SHEET /vs/nicotine-vs-caffeine · COMPARISON
Nicotine vs Caffeine: what is the difference?
How they differ
Both are plant alkaloids that plants make to poison insects, and both are stimulants in people, but they act on completely different receptors. Nicotine binds acetylcholine receptors directly; caffeine works by blocking adenosine, the molecule that builds up while you are awake and makes you feel sleepy. The habit-forming pull is not comparable: nicotine is one of the most reinforcing drugs known, and caffeine produces a mild dependence that shows up mostly as a headache when it stops. Nicotine also clears far faster, a half-life near 2 hours against caffeine's 5, which is part of why smoking is paced in minutes and coffee in hours. Their oral LD50 values in rats are almost identical at 188 and 192 mg/kg, which says nothing useful about how each is actually encountered.
Side by side
| Nicotine | Caffeine | |
|---|---|---|
| Formula | C10H14N2 | C8H10N4O2 |
| Molecular weight | 162.23 g/mol | 194.19 g/mol |
| Family | Plant alkaloids, Stimulants | Plant alkaloids, Stimulants |
| Everyday group | Plant | Food & flavor |
| GHS signal wordThe supplier-filed hazard label, not a statement about ordinary use. | Danger | Danger |
| Oral LD50A single acute animal measure. It ranks nothing about human safety. | 188 mg/kg (oral, rat) | 192 mg/kg (oral, rat) |
| Half-life | 2 h | 5 h |
| Found in | not recorded | Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Cocoa, Soft drinks |
| CAS number | 54-11-5 | 58-08-2 |
| PubChem CID | 89594 | 2519 |
Common questions
- What is the difference between Nicotine and Caffeine?
- Both are plant alkaloids that plants make to poison insects, and both are stimulants in people, but they act on completely different receptors. Nicotine binds acetylcholine receptors directly; caffeine works by blocking adenosine, the molecule that builds up while you are awake and makes you feel sleepy. The habit-forming pull is not comparable: nicotine is one of the most reinforcing drugs known, and caffeine produces a mild dependence that shows up mostly as a headache when it stops.
- Is Nicotine bigger than Caffeine?
- Caffeine is the heavier molecule, 194.19 g/mol against 162.23 g/mol for Nicotine. Nicotine is C10H14N2 and Caffeine is C8H10N4O2.
- Which has the lower reported LD50, Nicotine or Caffeine?
- Nicotine, at 188 mg/kg (oral, rat), against 192 mg/kg (oral, rat) for Caffeine. An LD50 is one acute animal measurement, and the two here were not necessarily measured in the same species, so it is a data point rather than a ranking of how dangerous either is to a person.