# What does caffeine look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084 "2012-11-15T14:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/21 "2012-11-15T20:45:11Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Here’s [a picture of a pile of caffeine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caffeine_USP.jpg). Just a fine crystalline powder. Looks like it must absorb moisture readily from the air and is thus prone to clumping. But look at it under polarized light, and it can look [quite fancy](http://www.google.ch/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1119&bih=960&q=caffeine&oq=caffeine&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1374.3182.0.6171.8.6.0.2.2.0.73.385.6.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.himou-Z1cnU#hl=en&tbo=d&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=caffeine+crystals&oq=caffeine+crystals&gs_l=img.3..0j0i5i24l5.33580.39570.0.39849.9.9.0.0.0.0.102.731.7j2.9.0...0.0...1c.1.bpfilpalpho&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=af29c56b65daaf8c&bpcl=38625945&biw=1119&bih=960) ---
**Author:** ![Qwertol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Qwertol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertol)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/22 "2012-11-15T20:57:46Z")
Is it possible to get larger crystals? They often look different than the powder… ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/23 "2012-11-15T23:03:19Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Hmm, maybe a slight exaggeration. The LD[sub]50[/sub] for caffeine is about 150-200mg/kg ([cite](http://andrewferguson.net/2005/11/07/death-by-caffeine-calculator/)) so even at the lower end of that, an average adult male would have to eat over 10 grams, or getting on for half an ounce, to stand an even chance of dying. I’m pretty sure that would be a couple of decent-size spoonfuls, not a little chunk. I’m sure that a pea-size chunk of caffeine would still make you feel awful, like drinking 10(?) cans of Coke at once. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/24 "2012-11-15T23:07:34Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Especially if you order your caffeine at a dimer. I saw what you did there. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/25 "2012-11-16T01:15:43Z")
If the OP is interested, a Google search for “anhydrous caffeine” will lead to several places to buy jars of the stuff. **Warning: $10.00 of pure caffeine is enough to kill you 10+ times over** - the 100g jars you’ll see have as much in them as 500 to 1000 cups of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/26 "2012-11-16T01:26:32Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Hmm, maybe a slight exaggeration. The LD[sub]50[/sub] for caffeine is about 150-200mg/kg ([cite](http://andrewferguson.net/2005/11/07/death-by-caffeine-calculator/)) so even at the lower end of that, an average adult male would have to eat over 10 grams, or getting on for half an ounce, to stand an even chance of dying. I’m pretty sure that would be a couple of decent-size spoonfuls, not a little chunk. No, Adam probably had it reasonably close to right. You’d generally need over 10 grams as an adult to stand a fifty-fifty chance of dying - but you’d likely reach a nontrivial chance of death well before that point. Perfectly reasonably to say of a dose that might kill, say, one person in ten “this is enough to kill you.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/27 "2012-11-16T01:29:22Z")
And if you want to reenact the last scene of Scarface: [http://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-Powder-Pharma-freshness-Powder/dp/B005L99402/ref=sr\_1\_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1353029282&sr=1-2&keywords=caffeine+powder](http://www.amazon.com/Caffeine-Powder-Pharma-freshness-Powder/dp/B005L99402/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1353029282&sr=1-2&keywords=caffeine+powder) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/28 "2012-11-16T01:42:25Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > No, Adam probably had it reasonably close to right. You’d generally need over 10 grams as an adult to stand a fifty-fifty chance of dying - but you’d likely reach a nontrivial chance of death well before that point. Perfectly reasonably to say of a dose that might kill, say, one person in ten “this is enough to kill you.” That’s extremely unlikely, assuming the statement of “the size of a pea” is accurate. A pea-sized chunk is much less than 1 g of the stuff (which is about 1.23 g/cm^3, and a pea is way less than 1 cm^3). A cup of coffee is about 150 mg of caffeine. No one ever died from drinking 6 cups of coffee unless they were already going to die of something else in short order. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/29 "2012-11-16T03:06:43Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > We did it Organic chem, wIth a Hickman still if I remember. Doubtful. You may have used a small cold finger for sublimation. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084/30 "2012-11-19T08:04:41Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Doubtful. You may have used a small cold finger for sublimation. I knew a guy with small, cold fingers. Sadistic bastard became a gynecologist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-caffeine-look-like/641084.md?page=1)