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For anyone who has been to states before and has competed in Crime Busters, how intense were the powders? How many of them were 3-powder mixtures?

Rivkaaa wrote:For anyone who has been to states before and has competed in Crime Busters, how intense were the powders? How many of them were 3-powder mixtures?

AHHAHAHA it wasn’t the mixtures, it was the workload. When I went to states, they gave us the maximum amount of powders, probably two mixtures, a decent amount of metals and liquids, flame testing for fibers, density test for plastics, microscope for hairs, and another section for fingerprints and chromatography. And of course, a long ananlysis to accompany this info. It was so rough, even the best teams couldn’t finish. But obviously, this might be different at your state. Just remember to be extremely effcient and be able to trust your partner, because if you have a big work load, you’re not gonna have time to check each other’s answers.

Crimesolver wrote:

Rivkaaa wrote:For anyone who has been to states before and has competed in Crime Busters, how intense were the powders? How many of them were 3-powder mixtures?

AHHAHAHA it wasn’t the mixtures, it was the workload. When I went to states, they gave us the maximum amount of powders, probably two mixtures, a decent amount of metals and liquids, flame testing for fibers, density test for plastics, microscope for hairs, and another section for fingerprints and chromatography. And of course, a long ananlysis to accompany this info. It was so rough, even the best teams couldn’t finish. But obviously, this might be different at your state. Just remember to be extremely effcient and be able to trust your partner, because if you have a big work load, you’re not gonna have time to check each other’s answers.

Thank you! We usually don't check each other's answers, as there is rarely much time left, but we're accustomed to a huge workload, so we'll probably be fine.

Rivkaaa wrote:

Crimesolver wrote:

Rivkaaa wrote:For anyone who has been to states before and has competed in Crime Busters, how intense were the powders? How many of them were 3-powder mixtures?

AHHAHAHA it wasn’t the mixtures, it was the workload. When I went to states, they gave us the maximum amount of powders, probably two mixtures, a decent amount of metals and liquids, flame testing for fibers, density test for plastics, microscope for hairs, and another section for fingerprints and chromatography. And of course, a long ananlysis to accompany this info. It was so rough, even the best teams couldn’t finish. But obviously, this might be different at your state. Just remember to be extremely effcient and be able to trust your partner, because if you have a big work load, you’re not gonna have time to check each other’s answers.

Thank you! We usually don't check each other's answers, as there is rarely much time left, but we're accustomed to a huge workload, so we'll probably be fine.

Yeah, I agree. Crime busters and forensics tend to be more about the length of the test than the difficulty of the content so just work fast and try not to dwell on anything.

wec01 wrote:

Rivkaaa wrote:

Crimesolver wrote: AHHAHAHA it wasn’t the mixtures, it was the workload. When I went to states, they gave us the maximum amount of powders, probably two mixtures, a decent amount of metals and liquids, flame testing for fibers, density test for plastics, microscope for hairs, and another section for fingerprints and chromatography. And of course, a long ananlysis to accompany this info. It was so rough, even the best teams couldn’t finish. But obviously, this might be different at your state. Just remember to be extremely effcient and be able to trust your partner, because if you have a big work load, you’re not gonna have time to check each other’s answers.

Thank you! We usually don't check each other's answers, as there is rarely much time left, but we're accustomed to a huge workload, so we'll probably be fine.

Yeah, I agree. Crime busters and forensics tend to be more about the length of the test than the difficulty of the content so just work fast and try not to dwell on anything.

Pretty much. We just got used to running around and finishing the whole test (including the analysis) and only then checking over, if we have time after cleaning up. However, if either of us is particularly stuck on something, we ask the other for a quick second to check it out.

Is the iodine most likely going to be clear or will it have that reddish color at nationals? And can any color of Iodine be used or does it have to be a specific color?

FiveW's wrote:Is the iodine most likely going to be clear or will it have that reddish color at nationals? And can any color of Iodine be used or does it have to be a specific color?

Probably reddish, the person who runs it at Nats also runs it at IN state and it was red. I don't think it has to be a certain color.

CPScienceDude wrote:

FiveW's wrote:Is the iodine most likely going to be clear or will it have that reddish color at nationals? And can any color of Iodine be used or does it have to be a specific color?

Probably reddish, the person who runs it at Nats also runs it at IN state and it was red. I don't think it has to be a certain color.

She doesn't run it at nats. Someone else does since she runs Forensics at nats instead and all the events are all day at nats. The only reason why she's able to run both at IN State is because events are only half days there.

Oh, that makes sense.

CPScienceDude wrote:

FiveW's wrote:Is the iodine most likely going to be clear or will it have that reddish color at nationals? And can any color of Iodine be used or does it have to be a specific color?

Probably reddish, the person who runs it at Nats also runs it at IN state and it was red. I don't think it has to be a certain color.

For cornstarch it shouldn't matter what color it starts as; it should very obviously turn black/dark blue. Not sure about other powders with different reactions.