What mass of acetylsalicylic acid would a typical 1st year organic chem student get from a 325mg aspirin tab?

Question:

I started with a 325mg aspirin tablet, mixed with methanol, centrifuged to remove binder, ran thru column chromatography (using aluminum oxide), and was in the process of evaporating the methanol in the fume hood, when kablam! My lab partner splashed the whole vial into the hot water bath. If I could have continued, I would have vacuum filtered the crystals after evaporation and an ice water bath. What would a typical recovery amount be? Thanks!

Answers:

Did you actually weigh the asprin tablet to be 325mg? Because the table should weigh more than 325mg with binders and all that junk, If you didn't weigh it and just trusted the label then you probably would have got half of 325mg, maybe a little less. If you did weigh it and it was 325mg, you probably would have got a quarter. At least thats how i seem to remember it from my o-chem classes(usually get about 40-60% "pure product")