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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > April  >
In the Classroom
Teaching with Problems and Case Studies
The Analysis of a Murder, a Case Study
Frank J. Dinan, Steven H. Szczepankiewicz, Melinda Carnahan, and Michael T. Colvin
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY 14208
Cover
April 2007
Vol. 84 No. 4
p. 617
Abstract
In this forensic chemistry case study, the torso of a young boy is found floating in London's River Thames. To determine the boy's origin, Scotland Yard enlists the aid of a professor who researches strontium distribution worldwide. The strontium concentration in the soils of a region is proportional to the concentration of strontium in the bones of the inhabitants of that region. The strontium concentration in the boy's bones indicates that he is from Nigeria. Analysis of bone samples collected throughout Nigeria allows the police to narrow the victim's origin to a small area of that country. Clever detective work leads to the apprehension of the likely perpetrator of the crime. In the laboratory, students perform strontium determinations, use these data to locate the victim's origin, and act as detectives to formulate a plan to apprehend his murderer(s). The case is also useable in "dry-lab" form to teach data handling and statistics in general chemistry and nonscience major chemistry courses.
Supplement
Case study, experimental procedures, dry-lab data and procedures for the instructor and students are available.
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Citation
Dinan, Frank J.; Szczepankiewicz, Steven H.; Carnahan, Melinda; Colvin, Michael T. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 617.
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Keywords
Analytical Chemistry; Applications of Chemistry; Atomic Spectroscopy; Collaborative / Cooperative Learning; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Hands-On Learning / Manipulatives; Humor / Puzzles / Games; Instrumental Methods; Laboratory Instruction; Physical Chemistry; Strontium; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
3/6/2007
3/8/2007
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