Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
Pain Killer Solubility
NAME OF STUDENT, 3/14/2014
Advanced Biology, Franklin High School
Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
Introduction:
Have you ever needed pain relief immediately and just taken a pain killer? When
someone does this, he/she doesn’t put any thought into which type of pain killer works the
quickest. This is usually an over looked factor when it comes to buying said pain killers.
However, if a person was to take their time and research each pain killer, they would be able to
achieve pain relief at a more sufficient rate, and that is exactly what I did. I researched some
common pain killers, and conducted this experiment, and because of this I now know what type
of pain killer will grant me the fastest relief.
First off, there are all sorts of over the counter pain killers out there. Two of the main
ones are ibuprofen and acetaminophen. These can come in tablet form, or they can be contained
in a capsule. And with all of these different types of pain killers, come all the different factors
that change how quickly the medicine can get distributed. All of these factors can be taken into
account when making a choice on medicine. One factor that will always affect solubility is the
gastric acid in the human stomach. At a resting level, the pH of this acid is around 4. However if
food is added, the pH level of that acid is changed. When something gets added to the stomach,
whether it be food, or in this case medicine, the acid pH will go to 1-2 on the pH scale. This will
cause the medicine to dissolve faster, and therefore allow it to get into the rest of the body
quicker. This is one factor that affects every human though, no matter what type of pain killer
they do take.
On the other hand, there are several factors that do depend on the type of pain killer
chosen. The two main types, acetaminophen and ibuprofen, are both proven pain killers.
Acetaminophen relieves all sorts of pains from headaches to arthritis. Ibuprofen is does not
prevent muscle pain, but it weakens how much you notice it and helps those muscles get back to
Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
100%. This means that both of them are viable medicines to take if you are searching for pain
relief, and should provide roughly the same amount of relief.
Yet there is something else that can change how effective the pain relief is, and that is
what conceals these medicines. The two principal ways that these over the counter medicines are
concealed are as a tablet, and a capsule. A tablet is the more traditional form, and is just the
medicine tightly packed together, and sealed in a super thin coating. However, capsules are a
more modern approach to medicine concealment. Most of these are hard gelatin capsules.
Capsule shells protect the medicine by interlocking with each other using grooves. Once this
bond broken, the medicine is released into the environment. The point of these coatings is to
ensure that the medicine will reach the place it needs to in the body so it will work.
When choosing what medicine to take, all of the factors above are disregarded. This is
why some people feel that medicines are not working. A smart consumer of these medicines will
pay close attention to these elements when choosing because he/she knows the importance of
these elements. Whether that be the type of medicine or how it is contained, this all will affect
how quickly you feel pain relief.
PUT YOUR REFERNCES HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
Hypothesis:
I predict that the ibuprofen tablet will dissolve the fastest since it is smaller and has the
smallest mass.
Materials:
1. 1 beaker.
2. 1 stirrer.
3. 1 ibuprofen tablet.
4. 1 acetaminophen tablet.
5. 1 acetaminophen capsule.
6. 1 stopwatch.
7. 1 pen/pencil.
8. 1 piece of paper.
9. 505 mL of 6 molar hydrochloric acid.
10. 1 scale.
Methods:
1. Get all of the materials out and ready.
2. Weigh the tablets and capsule.
3. Record the masses.
4. Fill the beaker with the hydrochloric acid.
5. Put the tablets and capsule in.
6. Start the timer.
7. Start stirring.
Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
8. Stir until the one of the tablets dissolves or the capsule no longer contains any medicine.
9. Record the time it took for it too next to the initial masses.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until all the medicine is dissolved.
11. Record all data.
Results:
Type of
Time (min) to dissolve
Pill
completely
Pain Killer Solubility
25
7 min
Tablet
Acet.
18 min
Capsule
20
Time (min)
Acet.
15
10
5
Ibuprofen
22 min
0
Acet. Tablet
Acet. Capsule
Ibuprofen
Type of Pain Killer
Analysis & Conclusion:
When looking over the data in the results section, it is obvious to see that there is one
pain killer that dissolved the quickest. That would be the tablet of acetaminophen, which only
took 7 minutes to dissolve completely. Next came the capsule of acetaminophen, and then the
tablet of ibuprofen. This goes along with the research because capsules are designed to
withstand tougher conditions, ensuring that the medicine reaches where it needs to go (Gray
1). The shocking statistic is that the ibuprofen tablet took 3 times as long as the
acetaminophen tablet before it dissolved. Its starting mass was basically half of the
Pain Killer Solubility
3/14/14, NAME OF STUDENT
acetaminophen tablet, which led to my hypothesis saying that the ibuprofen tablet would
dissolve first.
My hypothesis was not supported by this experiment, my hypothesis was the opposite of
what occurred. I said that the ibuprofen would dissolve the fastest, which took 22 minutes to
dissolve, which was the slowest of the 3. The acetaminophen tablet was the fastest to
dissolve at 7 minutes. My new hypothesis would be; I predict the acetaminophen tablet to
dissolve the fastest. All in all, if you want the quickest pain relief, and you only have these 3
medicines, you should definitely go with the acetaminophen tablet.
I should not have mixed them all together in the same beaker. This could have caused a
change in the pH of the acid, or affected the medicines solubility in other ways. If the
experiment were to be redone, they should all be separate when stirring them.I could have
tested a wider range of pain killers. Instead of just one tablet, maybe have a few, and same
for the tablets. If the experiment was to be redone, there should be a more extensive test
group. Instead of stirring them all, I could have just let them sit, since that is how they will
most likely be treated in the stomach. If the experiment was to be redone, it should be done
over a longer time period, thus allowing the medicine to dissolve by just sitting in the
Hydrochloric acid.