Closed Capsules Lab Report

Analysis In all of the trials, the tablet pills were the first to dissolve out of all of the types of pills, averaging a time of 2 minutes and 2 seconds. This is due to the fact that tablets have no type of coating over them, so there is less for the acid to break down. It looked a little swelled before it broke apart into powder like pieces. The second fastest pill was the coated tablet and had a mean time of 4 minutes and 22 seconds. The acid has to break through the casing before it can get to the tablet inside. The casing came off relatively fast and just left the tablet like pill to dissolve last. Once the casing was dissolved, it acted like the regular tablet and swelled before breaking apart. Third fastest to dissolve, averaging a time of 8 minutes and 2 seconds, was the capsule. First, the gray band around the center dissolved, releasing the powder inside. The capsule split and the powder filled with HCl and then dispersed throughout the acid. It is assumed that the capsules are completely closed capsules. This means that the it is harder for the seam between the two ends to break compared to an open capsule. The slowest …show more content…
Even though each cup was filled to the line with HCl, there could still be some variance in how much was actually in each and if it was equal all around. Also, although the pH of the acid is one or lower, it may not be exactly the same as a human stomach. The acid also was probably slightly colder than a real human stomach, and that could have changed the rate that each pill dissolved. Another possible error could be that in a human body, some of the pill may start breaking down as soon as it enters the mouth and goes down the esophagus. This may cause the pill to be smaller when it hits the stomach, therefore making it dissolve faster. Without the presence of amylase, the times are slightly longer than how it would normally be in the human