Luminol Experiment Lab Report

The purpose of my experiment is to determine which temperature will allow Luminol to glow at its greatest capacity. My hypothesis is that the glow will illuminate for the longest time in a cold temperature because it will take longer to dissolve. I also predict that in the warmer temperature, the glow will be at it’s brightest. Luminol is a chemical, which exhibits chemiluminescence with a blue glow. It is a solid that is soluble in most polar solvents, but insoluble in water. Luminol is widely used by forensic investigators to detect even the slightest amounts of blood. The blue light is given off when iron is present in the blood. This means that iron serves as the catalyst in the light-producing chemical reaction. The Luminol first reacts with the hydroxide molecules to form two negative charges, or dianion. The dianion then reacts with oxygen to form a 5-aminophtalic acid and nitrogen gas. After, the oxygen forms with the hydrogen peroxide and the
When investigating, they prepare a solution of Luminol, sodium hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide and spray it where they want to investigate. Any iron present in the blood will catalyze the chemical reaction and illuminate. This lets the investigator know the location of the blood. Even trace amounts can be located with this method. The glow that is given off lasts for about 30 seconds. This method can especially work well when the investigators are not sure whether the stains present in a room is genuine. This experiment will test at what temperature will this reaction work best. This information will be useful for crime scene investigators because knowing what temperature works best; they can adapt to it and be more productive. I chose this topic because forensic science is really interesting to me. I also find it interesting that when the crime scene investigator looks for blood, they use Luminol to be able to see even the smallest traces of