In: Chemistry
You find an old bottle of aspirin whose shelf life is expired. Assuming you have a bad headache, you have no other access to fresh aspirin, and you have a strong stomach can you expect to get relief from this outdated aspirin? Explain your reasoning.
Aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid) decomposes into its original constituents acetic acid and salicylic acid gradually AFTER the labelled expiry date. Assume, a fresh aspirin tablet/syrup has certain quantity of active ingredient i.e. acetylsalicylic acid initially. Say, this quantity, we called 100%. After the expiry date, the active molecule gradually decomposes into acetate and salicylate, so reducing the amount of active molecule. However, this decomposition is gradually (takes some time period) but NOT instantaneous, that is aspirin is NOT decomposed into its constituents all of a sudden after the expiry date.
So, there may still be aspirin in the expired medicine, depending on the time lapse from the expiry date; closer is the expiry date, greater is the relative proportion (say, 70%, 60 %, etc.) of active molecule, aspirin. Therefore, unless the medicine in very old (very long time lapse, say several months or years), it still has analgesic effects and can ease your headache.