INSTRUCTIONS

WRITING INSTRUCTIONS

Preparation of Ammonia Gas

1. Mix Ammonium Chloride with Calcium Hydroxide.
2. Add water to this proportionate mixture.
3. Collect Ammonia from upward displacement of air in a hood.

Preparing Aspirin

1. Accurately weigh 3.00 grams of salicylic acid and transfer to a dry Erlenmeyer flask. If you will be calculating actual and theoretical yield, be sure to record how much salicylic acid you actually measured.
2. Add 6 mL of acetic anhydride and 5-8 drops of 85% phosphoric acid to the flask.
3. Gently swirl the flask to mix the solution. Place the flask in a beaker of warm water for ~15 minutes.
4. Add 20 drops of cold water dropwise to the warm solution to destroy the excess acetic anhydride.
5. Add 20 mL of water to the flask. Set the flask in an ice bath to cool the mixture and speed crystallization.
6. When the crystallization process appears complete, pour the mixture through a Buckner funnel.
7. Apply suction filtration through the funnel and wash the crystals with a few milliliters of ice cold water. Be sure the water is near freezing to minimize loss of product.
8. Perform a recrystallization to purify the product. Transfer the crystals to a beaker. Add 10 mL of ethanol. Stir and warm the beaker to dissolve the crystals.
9. After the crystals have dissolved, add 25 mL of warm water to the alcohol solution. Cover the beaker. Crystals will reform as the solution cools. Once crystallization has started, set the beaker in an ice bath to complete the recrystallization.
10. Pour the contents of the beaker into a Buckner funnel and apply suction filtration.
11. Remove the crystals to dry paper to remove excess water.
12. Confirm you have acetylsalicylic acid by verifying a melting point of 135°C.

Instructions to prepare Smoke Bombs

1. Pour about 3 parts potassium nitrate to 2 parts sugar into the skillet (5:3 ratio is also good). Measurements don't need to be exact, but you want more KNO3 than sugar. For example, you can use 1-1/2 cups KNO3 and 1 cup sugar. If you use equal amounts of KNO3 and sugar, your smoke bomb will be harder to light and will burn more slowly. As you approach the 5:3 KNO3:sugar ratio, you get a smoke bomb that burns more quickly.
2. Apply low heat to the pan. Stir the mixture with a spoon using long strokes. If you see the grains of sugar starting to melt along the edges where you are stirring, remove the pan from the heat and reduce the temperature before continuing.
3. Basically you are carmelizing sugar. The mixture will melt and become a caramel or chocolate color. Continue heating/stirring until the ingredients are liquefied. Remove from heat.
4. Pour the liquid onto a piece of foil. You can pour a smaller amount onto a separate piece, to test the batch. You can pour the smoke bomb into any shape, onto an object, or into a mold. The shape and size will affect the burning pattern.
5. If you aren't going to clean your skillet immediately, pour hot water into the pan to dissolve the sugar (or else it will be harder to clean). Clean up any residue you may have spilled out of the pan, unless you want mini-smoke bombs on your stovetop.
6. Allow the smoke bomb to cool, then you can peel it off the foil.