Ashes to Ashes
Recommended for grades 6–12.
Introduction
Investigator: James
Date: 10/05/05
- call in at 3:04 a.m.
- large fire on the East Side; historic log cabin of town founder, James McDonald
- first responders too late to save cabin
- traces of an unidentified chemical residue discovered in cabin remains
- drops of unidentified chemical found between cabin remains and main road
(??accelerant used to spread the fire??)
ARSON strongly suspected - chemical evidence sent to lab for testing
Objectives
- Identify the likely accelerant in an arson.
- Identify a solution, based on evaporation rate.
- Understand that evaporation rate is a characteristic property of a liquid.
Sensors and Equipment
This experiment requires each of the following Vernier sensors and equipment (unless otherwise noted):
Additional Requirements
You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?
Standards Correlations
Included in the Lab Book
Vernier lab books include a CD with word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.