FORENSIC SCIENCE - FINAL EXAM REVIEW
Unit 1: Lab Safety Quiz
Multiple Choice:
1. _____When you are finished with your lab, place your used chemicals
a) In the trash
b) Where your teacher tells you
c) Down the sink
d) Back in the original containers
2. _____To find out the odor of a substance you should
a) Waft the fumes toward your nose
b) Heat it up
c) Sniff directly into the container
d) Stir it briskly
3. _____When working with a flame and hazardous chemicals, always wear
a) Gloves
b) Apron
c) Goggles
d) All of the above
4. _____Eating and drinking is
a) Sometimes permitted in the lab
b) Always permitted in the lab
c) Usually permitted in the lab
d) Never permitted in the lab
5. _____If you wear contact lenses, you should
a) Tell your lab partner
b) Not have to wear goggles
c) Tell your instructor
d) Not tell anyone
6. _____If you spill a chemical, the first thing you should do is
a) Rinse it down the sink
b) Notify your teacher
c) Mix it with other chemicals
d) Wipe it up with a towel
7. _____The only type of shoes that should be worn during labs are
a) Sandals
b) Open-toed shoes
c) Flip-flops
d) Closed-toed shoes
8. _____Which of the following is against lab rules
a) Long, loose clothing
b) Flammable clothing
c) Dangling jewelry
d) All of the above
9. _____Horse play in the lab is
a) Never allowed
b) Okay
c) Not dangerous
d) Fine if you are working at the same time
10. _____Goggles should be worn
a) Some of the time
b) When you feel like it
c) During every lab
d) Only if you do not wear contacts or glasses
11. _____To put out a fire on someone’s hair or clothing use
a) A fire extinguisher
b) A fire blanket
c) Water from sink
d) The safety shower
12. _____When heating test tubes, always point them
a) At the ceiling
b) At yourself
c) At your lab partner
d) Away from all people
13. _____If diluting an acid always place the
a) Acid into the water
b) Water into the acid
c) Acid into the base
d) Base into the acid
14. _____Material safety data sheets (MSDS) can tell you all of the following except
a) Chemical properties
b) First aid measures
c) How much the chemical costs
d) Handling and storage
15. _____You need to notify the teacher of the following
a) Any spills
b) Any broken glassware
c) Both a and b
d) Neither a or b
Scientific Method
Multiple Choice
_____1. The first step in the scientific method is
a. Making observations
b. Conducting experiments
c. Analyzing data
d. Defining the problem/asking the question
_____2. To gather information, we can
a. Read books
b. Ask questions
c. Use our senses to study things
d. All of the above
_____3. When we make an educated guess we are forming
a. Data
b. A hypothesis
c. Variables
d. A factor
_____4. Our recorded observations are called
a. Data
b. Control factors
c. Hypotheses
d. Experiments
_____5. At the end of the scientific method, we must state a
a. Purpose
b. Question
c. Hypothesis
d. Conclusion
_____6. Every experiment must have only one
a. Variable
b. Step
c. Measurement
d. Object
True or False (T or F)
7. The first step of the scientific process is testing the hypothesis.
a) True
b) False
8. Sometimes, steps of the scientific process must be repeated.
a) True
b) False
9. Every experiment should have at least three experimental factors or variables.
a) True
b) False
10. A control group is a factor that is missing the variable, but is the same as other factors in
every other way.
a) True
b) False
Unit 2: Careers in Forensic Science
True or False
1) Forensic Pathology is a branch of medicine used for legal purposes and concerned
with determining causes of death, examination of injuries due to crime and negligence, and
examination of tissue samples relevant to crimes.
a) True
b) False
2) Medical Examiners are county-elected officials.
a) True
b) False
3) Criminalists are also known as Criminologists.
a) True
b) False
4) The ABC certifies forensic scientists.
a) True
b) False
5) Forensic Toxicologists analyze and identify drugs that are confiscated from criminals.
a) True
b) False
6) Who is concerned with failure analysis, accident reconstruction, and causes and
origins of fires or explosions?
a) Criminalist
b) Document Examiner
c) Forensic Engineer
d) Forensic Ordontologist
7) What is the sub-discipline of forensic science that identifies and compares dental
evidence such as bitemarks?
a) Forensic odontology
b) Forensic toxicology
c) Forensic psychiatry
d) Forensic anthropology
8) Who evaluates behavioral disorders and determines whether defendants are
competent to stand trial?
a) Criminalist
b) Criminologist
c) Toxicologist
d) Document Examiner
9) What education is required to be a criminologist?
a) Bachelor of Science in Sociology
b) Bachelor of Science in Psychology
c) Higher than a Bachelor of Science in either one
d) All of these may apply
10) Which organization is generally sought to certify or accredit crime laboratories?
a) International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
b) American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors-Laboratory Accreditation Board
(ASCLD-LAB)
c) a & b
d) None of the above
Unit 3: Legal Systems
Multiple Choice
1) _____ What type of evidence puts most innocent people in jail?
