Forensics Ch. 5, 6, 7 & FINALS Study Guide
Name: ______________________
FINALS STUDY GUIDE
Chapter 1
1. Who is the man known as the father of toxicology? Orfillia
2. Who was the scientist that introduced the use of fingerprints as a method of ID?
Galton
3. Which scientist developed a technique for blood grouping? Lattes
4. Who made (or developed) the first workable crime lab?
Locard
5. What is the largest crime lab in the world? FBI
6. Which unit studies body fluids and organs for drugs and poisons? Toxicology
7. What is the Frye Standard?
The concept of “general acceptance” of scientific evidence
8. What crimes could you find bite marks as evidence?
Child abuse, murder, assault
9. What are the criteria for an expert witness?
Skilled, Educated, Experienced
10. What is the study of teeth markings as it relates to forensics?
Odontology
11. What is the study of insects in a criminal investigation?
Entomology
Chapter 2
12. What is the responsibility of the first officer on the scene of a crime?
Secure the area, remove people from the area
13. What is the advantage of using a CAD program?
Scaled, more accurate sketch with dimensions – suitable for courtroom
presentation
14. What are the types of physical evidence you might find at the scene of a hit and
run?
Tire marks; car part; dents; chips of paint; blood; hair and fabric; skin on the
glass; broken glass from headlight
15. What are the criteria for collecting blood samples?
Paper bags to prevent accumulation of moisture
16. What is the reason for the collection of a standard reference?
To compare it to crime scene evidence
17. What happens in the ocular fluid of the eye post mortem?
An increase in potassium levels due to the release of potassium from inner
surface cells of the eyeball
18. What insects are the first to arrive at a dead body?
Blow flies
19. Differentiate between rigor and algor mortis and describe how each is used to
determine approximate time of death. (Cpt. 1)
Rigor mortis is stiffening of muscles and algor mortis is the loss of body temp
per hour after death
Chapter 3
20. How can a pathologist determine if a body has been moved?
Livor mortis
21. Give examples of class evidence commonly found at crime scenes.
Blood, paint
22. Compare class evidence and individual evidence.
Class = tied to a group of people
Individual = single person
Physical evidence that is individual is less likely than class evidence
(easier to find class then individual)
23. What role does class evidence play in linking or exonerating a suspect?
Comparing the standard reference sample (control) with evidence at the crime
scene or from the suspect
Chapter 4
24. Define physical property.
Describes the behavior a substance without reference to any other substance
25. Give examples of physical properties of substances.
Boiling point, color, weight, state of matter,
26. List some intensive properties of matter.
Density, refractive index, temperature, specific heat
27. How is density determined?
Mass per unit volume
28. If an object has a greater density than the medium in which it is placed, what will it
do?
Sink
29. What is the first step you completed in soil analysis?
Comparison of dried soil sample for color and texture
30. How is tempered glass used?
Sides and rear windows of US autos
31. What are the main ingredients of glass?
Sand, silicon oxides and metal oxides
32. Describe what happens when a projectile impacts glass.
Radial cracks appear first on opposite side of force, concentric cracks go around
the entrance, and the exit side is larger than the entrance side.
Chapters 5, 6, 7
33. Give an example of an element. How many known elements are there?
Aluminum Al, Over 115 known elements
34. What is chromatography?
A technique of separating and tentatively identifying the components of a
mixture
35. What is retention time?
The time required for a substance to travel through the gas chromatographic
column is a useful identifying characteristic
36. Define spectrometry.
The study of the absorption of light by chemical substance
37. How is the magnification power of microscope determined?
Objective lens multiplied by ocular (eyepiece) lens
38. Which type of microscope and light would you use to examine a bullet?
Comparison, reflected
39. What type of illumination is used to view opaque objects?
Vertical or reflected
40. What is the role of the condenser?
To collect light rays from the base illuminator and concentrates them on the
specimen
Chapter 8 – Hair, Fibers, & Paint
1. Define cuticle.
Outside covering of the hair formed from overlapping scales that point toward the tip of the hair
2. Define cortex.
Within the cuticle and made up of spindle shaped cortical, pigment granules that give hair color
3. Define medulla.
The central canal in the hair, can be continuous, interrupted, or fragmented
4. What part of hair imparts color?
Cortex
5. What is the most prevalent plant fiber?
Cotton
6. Before the 20th century, how were all fibers classified?
Natural
7. What properties are examined when comparing 2 fibers?
Color, Diameter, Birefringence, The presence or absence of delustering particles
8. Identify the parts of paint.
Solvent, pigment, binder
9. How can paint chips be individualized to a single source?
Color and layer structure
10. Define polymer.
A substance composed of a large number of atoms that are usually arranged in repeating units
11. How is the polymer makeup of paint binders analyzed?
Pyrolysis gas chromatography