MYSTERY POWDERS

by Kelsey 

Dear Dexter School,

    We were happy to help you figure out what the mysterious powder was.  Our class figured out that the mysterious powder was: baking soda, salt and cornstarch.

    My group and I think that it came from the grocery store and Best Buy Bakery.  I think that there were two trucks.  One of the trucks had baking soda and salt. The other had cornstarch.  One of the trucks had baking soda and the other had cornstarch.  One of the men driving the truck was listening to music so he had to close his eyes and BOOM!!  He crashed into the other truck!  It was right on the alley next to the Dexter’s schoolyard.

    This is how we tested the powders to figure out what the mystery powder was.  First we had to make sure that we gave all of the powders that we tested a fair test.  We had to make sure that we put the same amount of powder in each dish.

    After we looked at the powder that we were given, we started testing powders with liquids.  These are the liquids we were given first: water, corn oil, alcohol and vinegar.  The powders are baking soda, salt, corn starch, citric acid, calcium carbonate and sugar.

    Here is one interesting fact we found out, vinegar and baking soda mixed together will fizz.

    After we tested a fair test with all the products, we were given iodine which tested for starch, Phenolphthalein, which tested for base and Phenol Red, which tested for acid. 

    This is how we found out what the Mystery Powder was:  Corn Starch had Starch in it and the Mystery Powder had Starch in it.  So Corn Starch was one of the powders in the mystery powder.  We knew we had found Salt in the mysterious powder because it was the only powder whose particles were crystalline shaped. It was also  not an acid.  We also found Baking Soda in it because the powder fizzed with vinegar, and vinegar mixed with baking soda will fizz. We had a lot of fun helping you!!  

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This page last updated: 08/28/04 .