THE HARBOR CAPER

Appearance

Solvent reaction

Iodine reaction

Vinegar reaction

THE HARBOR CAPER Final

In the Cleveland Harbor, a cargo ship from Venezuela was carrying boxes of powder. Working on a tip written on notebook paper, the writer claimed the powder in these boxes were not cocoa. The Vontroba Chocolate Agency (VCA) inspected the shipment.

Bags of powders were found inside the boxes labeled White Cocoa Powder. The powders all looked the same. But…are they? Is everything legal here?

The team noticed that next to one box was a drinking glass filled with a colored liquid. Any unknown substance found at a crime scene could potentially be important evidence. Who knew what the substance may be that is in glass? Perhaps the smudge on the glass is residue from a suspect’s hand.

A longshoreman, who was eating a hot dog with ketchup and mustard, walked over to the detectives on the scene, to report something suspicious found in the cargo hole below.

Checking out the tip, the two detectives found three drops of a red substance. These spots were found at the base of three boxes labeled in red WHITE COCOA POWDER .Next to this box lay a knife. Two good foot prints were found on the cement floor. Along side the evidence were three pallets of cherry cool aid. Could the few drops of red substance be from the longshoreman’s hot dog covered in ketchup? Could someone have cut themselves accidentally with a box knife when opening up the boxes? Were the red spots from a liquid drink? What are the red drops?

Is there a crime? If so, who is involved in this crime? Is it the longshoreman? Or is it the person who anonymously wrote the note to the Harbor Police? Could it be someone posing as an employee of the White Cocoa Powder Company who unpacks the boxes?

If the VCA team can identify the pen that wrote the note about the tip on the cocoa, they may be able to link the note to a suspect. There are several ways to identify the type of pen used to write a note or other criminal communications. Try the following procedure to investigate the ink and pen for this crime.

Procedure:

1. Cut the coffee filters into several strips 2.5 cm wide

2. Make a thick circle with one felt-tipped pen about 2.5 cm from the end of one strip

3. Pour water into a 250 mL beaker so that it fills 1 cm from the bottom of the beaker

4. Dip the end of the strip in the water so that the water covers about 1 cm of the end of the strip that you marked. The water should not touch the circle you drew.

5. Watch the water creep up the strip until it reaches the top of the strip.

6. Take the strip out of the water and place it on the paper towel. Above the filter, write the name of the color of the pen on the paper towel, using the same pen you used on the strip.

7. Repeat the experiment with the rest of the strips and pens.

8. Observe what happened to the circles made on the strips. What do you notice about the dyes in the pens?

9. Compare your results with the ink on the paper from the note. Which color

Matches?

Any unknown substance found at a crime scene may be important evidence. The liquid left in the drinking glass might be a poison or the residue found on the suspect’s hand. Construct a density column with the sample liquids found at the crime scene and compare their density’s to the density chart in the evidence room. This process should help narrow down what each substance is and whether the substance would pose a danger to someone.

Substance	Mass (g)	Volume (mL)	Density (g/cm3)

Explain the results your findings:

Name of Suspect

Foot length in inches and centimeters

Multiple by inches by 100

Divide by 15

Approximate Height in inches and meters/centimeters

Divide by 12

Height in feet (decimals) and meters/centimeters

Height in feet and inches and meters/centimetres

Completing the information in key above, construct a table of potential suspects.

White powder found at a crime scene may be an illegal substance or merely vanilla chocolate. A detective will have the crime lab identify the substance to determine whether a crime has been committed. Conduct the following exercise.

1. Use the chart to record your results.

2. Put 1 ml of each powder :

a. Baking soda

b. Sugar

c. Sodium chloride

d. Cornstarch

e. White vanilla chocolate

On a separate sheet of black construction paper label each powder. Use chalk to write

the labels.

3. Examine each powder with the magnifying lens. What does each powder look like? What is its shape? Are its grains large or small? Record your observations in the Appearance column of your chart.

4. Rub each powder between your fingers. How does it feel? Record your comments in the Texture column.

5. Do any of the powders have a smell? If so, record that information in the Smell column.

6. Use the eyedropper to place a drop of water on each powder. What happens? Do any of the powders dissolve or react in any other way? Record the results in the Reaction to Water column.

7. Put 2 ml of each powder in a separate jar. Use the eyedropper to add 2 drops of iodine solution to each jar. Observe what happens and record your observation in the Reaction to Iodine Column.

8. Put 2 ml of each powder in a separate jar. Add 2 drops of vinegar to each jar. Observe and record your results in the Reaction to Vinegar column.

Result of your experiment___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Compare fingerprints from the glass to our fingerprint file. What are the distinctive characteristics to the fingerprints on the glass? Are there any matches to your suspect’s fingerprints? What characteristics of the both sets of prints tell you that they are a match?

Explain your answer: __________________________________________________________

What methods of chemistry did you use to solve this crime?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What types of forensic evidence were discovered at the scene? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who did it? Describe the suspect. What evidence can be used to convict the suspect? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________