You are in charge of the forensic crime laboratory in a large city. The mayor of

Question

You are in charge of the forensic crime laboratory in a large city. The mayor of that city has just received an envelope containing an unknown powder. It could be harmless (e.g. baking soda) or it could be highly toxic (e.g. ricin). The letter containing the powder is being delivered to your laboratory for analysis. What precautions should you take before handling this substance? What types of analyses would you carry out in order to identify this unknown substance? What specific information would each analytical method give you? Be as complete as you can. Recall that last semester, you learned some non -spectroscopic methods of identification, for example melting point determination. How could these be used?

Explanation / Answer

a)

When Handling, it should be enclosed in a bag, so vapors/solids do not go to ambient/air

b)

Use analytical techniques

most common:

HPLC (High pressure Lquid Chromtography) --> type of molecules

IR/NMR --> mainly for groups

Melting point determination --> Just after previous experiments were performed...

Gravimetric techniques --> relate to a molar mass of ricin if required

Titration of material --> In order to assume this could be an acid

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