Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How does the pills dissolve, What makes them dissolve?

Hi there, I am an expert in the Computer science forum but maybe I can help here.

When I searched "dissolve water" on google, I got the following links on the first page.

http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/biology/B ... solve.html
http://wwwcsi.unian.it/educa/inglese/kevindb.html
http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/t ... oluble.php

The first one is a nice movie which I think is especially helpful. It shows how the molecules of what you put in the water get broken up by the water molecules. Then all the molecules get mixed up together.

Water is a solvent or solute for many things, including sugar, salt, and the molecules that make up many pills.

Good luck!
Laura

I think it would be especially helpful if you read up on Solvents and Solutes. For your project you may want to consider several variables other than different kinds of pills. Reading up on different kinds of solvents may give you some ideas.

Dear monkeygirl,

I'm not sure what your project is exactly. However, if you are interested in why pills dissolve in your stomach, you should think about not only water as a solute but also acid. The stomach contains hydrochloric acid (HCl), which is a strong acid that helps to break down the things you ingest.

Here are a couple links to information about gastric (stomach) acid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/z ... o00114.htm

Here is a link about pills dissolving:
http://www.supplementquality.com/news/m ... l#acidtest

I hope these links help you get started. Good luck!

Cheers,
Heather

Last year a student had a similar project. She asked many questions and a number of experts chimed in with helpful information.

Here is the link to the posts:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... ht=tylenol

Hope this helps

You should also take a look at the postings in this topic: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... php?t=2746. The student poses a questoi very similair to yours and has had wonderful responses provided by Louise.