Why did I choose this experiment?

When we take an aspirin tablet we usually have to drink water

and swallow the tablet so it can easily be digested. I thought
about how does the different types of liquids we take to swallow
an aspirin tablet play a key role in any way. When the aspirin
tablet goes into our bodies it has to dissolve for it to be able to
get an effect on our body systems. I then thought about how
long it takes an aspirin tablet to dissolve helps us or does in not
play any effect.
I used four very common liquids that people drink that is coke,
water, apple juice and lemonade. With these four liquids I
wanted to experiment which one would be able to dissolve a
regular aspirin table the quickest.
What is an aspirin tablet?
Aspirin tablet is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
(NSAID) and is mainly used to help us be treated from such
aches and pains such as headaches, common cold, sore throat
and a reduction of fever. It helps reduce the risk of having a bad
ache or pain from turning into a horrible situation to a
normal occurrence. Aspirin tablet can be used for
many different types of conditions depending on what the
person is prescribed to.
To produce a hard aspirin tablet corn starch and water are
added to the active ingredients (acetylsalicylic acid).
Coke, Water, Apple Juice and Lemonade
From the research that i have done coke is made from syrup
that is combined with water. Coke contains phosphoric acid and
has a pH of about 2.5-3. While Lemonade and also apple juice
has a pH of about 3-4.ice and Lemonade.
Aim
To investigate whether coke, water, lemonade, or apple juice
will dissolve a large aspiring pill the fastest.

Hypothesis
I expect to find that coke will dissolve the aspirin pill the fastest
due to the high level of acidity level. Then it would be followed
up by lemonade, water and apple juice, as these liquids do not
have high level acidity as coke, but they will eventually
dissolve.
Proposal
For my student research project, I will be researching on which
type of liquid will dissolve an aspirin pill the quickest. For me to
be able to do this I will need aspirin pill and four different types
of liquids. The liquid that I am using is water, coke, lemonade
and apple juice. I am using these materials as it will be easy to
access.
Safety Risk and Precautions
Make sure no one is able to drink the experiment (risk).
Put the experiment out of a child's reach, put a sign in front of
the experiment (risk prevented).
Glass beaker can slip off the table and shatter everywhere
and is able to cause cuts if you accidentally step or touch
the glass (risk).
Put the experiment on a steady table so it is unable to slip off
(risk prevented).
Liquid may spill on the floor making it a slippery surface,
as this can result in people falling over and hurting
themselves (risk).
Put the liquids in a safe location from being knocked over or
spilled (risk prevented).
Liquid may be dropped on electrical appliances this may
cause electrocutions (risk).
Make sure you put your electrical appliances out of reach from
the liquids so it dose not cause any problems (risk prevented).

Independent Variable
Different types of liquid (coke,water,apple juice and water) used
to dissolve the tablet.
Dependent Variable
The time it takes for the aspirin tablet to dissolve in each liquid.
I will be recording the time by having a timer near me to record
when it starts and finish.
Controlled Variable
100ml of each liquid put into the beaker.
The aspirin table will be the same brand for every test.
Equipment
Pen and paper
Camera
Timer
12 large sized Panamax aspirin tablet
4 - 200ml beakers
1.25L Coke bottle (kept at room temperature)
1.25L Lemonade bottle (kept at room temperature)
600ml Water bottle (kept at room temperature)
6 pack Apple juice (kept at room temperature)

Method
1. Find a safe environment to set up your equipment preferably away from
kids reach and a safe flat
environment.
2. Line up all 4 cups and designate a different liquid to each cup.
3. Pour 200ml of coke into the first beaker and repeat this step for water,
lemonade and apple juice.
4. Transfer each liquid into each cup.
5. Drop the aspirin tablet into each cup and simultaneously start the timer.
6. Observe and records your results on a piece of paper.
7. Restart the timer after the aspirin is fully dissolved for the next test.
8. Repeat steps 4,5 and 6 with water, lemonade and apple juice.
9. Wash your equipment for your next trial.
10. Graph your results.

