Unknown B Lab Report

On April 6, 2016 at approximately 11:45am, a local police station got a call about a hostage situation at a local pharmacy. When police and medical examiners got to each crime scene, they learned that all of the hostages were given drugs and had overdosed on them. Some of the pills, in powder form, were found near the victims. One of the victims was stable enough to tell the investigators that the power on the floor were the drugs they were forced to take. The medical examiner found out each hostage was given either unknown A or unknown B. Both being over the counter drugs. The medical examiner narrowed down the list of 5 possible pain relievers and 3 antacids the unknown drugs could be. The purpose of this lab is to identify what the unknown

Unknown A is Excedrin because they both look like white powders and they were both soluble. When the universal indicator was added they both turned red, which indicted their pH level was 4.0. Then when we tested the pH with the pH strips they both showed the pH as being 3.0. After that, we added HCl or stomach acid and both drugs dissolved and were soluble. We tested the pH and it dropped to 1.0. This piece of evidence is not so compelling because the pH levels dropped for all drugs after the HCl was added because stomach acids neutralize the pH levels (“Painkillers & Acid Reflux Symptoms”). The most compelling piece of evidence is the color when we added the iron nitrate. They both turned black when the iron nitrate was added and no other pain reliever looked like those two. Unknown B is Bufferin because they both look like white powders and they were both insoluble. When the universal indicator was added they both turned orange, which indicted their pH level was 5.0. Later on the color changed to green, which indicated the pH was 8.0. Then when we tested the pH with the pH strips they both showed the pH as being 5.0. After that, we added HCl or stomach acid and both drugs dissolved and were soluble. We tested the pH and it dropped to 1.0. They both turned a brownish-yellow when the iron nitrate was added and no other pain reliever or antacid looked like those two. The only part that was irrelevant was the appearance of the drug. All but one drug looked like white powder. Even white medicines are dyes to look white (“Toxins in Vitamins and Medicine”). The appearance of the drug therefore does not help us identify what drug the Unknown drugs are. Our conclusion is irrefutable because Unknown A was the same as Excedrin in every category we tested and the same goes for Unknown B and bufferin. No other process would explain why Excedrin and bufferin were a perfect match for Unknown A and Unknown B. There are other