Murder in the Chemistry Lab

1
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• Scenario
• The body of chemistry teacher Robert Moreland
  was found slumped over his computer terminal in
  his chemistry lab earlier this week. A half
  consumed cup of tea was on the table next to the
  body. The police were immediately called in to
  investigate. Heading the investigation is
  Detective A. Avogadro. Preliminary signs seem to
  indicate that Mr. Moreland was poisoned !

2
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• The body was discovered at about 1230 PM when
  Moreland's period six class arrived. Students
  immediately called the office and the police were
  eventually summoned.
• Moreland had a class until 1115 AM. "He must
  have been murdered sometime between 1115 AM and
  1230 PM." claims Avogadro.
• A student, Hal Logen, was making up a test
  across the hall from Moreland's room until about
  1220. He had an excellent view of the door to
  Moreland's room and states seeing several
  individuals enter the room between 1115 AM and
  1220 PM.

3
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• " I recall seeing Mr. Ilyes (physics teacher),
  Mr. Filizzi (physics teacher), Dr. Jones
  (Principal), Mr. Adams (science teacher), and Al
  Luminum (chemistry student) each going into the
  room sometime during the period.
• Avogadro believes one or more of these five
  individuals are the killer. The investigator
  interviewed each and he is certain the case will
  be solved as soon as he receives the results from
  the chemistry lab.

4
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

•   Five chemicals were found that were not locked
  in the supply room. These were on the lab bench
  and were, apparently, to be used for a laboratory
  experiment. These chemicals were
• concentrated nitric acid
• a solution of sodium hydroxide
• acetone
• a solution of silver nitrate
• solid lead nitrate
• Each of these, if added to a cup of tea, could
  be fatal.

5
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• Confidential Information
• ( for Forensic Chemists only ! )
•  
• A sample of the poisoned tea is available for
  your analysis. Test it for each of the five
  suspected poisons (1) concentrated nitric acid
  (2) a solution of sodium hydroxide (3) acetone
  (4) a solution of silver nitrate and (5) solid
  lead nitrate.

6
Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• Detective A. Avogadro has provided the
  following summaries of the interviews he
  conducted with the five suspects

Mark Ilyes (physics teacher) Ilyes had
suspicious burns with yellow stains on his
fingers. When questioned he responded " it must
be this new yellow marker I have been using. I
seem to have an allergic reaction to it".
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Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• Al Luminum (chemistry student) Al kept rubbing
  his hand during the interview as if he were
  trying to wipe something off. When questioned he
  replied

" I just washed my hands with a very strong
detergent from the lab and must not have removed
all of the soap. It feels slippery and is
starting to burn."
8
Murder in the Chemistry Lab
James Filizzi (physics teacher) Filizzi had
black spots covering his right hand. It almost
looked like black paint. When questioned about
these he stated " I came into room 225 to
borrow a hot plate. I may have touched
one of the bottles on the supply shelf. I didn't
even notice the black spots till you pointed them
out."
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Murder in the Chemistry Lab
George Jones (principal) When I went to his
office to interview him, I noticed he smelled
like nail polish remover. Jones's responded
"I spilled a bottle of solvent that was sitting
on the copying machine. In fact, I went to Mr.
Moreland's room to ask what I could do about the
smell. He told me it was an organic liquid and to
just allow it to evaporate and it wouldn't even
be noticeable by the end of the day."
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Murder in the Chemistry Lab
Paul Adams (science teacher) Adams had a white
powder under his fingernails. "It's white-out. I
was making corrections to a test I just typed and
some white-out must have dried under my
fingernails claimed Adams.
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Murder in the Chemistry Lab

• REPORT 
• Complete a report for Detective Avogadro
  indicating the poison found in the tea and the
  murderer. Explain your reasoning.
•  
• Write a 200-300 word report for the local
  newspaper in which the conclusion to this
  investigation is described. Include why it is
  believed the murder took place.