Scioly.org

The best place to start I would say is the [wiki]Can't Judge A Powder[/wiki] and also reading through this thread

I find what works best its to get a powder (any powder works, sugar or salt are often easy to find), HCl, NaOH, and the other supplies that they will give you or you will take, and to practice making observations. There are several tests on the test exchange (on the wiki), and you might want to make sure you can answer the questions on them.

What powders would you suggest I use?

For practice?
I would suggest whatever powders your coach has would be suficent. When I write practice tests I try to use some that i know will cause funish/useful reactions

JSGandora wrote:What powders would you suggest I use?

I would suggest using cornstarch (or something similar) and salt/sugar at least once, especially if you haven't done the event before. Also, if you can use Copper Sulfate, I would highly recommended it. We saw it last year a few times and it produces good reactions.

In the competition, can a team get multiple samples of the powder at the same time?

Well, what's happened every time I've done an event is that there's a plastic cup with a powder an inch or so high in it. There will also be a spoon in the cup. You can bring spot plates and stuff and just use the spoon to put a small amount of powder in each little hole. That way, you can do pretty much as many tests and whatnot as you'd like, without running out of powder. I never use even a quarter of the amount of powder given, I'm not sure how much other people use.

Ah, I see. If you run out of the powder, can you get more?

Most Competitions what you are given is the max you are allowed to have

yup ^^ and your really shouldn't NEED more. if thats the case, unless they have given you minuscule amounts... then you need to perfect your method.