Answer to Question #101436 in Organic Chemistry for Jieqiong

Question

Hi!
I am a high school chemistry student and I have a lab due tomorrow, and I’m stuck

so basically, I know that when acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) reacts with water it produces salicylic acid and acetic acid via hydrolysis.

Now I’m confused about the relationship so if I dissolve 0.04g of acetylsalicylic acid with 20mL of water, and then on my next trial I dissolve 0.03 grams of acetylsalicylic acid with 20 mL of water and then finally I dissolve 0.02 g of acetylsalicylic acid with 20mL of water, I’m decreasing the mass of of acetylsalicylic acid each time, so since I know salicylic acid is produced when acetylsalicylic acid reacts with water, what will happen to the concentration of salicylic acid produced if the mass of acetylsalicylic acid (the reactant) is decreased each time with a fixed volume of water. Would the concentration of salicylic acid decrease? If so, what is the chemistry behind this, and the relationship between the reactants and products.

Thank You in Advance !

Answer 1

For the hydrolysis of acetylsalicylic acid the base catalyst (OH^-) is needed. Without it the reaction wont acure. So adding less acetylsalicylic acid to the fixed amount of solvent will just make the concentration of acetylsalicylic acid less, and there will be no lsalicylic acid in the solution.