a) Direct Evidence
b) Class Evidence
c) Indirect Evidence
d) None of the above
2) _____ Implies a fact without necessarily proving it
a) Direct Evidence
b) Individual Evidence
c) Indirect Evidence
d) None of the above
3) _____ Testimonial Evidence is not reliable if
a) The witness is middle aged
b) A short amount of time has passed
c) The witness has already identified another suspect
d) None of the above
4) _____ Evidence that is linked to a unique source
a) Individual Evidence
b) Direct Evidence
c) Class Evidence
d) Indirect Evidence
5) _____ The relevance and ability of evidence to prove a crime (in a court of law) is its
a) Promising Value
b) Probative Value
c) Valid Evidence
d) All of the above
Unit 4: Crime Scene Investigation
Multiple Choice
_____1) Observing a crime scene involves what two things?
a) Initial walkthrough and plan of action
b) Walkthrough and search pattern
c) Collecting evidence and taking notes
d) Sketching the crime scene and photography
_____2) Who should certify that a body is “dead” at a crime scene?
a) First officer on scene
b) Medical examiner
c) Lead CSI investigator
d) Paramedic
_____3) The key to taking notes is what?
a) The legend
b) Scale
c) Shorthand
d) Details
_____4) All of the following would be considered fixed points except
a) Door
b) Wall
c) Desk
d) Window
_____5) The window of opportunity to collect time-sensitive information or evidence is
known as
a) The Golden Hour
b) Immediate Response
c) Locard’s Exchange Hour
d) Chain of Custody
Unit 5: Forensic Glass Analysis
Matching
a. Radial fracture
b. Concentric fracture
c. Silicon dioxide
d. Obsidian
e. Amorphous
f. Refraction
g. Density
h. Refraction index
i. Becke line
j. Glass
1._____ A measure of how light bends as it passes from one substance to another
2._____ The ratio of the mass of an object to its volume, expressed by the equation X =
mass/volume
3._____ Volcanic glass
4._____ A hard, amorphous, transparent material made by heating a mixture of sand and
other additives
5._____ Without shape or form; applied to glass, it refers to having particles that are
arranged randomly instead of in a definite pattern
6._____ SiO2 the chemical name for silica
7._____ A crack in the glass that extends outward like the spoke of a wheel from the point
at which the glass was struck
8._____ The line created as refracted light becomes concentrated around the edges of the
glass fragment
9._____ The change in the direction of light as it changes speed when moving from one
substance into another
10.____ A crack in the glass from a rough circle around the point of impact
Multiple Choice
11.____ Glass containing lead oxide.
a. Soda lime glass
b. Leaded glass
c. Tempered glass
d. Laminated glass
12.____ Two sheets of ordinary glass bonded together with a plastic film
a. Soda lime glass
b. Leaded glass
c. Tempered glass
d. Laminated glass
13.____ The most common glass, which is inexpensive, and easy to melt and shape
a. Soda lime glass
b. Leaded glass
c. Tempered glass
d. Laminated glass
14.____ Glass which is strengthened by introducing stress through rapid heating and
cooling of its surface.
a. Soda lime glass
b. Leaded glass
c. Tempered glass
d. Laminated glass
15.____ What is the main ingredient in glass?
a. Sand
b. Soda (NaCO)
c. Metal oxides
d. Lime (CaO)
16.____ Tempered glass is used in
a. Windshields in autos manufactured in the United States
b. Crystal stemware
c. The side and rear windows of autos manufactured in the United States
d. Both b and c
17.____ Flotation is a method used by scientists to determine the ______ of a particle of
glass.
a. Weight
b. Density
c. Temperature
d. Refraction index
18.____ When a bullet penetrates a panel of glass, it leaves a crater shaped hole that
a. Is wider on the exit side
b. Is wider on the entrance side
c. Forms randomly; the direction of impact cannot be determined by its appearance
d. Both b and c
19.____ Which statement is true about the fracturing of glass?
a. Concentric fractures form first on the same side as the destructive force
b. Radial cracks form afterwards, starting on the same side as the destructive force
c. Radial cracks and concentric fractures are formed simultaneously
d. Radial cracks appear first starting on the side opposite the destructive force
20.____ A piece of glass is immersed in a liquid, and it proceeds to float on the surface.
This shows that the density of the glass is _____ the density of the liquid.
a. Equal to
b. Less than
c. More than
d. Not comparable
Unit 6: Forensic Use of Light
Multiple Choice
______1. Hair viewed for forensic investigations is studied both macroscopically and
microscopically. Macroscopic observation might be done with a __________, while
microscopic observation would be done with a ____________.
