Question

During an investigation of a robbery case in a house, Inspector Roy came to know that the thief had entered
the kitchen and by mistake spilled turmeric on the floor. He ordered the constable to put some soap solution
on the hands of all the servants in the house, in order to catch the thief. Can you explain the reason behind this?

Answer 1

Answer:

because soap contains base and turmeric is a natural indicator it changes its colour

Answer 2

The basic reason behind this is that the turmeric present on the hand of the thief will react to the soap solution and change its color thus helping the Inspector to catch the thief.

• Yellow-colored turmeric is a naturally occurring chemical.
• Turmeric compound is an acid-base indicator; when acid or neutral solutions are added to it, it stays yellow.
• It turns pinkish-red when basic solutions, like sodium hydroxide, are applied to it.
• Since turmeric changes color when an acid or base is present or missing, it is also used as a natural indicator.
• The active component in turmeric is curcumin, an acid-base indicator that is yellow in acidic and neutral solutions and orange or reddish-brown in basic solutions.
• So, in the given scenario, the thief had spilled turmeric which had also spilled on his hands.
• When the soap solution would be put on his hands, the turmeric would react with the soap and give reddish-brown color.
• The other servants with no turmeric will have no change in color as their hands will be neutral.
• Hence, the thief can be caught by looking at the color of his hands.

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