- The chemical name for aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, and its chemical formula is C9H8O4.
- Aspirin melts at 135 °C and boils at 140 °C.
- The active ingredient, salicylic acid, is found naturally in plants, the leaves and bark of the Willow tree, which have been used as a pain reliever for centuries. Reverend Edmund Stone of Chipping-Norton, England discovered the substance in willow bark in 1763.
- Salicylic acid plays an important role in plants’ defence systems. Hence, you can make cut flowers last longer by adding an aspirin to the water you put them in.
- Aspirin is one of the world's most widely used medications. It's estimated that people get through 40,000 tonnes (44,000 tons) (50 to 120 billion pills) a year.
- Aspirin wasn't the only drug Felix Hoffmann synthesised. He also synthesised heroin at around the same time.
- It's best known as a painkiller, but aspirin may also reduce the risk of heart attacks because it stops the platelets in the Blood from clumping together. Studies have also found it reduces the risk of getting some kinds of cancer, including colon cancer.
- However, like any drug, it can have side effects - gastrointestinal bleeding is one possible side-effect. Needless to say, taking too much can kill you because it thins the blood which can cause haemorrhage and cardiac arrest.
- Factories making aspirin tablets must pay attention to how much aspirin powder gets into the air inside the building, because the powder-air mixture can be explosive.
- During times of hyperinflation in South America, aspirin was used as currency - it allegedly held its value considerably better than the actual currency.
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