Results

Coke

When the aspirin table was placed into the coke it started to
float towards the top of the surface. The first picture is the
aspirin tablet being placed into the coke in less than a few
seconds. This picture depicts the aspirin tablet then slowly
comes back up towards the surface and starts to dissolve into
separate tiny bits. From the second picture you are able to
observe the aspirin fully dissolve in coke, the bits of the aspirin
tablet is being moved out to the side of the cup and also in the
middle. Their was similar observations for trials two and three.
Lemonade

When the aspirin tablet entered the lemonade, the tablet did
not sink like coke but just floated at the surface until it fully
dissolved. The aspirin table slowly dissolved, deforming in
shape and separating until the original size of the aspirin tablet
was diminished into many tiny solid structured aspirin powder.
Similar observations for trials two and three.
Water

When the aspirin tablet was placed into water it sank towards
the bottom of the cup as shown in the first diagram. When the
aspirin tablet started to dissolve it did not appear to move
away from its original position like coke and lemonade. The
aspirin table however dissolved and was stuck to the original
position (shown in my second diagram). This made me curious
at about the three minute mark so I softly shook the cup around
to see if the aspirin tablet fully dissolved. When i did this the
aspirin tablet fell apart from the original position, thus
conforming that the aspirin tablet did dissolve in the water. For
trials two and three I did the same thing with a very similar
result.

Apple Juice

For apple juice the aspirin table dissolved similarly to water but
took a lot longer to dissolve. The table sank to the bottom of
the bottom of the cup and also did not leave its original position
just like the process of water when dissolving. The aspirin table
took the longest to dissolve in apple juice compared to the
other three liquids (water,lemonade and coke).
Analysis of all the liquids
As seen in the graph on the previous page we are able to see
that water dissolved the aspirin table the fastest compared to
the other three liquids (coke, apple juice and lemonade). The
slowest liquid that dissolved the aspirin tablet was apple juice.
From all the three trials for each liquid their was very little
difference in time for them to dissolve. For some of the results
it was predictable to be able to recognise.
Why did water dissolve before the other liquid
Aspirin tablet contains an acid called acetylsalicylic acid. When
the aspirin tablet enters the water their is a reaction between
the water and the acetylsalicylic acid which makes the water
more soluble. Water provides the full potential for a chemical
reaction to occur with the aspirin tablet, so thus that is why the
aspirin tablet dissolved faster in water.
Coke was unable to dissolve the aspirin table the fastest

because coke contains phosphoric acid. When the tablet was

placed in the coke the aspirin tablet carbonate reacted with the
phosphoric acid in the coke. Therefore the aspirin tablet was
not converted into the soluble sodium salt and thus making it
dissolve slower than water.
Conclusion
My experiment went very well as I was able to understand and investigate
whether coke, lemonade, water and apple juice would be able to dissolve a
large aspirin tablet the fastest. However doing this research I found out that
my hypothesis about coke being able to dissolve an aspirin tablet the
fastest was incorrect. The results in my graphs clearly show that water is
able to dissolve an aspirin tablet the fastest. My results can prove that the
high acidity level does not play a major role towards the separation of an
aspirin tablet. The main reason why people tend to drink water when they
are taking any kind of aspirin tablet is because it will have a more rapid
effect because your body will be able to process it faster.
Before doing this experiment I realised that I may encounter some
problems, thus I tried to reduce the number of problems. One of the
problems that occur was when I did not realise that the timer was not on
until about 1-2 minutes during my coke trial. To fix this I had to restart the
experiment by washing out the cup and doing the experiment again. This
time I realised that I had to start my timer by making it clear for me to see
and know if it was on or not. This problem can be easily fixed for the future
is to have everything clear and ready in front of you to be able to do.
When doing the experiment I got mixed up with the liquids that I poured into
the cup. Instead of putting lemonade into my cup I accidentally put Coke.
This was a mistake as I had to pour out my experiment and start over with
the right liquid. This problem can be solved by paying close attention to
what I was meant to do specifically on that day. This was a small problem
that did not have any major problems. This can be fixed in the future by
have a diary in front of you at all times when doing this.
Doing this experiment help me see why people tend to drink water when
they take an aspirin tablet. It also helped me realise that the small mistakes
are able to make a big difference towards the outcome of your experiment.