Forensic Science 5.1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forensic Science 5.1 - Essay Example Carbon strip involves the use of an activated carbon strip to absorb the vapors from debris and then mixed with a solvent for analysis. Solvent wash is used when the debris cannot be easily vaporized due to high boiling point. Subsequently after sample preparation gas chromatography is used to separate the chemicals for identification and assessment (Gaensslen, 2008). 2. There are two main objectives of investigating a fire scene: (1) to identify the cause of fire and (2) its origin. Since fires burn upwards, the burn patterns are important in trying to understand the direction or fire and how it possibly started. Then points of origin are looked for to analyze the origins of fire. 3. Whenever an explosive detonates, it causes much more damage than the usual fire. Explosions are characterized by a special kind of combustion that occurs more quickly and is capable of giving off large amounts of heat quite quickly. Hence, the intensity of an explosion is great. Igniters, primers, or detonators are used along with main charge that causes a lot of damage when they explode. 4. Chromatography is common separation and analysis technique common to both in investigating an explosive or fire debris. Infrared spectrography is more common for analyzing explosives in addition to gas chromatography. However, the nature of an explosion differs greatly from a normal fire. 5. Examination of an unexploded device is different because unlike having debris or other physical evidence, unexploded devices have to rendered safe, examined for all the components, and identified in terms of their chemical make-up. However, exploded devices involve microscopic investigation and gas chromatography. 11. Trace evidences are small-sized physical evidences that are used to make connections between criminal and/or victim. Transfer materials on the other hand are those that are found on objects as a result of being transferred because of contact (Gaensslen, 2008). 14. A control sample