Murder in Francestown, NH

           By Noah Bell

            There was a recent murder in Francestown, NH in a small bakery. At the scene of the crime, a suspicious powder was left behind. In order to narrow down our options as the murderer, we need to identify this unknown powder. We know that if we take known powders that would be in the area of the crime and compare the way they react to different liquids then we can see which powder is similar to the unknown. By seeing which ones are similar, we can make an educated guess as to which powder is the unknown. We can then search for our murderer by seeing who has access to the powder and who was around at the time, thus solving the crime.

Who did it?

A forensics lab

Yesterday at 3 AM, at Mike's Awesome Bakery in Francestown, NH the baker arrived to find his assistant baker dead: lying in a pool of blood.  The victim's body was covered in a white powder.

In an attempt to find the source of the white powder, investigators collect multiple samples from the bakery (baking soda, flour, baking powder, powdered milk, cornstarch).

Investigators are in the process of interviewing employees of the bakery to narrow their field of suspects.  They are also gathering clothing samples from employees to find a match for the white powder.

The investigators need your help.  They need you to write a lab procedure to help them identify the powder covering the body.

MATERIALS AT YOUR DISPOSAL

- baking soda

- baking powder

- flour

- cornstarch

- vinegar

- iodine solution

- universal indicator

- water

- lab materials (beakers, stirrers, pipettes, etc.)

Objective: Identify the unknown substance.

Procedure: detailed step by step:

1.Get all materials

2. Put one of the powders in its four designated areas

3. Drop four Drops of each liquid on every powder

4. Record reactions

5. Repeat steps 1-5 for each powder

Analysis: (complete attached data table):

Test Solutions	Baking Soda	Baking Powder	Flour	Cornstarch	Unknown
Water	No reaction Physical Change	Bubbles up Chemical Change	Repels Water Physical Change	Does not absorb water Physical change	Fizzed Chemical change
Vinegar	Bubbled up Chemical change	Bubbled up Chemical change	Repels Vinegar Physical change	Repels Vinegar Physical change	Fizzed Chemical change
Iodine	Turned yellow Chemical change	Turned purple Chemical change	Turned grey Chemical change	Repels Iodine Turned purple Chemical change	Fizzed Turned purple Chemical change
Indicator	Instantly dried Physical change	Turned orange Chemical change	Turned orange Chemical change	Turned orange Chemical change	Turned orange Chemical change

Conclusion:

What powder should the investigators be looking for when they examine the suspects clothing.  How do you know?  How confident are you in your results and why?

The unknown powder is baking powder because it reacted exactly the same as the known baking powder. I am confident in my conclusion because all of the reactions between the unknown and the identified baking powder were exactly the same.