cocaine is a white solid that melts at 98c when pure. A forensic chemist working for the New York City Police Department has a white solid believed to be cocaine. What can the chemist do to quickly determine whether the sample is cocaine and whether it is pure or a mixture?
Chemist can determine the physical properties of white solid like colour, its nature wheather the compound is amorphous or crystalline, its solubility, odour etc and finally chemist can check the melting point of the compound, if the compound is pure cocaine it will melt at 98 oC, if the compound is impure it may melt at temperature few degrees above or below the given melting point, to confirm further the sample should be sent to laboratory for standard tests.
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