Aspirin making for Year 13 Chemists

Year 13 have been studying aspirin in their A2 Chemistry course, looking at its history from the earliest methods of using the bark of the willow tree to the modification of this extract to give the current chemical structure.

They have recently had a practical session at the Chemistry Department of Bristol University in which they actually manufactured aspirin. After listening to a safety briefing, the girls used the excellent laboratory facilities to make their aspirin before testing it using infra-red spectroscopy. This activity was initially met with some trepidation but with expert guidance from postgraduate students the girls confidently produced their target chemical.

The final part of the day was taken up with a lecture on ‘Gases in the Air' when the girls were thrilled by experiments using liquid nitrogen, solid carbon dioxide and ‘exploding hydrogen gas.' They left the University inspired and excited by the Chemistry they had seen.