What is that white powder?

Today you will be a forensic chemist. 

A bag of white powder has been confiscated by the 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.

Here are some examples of everyday kitchen white powders.

Flour

Cornflour

Sugar

Salt

Baking Soda

Baking Powder

Icing Sugar

Tartaric Acid

Citric Acid

Gluten Free flour

Materials

1.  Sugar
2.  Salt
3.  Baking Soda
4.  Cornflour
5.  Pipette
6.  Iodine
7.  Vinegar 

Upload a photo of each powder.

1.  Cornflour

2.  Baking Soda

3.  Salt

4. Sugar 


On the black cardboard using a microscope you need to record what you see. You will be given a small amount of 4 white powders on your cardboard. Look at them under your microscope and record what you see. 
Do not mix the powders or taste the powders.

Findings:

	Sugar	Salt	Baking Soda	Cornflour
Appearance	White powder	White powder	White powder	White powder
Texture	Course	Course	Medium	Fine
Smell	Nothing	Bad	Bad	Bad
Iodine	It turned brown.	It turned orange.	No reaction.	No reaction.
Water	Absorbed	Absorbed	No reaction.	Absorbed.
Vinegar	Crystallisation.	Fizzed	Bubbled	No reaction.

Write a paragraph about your findings.
With the iodine half of the did not have a reaction. But the Sugar and salt had a very big reaction. They started to change colour the salt turned orange and sugar turned brown. The with the vinegar most of the powders had a reaction except the cornflour. The sugar crystallised the salt turned fizzy, then the baking soda bubbled. Lastly the water most of the powders had a reaction. The sugar, salt and cornflour were absorbed by the water. While the Baking soda showed no reaction.