a) Microscope, electron microscope
b) Spectrophotometer, stereomicroscope
c) Stereomicroscope, compound microscope
d) All of the above
______2. Many dyes and other hair treatments will fluoresce under a certain color
(wavelength) of light. In a fluorescence microscope, a beam of light of a certain color is
used. If the sample contains particular chemicals, it will absorb some of the light and then
reemit light of a different color. This is called
a) Fluorescence
b) Effervescence
c) Incandescence
d) None of the above
______3. Two methods that can analyze fibers are
a) Polarizing light microscopy and infrared spectroscopy
b) Polarizing light spectroscopy and infrared microscopy
c) Heat and light
d) None of the above
______4. A forensic light source should include
a) All wavelengths of light (including some outside of the visible)
b) White light
c) Black light
d) All of the above
______5. The refractive index is a tool used to study how light bends as it passes through
a) Three or more substances
b) One substance and into another
c) Four or more substances
d) None of the above
______6. When light travels through any medium other than a vacuum, the particles in that
medium slow the light down. As the density of the medium increases, the
a) Speed of light passing through that material increases
b) Speed of light passing through that material decreases
c) Amount of light passing through that material decreases
d) None of the above
______7. The speed of light passing through air is slightly
a) Slower than the speed of light passing through a vacuum, because air is slightly denser
than a vacuum
b) Faster than the speed of light passing through a vacuum, because air is slightly denser
than a vacuum
c) Slower than the speed of light, because air is slightly less dense than air traveling at the
speed of light
d) None of the above
______8. Refraction
a) Describes the behavior of light as it travels through time
b) Describes the behavior of light as it travels from one part of one medium into a different
part in the same medium
c) Describes the behavior of light as it travels from one medium into a different medium
d) Describes the behavior of light as it brightens
______9. One method of determining if the evidence glass matches the glass from the
crime scene is to compare the
a) Index of the evidence glass to the index of the glass from the crime scene
b) Refractive index of the evidence glass to the refractive index of the glass from the crime
scene
c) Reflective index of the evidence glass to the reflective index of the glass from the crime
scene
d) None of the above
______10. The submersion method involves placing the glass fragment into different liquids
of known refractive indexes. If a piece of glass and a liquid have the same refractive index,
the glass fragment will seem
a) Larger when placed in the liquid
b) Smaller when placed in the liquid
c) To disappear when placed in the liquid
d) To reappear when placed in the liquid
______11. If the refractive indexes of several different liquids are known, the
a) Submersion method can be used to estimate the refractive index of the glass
b) Submersion method can be used to estimate the reflective index of the glass
c) Reflective method can be used to estimate the refractive index of the glass
d) Reflective method can be used to estimate the submersion index of the glass
______12. If the refractive index of the liquid medium is different than the refractive index of
the piece of glass, a halo-like ring appears around the edge of the glass. This halo-like
effect is called a
a) Becke quotient
b) Becke edge
c) Becke line
d) Becker edge
______13. While photographing and recording tool mark evidence, the expert searches the
surface of the tool mark for bits of foreign material using
a) Digital imaging
b) Oblique lighting
c) An electron microscope
d) None of the above
______14. The dual-theory of light explains that light behaves like
a) A fire and a flashlight
b) A candle and a light bulb
c) A particle and a wave
d) An electron and a photon
______15. What causes the emission of light?
a) A photon moving down an energy level, hitting an electron
b) A wave of light
c) An energized electron moving down an energy level, hitting a photon
d) None of the above
______16. Which of the following are properties of light and describe light behavior?
a) Emission
b) Absorption
c) Intensity
d) All of the above
______17. Dispersion is when white light passes through a prism and is
a) Broken up into its individual wavelengths/frequencies
b) Broken up according to wave speed
c) A property related to interaction and refraction
d) Both a and c
______18. What property of light does a spectrophotometer use?
a) Refractive Index
b) Dispersion
c) Intensity
d) None of the above
______19. What do a compound microscope, a magnifying glass, and a camera all have in
common?
a) The use of convex lenses to magnify small objects for observation
b) The use of concave lenses to magnify large objects for observation
c) The use of convex lenses to magnify small objects for observation and/or concave lenses
to bring large object into focus
d) None of the above
______ 20. When shown on hair/fiber this creates an interference/diffraction pattern that
can be used to calculate the diameter of the fiber/hair.
a) Magnifying Glass
b) Refractometer
c) Spectrophotometer
d) Scanning Electron Microscope
Unit 7: Forensic Paint Analysis
Matching
A. Basecoat
B. Binder
C. Clearcoat
D. Color
E. Electrocoat Primer
F. Emission Spectrograph
G. Hit-and-Run
H. Infrared
I. Microscope
J. Paint Data Query
K. Paint Layers
L. Primer Surfacer
M. Pyrolysis
N. Quarter-inch
O. Uncontaminated Paint
_____1. The most important instrument for comparing paint chips
_____2. The layer of automobile paint that contains the actual color of the vehicle
_____3. A component of paint that is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent
_____4. The unpigmented paint layer that adds gloss and durability
_____5. Something an examiner would observe to match the number and sequence of
colors
_____6. The most distinctive forensic characteristic of paint
_____7. The layer of automobile paint that hides imperfections
_____8. The process of heating a paint sample to high temperatures until it transforms into
a gas
_____9. Radiation absorbed by paint binders to yield a spectrum that is unique to a
specimen
____10. One of the most common types of crime in which paint analysis is used
____11. The database that provides information about automobile paint
____12. The layer of automobile paint applied directly to the steel body for corrosion
resistance
____13. Capable of detecting 15 – 20 elements in auto paint simultaneously
____14. Should be collected from an undamaged area as a reference for comparison in a
hit-and-run case
____15. The minimum size of a paint sample for analysis