUMBER -- record this number so you can retrieve your
progress.
3. Click on “Return to Screen Experiment”. You will be taken to the Aspirin
Screen experiments.
4. Start Aspirin Level 1.
5. As you watch the introductory video, answer the following questions:
a. What is aspirin used to treat?
b. What are the 3 parts (functional groups in aspirin?
c. Sketch the aspirin molecule and label the 3 functional groups. (Draw by hand or insert a drawing)
d. What are the 2 reactants used to produce aspirin? What are the safety considerations in using these
compounds?

Reactant Name

Safety Considerations (WHMIS)

e. What conditions must the reaction take place in?
f. What type of reaction is used to synthesize aspirin?
g. What is the proper chemical name of aspirin?
6. Complete the quiz.
7. Determine the molar mass of each reactant and aspirin using the animation: (You click on the atoms of each element
and enter the atomic mass)

Compound	Molar Mass (g/mol)
2-hydroxybenzoic acid
ethanoic anhydride
aspirin

8. What safety equipment and precautions must you take in the lab?
9. Follow the instructions to mass the reactants. Think.. Don’t just click randomly! Did you get 100 points? If not,
what mistake(s) did you make?
10. You need to choose the appropriate equipment and arrange it so that the reaction mixture is boiling gently under
reflux. What does REFLUX mean?
11. When you set up the equipment, you probably did not do it correctly the first time (maybe not even the 2nd or 3rd
time?). What errors did you make and why were they “wrong”?
12. Looking at the mechanism of the reaction. You may not get this correct. Look closely at the pictures… hint: charges.
The orange arrows are the directions that electrons are moving.
13. Precipitation… How did you precipitate the aspirin? (i.e, how did you get it to crystallize?)
14. After precipitation the crystals must be _______ and placed on a _______.

Blank 1:

Blank 2:

15. Before you can calculate the yield of your synthesis, you must dry the crystals in a drying cabinet (oven) to remove
what?
16. You will use the animation to determine the number of moles of each reactant, determine the limiting reagent, the
theoretical yield and the % yield of aspirin.

Amount of 2- hydroxybenzoic acid (# mol)

Amount of ethanoic anhydride (#mol)

The limiting reagent is...

How did you decide which reactant was limiting?

Theoretical Yield of Aspirin

% Yield of Aspirin

Describe how the percentage yield of aspirin is calculated

17. Reflection:
a. Describe activities or parts of the lab that you did well. (see the example)
b. Describe improvements you can make.
c. Why do you think you did not get 100% yield of aspirin?