I genuinely enjoyed doing the “Synthesis of Aspirin” lab. This was my first time creating a drug from scratch, which was a rather interesting experience. While Yina and I were working on the lab, we made sure that each measurement was absolutely perfect. Our goal was to see a beautiful orange color in the end with absolutely no trace of purple. Although we thought everything was incredibly accurate, our end result showed us that there was a super tiny bit of salicylic acid in our aspirin, which was evident by the small tint of purple in our solution.

This lab made me reflect on a couple of things we discussed throughout the semester – mainly experimental design, and how both trial & error and precise measurements are necessary in order to get proper end results. We spoke about how it took many years for the creation of aspirin to actually take place; there were numerous failed attempts, which is actually something that I witnessed myself. It’s crazy to think how scientists try over and over again until they get their desired outcome. I personally do not have the tenacity to restart an experiment hundreds of times, so I truly commend scientists for doing what they do. Overall, I would definitely try this lab a few more times, or at least until I get that perfect orange color to prove that I can create consumable aspirin.