rp10 questions to learn (4)

Question 1

How can the melting point tell us about the purity of our aspirin?

Answer 1

Aspirin has a specific melting point which we can look up in a data book to validate that the product is actually aspirin.

Question 2

Why is it important that the aspirin is ‘bone dry’

Answer 2

Water has a mass so when calculating % yield the extra mass will increase the yield of aspirin. Leaving it to dry will allow for only the mass of aspirin to be calculated

Question 3

What kind of tube is used to hold the aspirin when testing its purity?

Answer 3

Capillary Tube

Question 4

Why is it important to have a slow temperature rise and what can we use to ensure this?

Answer 4

So we don’t miss the melting of aspirin and ensure an accurate value for the melting point of aspirin. In order to do this we use glycerol or mineral oil as it has a high specific heat capacity so it takes a lot of energy to increase its temperature

Question 5

How will we know when the aspirin has molten?

Answer 5

change from solid to liquid. The white aspirin melts to become colourless.