Last week I received a call from Alexa Anderson, a resident of Westfield. When she turned on her faucet for a glass of water, a strange reddish brown substance came out. She called a few of her neighbors and found out that the reddish brown substance was coming out of their water pipes, too. My lab uses chemistry to identify unknown substances, so I went to Westfield to take some samples. I took a sample of the water coming out of the pipes and another sample from the well where the neighborhood's water comes from. I analyzed the samples and made an interesting discovery. The water coming out of the pipes contains the mysterious reddish brown substance, but I didn't find any of the reddish brown substance in the water sample that I took from the well. However, I did find something else. It appears that some fertilizer from a nearby farm seeped into the water in the well. We need more analysis in order to identify the reddish brown substance, but, unfortunately, my lab is busy with other projects right now. Student chemists, I need your help to get to the bottom of this mystery. The residents of Westfield need answers! what did you observe about the sample of the pipe substance?

what did you observe about the sample of fertilizer?

what did you observe about the sample of the redish-brown substance?

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