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Pickachu4919, congrats on your nationals medal! I should have said hi to you during the Forensics event since we took it at the same time, but I forgot to.

Anyway, at nationals were there duplicates of any of the powders? I think I put down three different powders twice, but my powder IDing was super sketchy.

Yes, there were duplicates of multiple powders. I think LiCl was one of them, can't remember the others.

Also, yes forensics tests (especially and specifically nats) are long, but not impossible the finish. My partner and I were able to finish the nats test/do relatively well (minus mass spec cause we accidentally skipped it and forgot to go back) by having pre assigned sections. I did the powders and polymers while my partner did the other crime scene stuff. Then I wrote up the crime scene analysis while my partner did the trivia questions.

Magikarpmaster629 wrote:Pickachu4919, congrats on your nationals medal! I should have said hi to you during the Forensics event since we took it at the same time, but I forgot to.

Anyway, at nationals were there duplicates of any of the powders? I think I put down three different powders twice, but my powder IDing was super sketchy.

Thanks! 16th is really good too ;D Lol tbh I was thinking the exact same thing that you did Oh well... I'll see if I can get onto the volunteer crew next year for nats tho! And yeah, I think I remember my partner saying she saw red flames for two of the powders. Lol I remember one of my coaches said that one time when he was a forensics supervisor, he had them identify six powders with three of them being sodium bicarbonate. I told him that was evil

guilt wrote:Yes, there were duplicates of multiple powders. I think LiCl was one of them, can't remember the others.

Also, yes forensics tests (especially and specifically nats) are long, but not impossible the finish. My partner and I were able to finish the nats test/do relatively well (minus mass spec cause we accidentally skipped it and forgot to go back) by having pre assigned sections. I did the powders and polymers while my partner did the other crime scene stuff. Then I wrote up the crime scene analysis while my partner did the trivia questions.

Niceeeee Where are you from again?

This was probably mentioned early in the forum, but does anybody know where to find good forensics kits that include blood to test as well as large plastic samples (not just the granular plastic samples) and some powders?

19sawickin wrote:This was probably mentioned early in the forum, but does anybody know where to find good forensics kits that include blood to test as well as large plastic samples (not just the granular plastic samples) and some powders?

Large plastic samples can be drawn from your recycle bin; just make sure that you note the recycling code. (Exceptions: PMMA and PC must be found elsewhere. PC may be in your glasses; PMMA is Plexiglas, which you could probably find at a hardware store.) Powders from the list can pretty much be bought in bulk online or around town. You can get some things at the store- sucrose, flour, cornstarch, maybe even glucose at a pharmacy. Get creative.

19sawickin wrote:This was probably mentioned early in the forum, but does anybody know where to find good forensics kits that include blood to test as well as large plastic samples (not just the granular plastic samples) and some powders?

sciencenc.com (North Carolina's scioly website) has some kits, including a full practice test (you can only pick this one up within NC since it has liquids/chemicals), a chromatography kit and a fiber/polymer kit. However, for some reason their online store is currently down...

A couple of questions to those who did do the National tournament for Forensics. (I wasn't able to compete because I was switched to WP last minute and NC is a bit odd since they only test specific topics of Forensics which go on rotation every year.) Are plastics at Nationals pellets and are they easy to test via density? What solutions are commonly given to test the plastics? For hair under the microscope, how hard is it to use the microscope/distinguish between hairs? For fibers, are the burn tests convenient to do? Also, how do you wet mount...(ah, I sound like I don't know a thing)?

And regarding powders, does Na2CO3 + Iodine result in the solution being cleared instead of yellow? I've never thought to try it, but then I saw it on the powder identification chart on a certain website...

Sorry, I just really would like to have a shot at this again next year, if I get a chance.

daydreamer0023 wrote:

19sawickin wrote:This was probably mentioned early in the forum, but does anybody know where to find good forensics kits that include blood to test as well as large plastic samples (not just the granular plastic samples) and some powders?

sciencenc.com (North Carolina's scioly website) has some kits, including a full practice test (you can only pick this one up within NC since it has liquids/chemicals), a chromatography kit and a fiber/polymer kit. However, for some reason their online store is currently down...

A couple of questions to those who did do the National tournament for Forensics. (I wasn't able to compete because I was switched to WP last minute and NC is a bit odd since they only test specific topics of Forensics which go on rotation every year.) Are plastics at Nationals pellets and are they easy to test via density? What solutions are commonly given to test the plastics? For hair under the microscope, how hard is it to use the microscope/distinguish between hairs? For fibers, are the burn tests convenient to do? Also, how do you wet mount...(ah, I sound like I don't know a thing)?

And regarding powders, does Na2CO3 + Iodine result in the solution being cleared instead of yellow? I've never thought to try it, but then I saw it on the powder identification chart on a certain website...

Sorry, I just really would like to have a shot at this again next year, if I get a chance.

Try Ward's Science for forensics kits

daydreamer0023 wrote: And regarding powders, does Na2CO3 + Iodine result in the solution being cleared instead of yellow? I've never thought to try it, but then I saw it on the powder identification chart on a certain website...

Aw, sorry about WP. I heard that test was not as great as people were expecting, but hopefully it was still fun (like nats should be!).

I'm going to need to dig up a comic my asst. coach for Crime Busters inspired me to do about "clearing the iodine." Give me some time.

And to answer your question, no. Sodium carbonate does not shift IKI's equilibrium to make it clear; it stays brownish yellow. (Technically not qualified to answer your other questions, since I never did Forensics at nats.)

Hate double posting, but need to address this as well:

texas wrote:

daydreamer0023 wrote:

19sawickin wrote:This was probably mentioned early in the forum, but does anybody know where to find good forensics kits that include blood to test as well as large plastic samples (not just the granular plastic samples) and some powders?

sciencenc.com (North Carolina's scioly website) has some kits, including a full practice test (you can only pick this one up within NC since it has liquids/chemicals), a chromatography kit and a fiber/polymer kit. However, for some reason their online store is currently down...

A couple of questions to those who did do the National tournament for Forensics. (I wasn't able to compete because I was switched to WP last minute and NC is a bit odd since they only test specific topics of Forensics which go on rotation every year.) Are plastics at Nationals pellets and are they easy to test via density? What solutions are commonly given to test the plastics? For hair under the microscope, how hard is it to use the microscope/distinguish between hairs? For fibers, are the burn tests convenient to do? Also, how do you wet mount...(ah, I sound like I don't know a thing)?

And regarding powders, does Na2CO3 + Iodine result in the solution being cleared instead of yellow? I've never thought to try it, but then I saw it on the powder identification chart on a certain website...

Sorry, I just really would like to have a shot at this again next year, if I get a chance.

Try Ward's Science for forensics kits

Keep in mind that the kits should be viewed as starter packs to get you moving in the right direction. While they are good to get motivated during the first couple of practices, you may run out of some things quickly.

This is a good rule of thumb for most events, especially for the engineering events in which you must modify what the kits give you.