Hurumanu - What is that white powder?

Today you will be a Forensic Chemist. 

A bag of white powder has been confiscated by airport customs.  You need to find out what white powder it is?

Aim: To learn about the makeup of different white powders.



There are a number of different white powders in our everyday life. Some of these are harmful and others are not. Test the four white powders listed to see which one has been found at the airport.

You will be given a small amount of 4 white powders on your cardboard. On the black cardboard using a magnifying glass look at the powders.

Look at them under your magnifying glass and record what you see. 

These are the four powders we will be using. Upload a photo of each powder. 

1.  Cornflour
2.  Baking Soda
3.  Salt
4.  Sugar 

Before you add the iodine, vinegar or water you will need to divide each powder into 3.

Materials

1.  Cardboard/paper
2.  Magnifying glass
3.  Pipette
4.  Sugar
5.  Salt
6.  Corn flour
7.  Baking soda
8.  Vinegar
9.  Iodine

Steps

1. Grab your paper, magnifying glass, and pipette.
2. Split your paper into four sides.
3. Add some sugar, salt, corn flour, and baking soda onto each side.
4. Grab iodine and add three drops to each pile - Examine closely what happens and use the magnifying glass for each one.
5. Using a pipette suck up some vinegar and add three drops to each pile.
6. Again using the pipette add three more drops of water to each pile and look closely on the reactions.

Findings:


Words to use: Absorbed, spread, frothed, fizzed, melted, blob,

	Sugar	Salt	Baking Soda	Cornflour
Appearance (White)	White	White	White	White
Grains (small, medium large)	Large	Large	Medium	Small
Smell (Strong, none)	None	None	None	Strong
Iodine	Absorbed	Spread slowly	Dried, solid	Dried
Water	Absorbed	Absorbed	Dried	Spread
Vinegar	Absorbed	Absorbed	Fizzed	Rolled off, Dried

Write a conclusion about your findings. ( 4 plus sentences)
Use the Hexagon activity to give you some more ideas.

The sugar.....
The sugar is white powder and has no smell. When you add iodine the sugar will absorb it. When you add water to the sugar it absorbs as well as the vinegar. 
The salt.....
The Salt is a white powder that also has no smell The grains are large and if you add iodine It will spread slowly around the salt. When you add water the salt will absorb it. When you add vinegar the salt will also absorb it.
The Baking Soda.....
When you add iodine to the baking powder it dries up and becomes a solid. When you add water it dies up but does not become solid. When you add vinegar it fizzes up but stays the same.
The cornflour.....
When you add iodine to corn flour it dries up like the baking soda. When you add water to it spreads around the corn flour while staying the same. If you add vinegar it rolls of and dries up.