Murder Investigation Lab

On Wednesday in class, we did a lab about finding the molarity of aqueous solutions. We were given some details about a theoretical murder case, and the list of possible suspects, and we had to determine who the murderer was. In order to do this, first we combined 20mL of the unknown substance with 40mL of NaCl and the reaction produced a solid. Here is a website about precipitation reactions like this, just for some review: Precipitation Reactions. Next, we filtered the solution to get the solid out. Once we had it completely filtered and it had dried, we weighed the filter paper to find the mass of the solid. From there, we had everything we needed to find molarity and determine the murderer. Overall, this lab was really helpful because it allowed us to practice finding molarity with an actual real life problem, instead of just practice ones. I now have a much better understanding and capability of how to do this. Here is a link to the only information we were given for this lab: Murder Lab

The solution while it was being filtered through the paper and funnel.

The filter paper with the solid in it, after it had dried.