Forensic Science Research Paper

First of all, forensic science is the application of math and science in criminal investigations in order to prove someone’s innocence or guilt in the court of law.Forensic science includes many different fields that need the application of math, such as: Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Forensic Mathematics, Forensic Reconstruction, Forensic Technology, and Latent Print Identification. Forensic scientists use measurements, proportions, trigonometry, and probabilities in order to bring forth and rule out possible suspects by providing evidence that suggests who was involved, when and how the crime was possibly committed. Forensic Anthropology is the study of the human body and social relationships which can be
related to Forensic Reconstruction in that they use the measurements of the victim’s bones or corpse in order to figure out who the victim is. For instance, forensic scientists measure the subpubic angle with a protractor in order to figure out whether the victim was a female or a male, a female will have an angle greater than 90 degrees and a male will be less than 90 degrees, with these measurements they rule out gender which decreases the amount of suspects. They are also able to figure out gender and race by the measuring the width and length of the nasal opening using calipers. The measurements of one bone can help determine the height, gender, or race of the victim. The length of a bone, the femur, is used to determine whether the victim was a female or male using the formulas: 69.084+2.238f for a man and 61.412+2.317f for a woman. The body can determine the time of death- when the crime occurred and where. Forensic scientists measure the temperature of the victim’s body and the temperature of the area in which the body was found using Newton’s Law of Cooling which states that a nude body at 18 to 20 degrees celsius cools at a rate of 1.5 degrees celsius in the first eight hours, implying that the longer the body is at the crime scene, the closer the body’s temperature is to the temperature of its surrounding so Forensic scientists use the Glaister equation or also considered Algor Mortis: 98.4°F - internal temperature/1.5 which will equal the time of death. Another way these scientists figure out time of death is the color of the body, the longer the body has been dead the more bruised the body appears. Using the measurements that the forensic anthropologists determine, they can reconstruct the face and body using clay, sketches, or digitally in order to identify victims. Therefore, forensic anthropologists and reconstructionists use body/ bone measurements for identification. In addition, forensic reconstructionists use measurements in order to not only construct a model of the victim’s face/ body, but they also utilize measurements to recreate the crime scene. These mathematicians can determine the height and weight of a suspect or the victim just by the length and depth of the strides in a crime scene. Skid marks of a car are also helpful in determining at what speed the driver was driving at, which could identify if the cause of death was due to speeding, driving under the influence which can be revealed by the forensic chemists and toxicologists with the analysis of the victim’s blood. They use the formula: velocity= length of car divided by the friction to determine the velocity of the car at impact.
Trigonometry is used in trajectories of blood splatters to determine the height of the suspect, the possible gender, whether the suspect is right or left handed, the possible weapon used to kill the victim, and how hard the victim was hit with the weapon.Forensic scientists use the law of sines to determine the angle at which the the attacker attacked the victim and they use tangent to determine the height of the attacker.
To find the tangent angle, they divide the height of the victim by the distance and to find the height, they divide the tangent angle by the distance. Forensic scientists analyze the blood using chromatology to identify an unknown substance in the victim’s or suspect’s blood sample. To find out if there is an unknown substance in the blood sample, they divide the distance of the component color in ink moves from the origin in millimeters and the distance the liquid solvent has moved from the origin in millimeters, which will help isolate unknown substances. Forensic scientists also measure the height of the blood splatter on a surface, such as a wall, the density of the blood, and how much it has dropped to determine the height of the suspect, the density is used to determine the distance between the suspect and the victim, and how long it has dropped is used to determine the time of the crime. Therefore, forensic scientists use math in blood analysis to determine any unknown substances and they measure distance and height of blood splatters to determine the height of the suspect, the possible murder weapon used by determining the angle and force of the
injury.
Forensic scientists also help to identify suspects and victims by their fingerprints. They measure the distance between the grooves of the fingerprints in order to find a specific pattern, such as the arch or left loop. As well as using their fingerprints, the victim can also be identified by their teeth. Forensic scientists measure the arc width and the crown width for age estimation.
In conclusion, Forensic science uses trigonometry, measurements, and probability to determine who was involved in the crime and when and how was it committed. Forensic scientists use math and science to find clues that can help solve a crime by presenting their mathematical and scientific findings in the court of law.