The Math of Forensic Science

Candidate number: 001218-0055 May 2014 Diploma Session

Introduction: Since I was a c ild! I was always intri"ued by t e #ield o# #orensic science$ %atc in" CSI: Miami and &aw ' (rder: S)*! I was e+posed to t e wonders o# #in"erprint identi#ication! blood spatter analysis! and e,en bullet tra-ectory$ .owe,er! bac/ t en! it didn0t occur to me t e comple+ity and t e relations ip t at t is #ield ad to mat $ It wasn0t until I be"an learnin" t e #undamentals o# mat and t e application o# mat ematics in t e real world t at I disco,ered t e role mat played in t is speci#ic #ield$ 1 is e+ploration will e+plore t e use o# mat ematics! more speci#ically tri"onometry and calculus in t e #ield o# #orensic science to "i,e me an in dept understandin" o# its role in crime scene in,esti"ations$ 2ein" in my second semester o# senior year! I am still uncertain to a certain e+tent o# w at ma-or I want to pursue #or an under"raduate de"ree and w at career I want to ac ie,e$ .a,in" always lo,ed mat as its application ceases to ama3e me! in,esti"atin" ow it is used in #orensic science will elp me determine w et er or not I want to pursue a de"ree in #orensic science or in criminolo"y$ *nderstandin" ow w at I a,e learned in mat t rou" out t e years can be applied to situations suc as #orensic science will eit er ma/e me reali3e t at I want to pursue somet in" mat related 4#orensic science5 or not 4criminolo"y5$

Basics of Blood Spatter Analysis: % en #orensic scientists are presented wit a crime scene t at in,ol,ed blood w et er it be a murder! rape or simply a bur"lary! t ey must correctly identi#y t e pattern o# t e blood spatter to accurately determine t e source and try and #i"ure out w at appened and i# t e eyewitness testimonies matc up wit t e e,idence #ound$ 2asically! t ey need to #i"ure out t in"s li/e w o t e perpetrator was! was t e person de#endin" t emsel,es! or e,en w en6w ere t e attac/ was started$ 7ll o# t is o# course! depends on t e nature o# t at speci#ic case owe,er! "enerally! t ey are loo/in" to determine w at appened$ 1 ey may also use t is to determine t e ei" t o# t e ,ictim or t e type o# weapon used$

Trigonometry to Determine Blood Spatter: Simple tri"onometry #unctions can be used to calculate t e impact an"le t at causes t e blood droplet$ 1 e impact an"le is used to re#er to t e an"le #ormed w en t e ori3ontal a+is by an ob-ect ittin" a plane sur#ace$ 1 is can be done by measurin" t e len"t and widt o# t e bloodstain and usin" t e simple sine rule$ 1 en! t e in,erse o# t e sine rule is #ound usin" a

calculator to determine t e an"le$ 1 e len"t o# t e bloodstain is used #or t e ypotenuse and t e widt is t e opposite side o# t e an"le$ sine8 opposite6 ypotenuse 1 e use o# mat ematics t at is used is simply astonis in"! as people o#ten wonder w en t ey will e,er use mat in t eir daily li#e or w en mat is e,er use#ul but in reality! e,eryt in" as some sort o# mat ematics #undamental9 7 new #ormula as been created to determine t e w et er or not a ,ictim too/ a blow standin" up or not$ 1 is #ormula elps #orensics analysts :uic/ly eliminate possibilities to "et closer to t e trut in a s orter amount o# time$ ;ot only does mat elp #ind t e source! but it also sa,es

in,esti"ators time$ 1 is #ormula ta/es into account t e ei" t o# two drops and not only one as t e pre,ious tec ni:ue did$ It tells w et er or not t e blood spatters came #rom t e same source$ % ile analysts may attempt to use lo"ical reasonin" to determine t is! it is necessary to a,e ,alid e,idence! ence t e use o# mat ematics$ 1 is tells t e person0s position w ereas t e pre,ious e+ample told t e w ere t e direction and area t e blood came #rom$

<0 re#ers to t e ei" t o# t e blood w en it le#t t e body 11 re#ers to tan"ent o# t e an"le o# #irst drop ittin" t e "round 12 re#ers to tan"ent o# t e an"le o# second drop ittin" t e "round r2 re#ers to ori3ontal distance o# t e #irst drop r1 re#ers to ori3ontal distance o# t e second drop 1 e lon" a+is o# t e blood spatter can be used to determine t e area and point o# con,er"ence$ 1 e point o# con,er"e is t e area w ere two blood spatters meet$ 7 line is drawn #rom t e lon" a+is o# eac blood spatter and t e point w ere t ey all meet is /nown as t e area o# con,er"ence! w ic is t e place w ere t e blood ori"inated #rom$ 1 is is done usin" somet in" /nown as t e =strin"in"> met od$ 1 is allows t e analysts to determine w ere t e ,ictim was$ 1 ere are pro"rams suc as .emoSpat and 2ac/1rac/ t at does t e mat automatically and calculates t e an"le o# impact and all associated mat suc as t e area o# ori"in w ic uses more complicated

mat ematical processes$$ 7n e+ample s owin" ow t e area o# con,er"ence is #ound is s own

below$ Logarithms and determining when a person deceased: *sin" ;ewton0s ?rinciple o# Coolin"! an e:uation usin" lo"arit ms elps #orensic scientists in determinin" w en a person was /illed or died$ 1 e #ormula is as #ollows:

t re#ers to t e time 1 is t e temperature measured in o@ At is t e constant room temperature Ima"inary Scenerio ?olice o##icers were called to a par/in" lot w ere t ey #ound a dead body$ *pon arri,al! t e coroner c ec/ed t e temperature o# dead person$ 1 is was around 10:B0 pm$ 1 e temperature was #ound to be CD$5o @$ &et0s assume t at t e room temperature was D0$0o @$ 1 e time o# deat is calculated as #ollows:

t E 8$5 ours 8 8 ours B0 minutes 10:B0 pm-8 ours B0 mins 8 2:00 pm 7ppro+imate time o# deat : 2:00 p$m 1 is in#ormation is t en "i,en to police o##icers or detecti,es to determine t in"s li/e i# t ere was somet in" stran"e about t e ,ictims w ereabouts at t at time o# day! or e,en possibly to rule o# suspects w o a,e an alibi #or t at time$

Conclusion 7#ter studyin" and ac/nowled"in" ow muc mat composes #orensic science! to me! it seems as i# wit out mat t is #ield would not only be di##icult! but completely non-e+istent$ It ma/es me wonder ow our ancestors sol,ed crimes wit out t e #undamentals o# t is sub-ect$ 7lso! to me! #orensic science0s bac/bone is mat $ Mat is w at ma/es us t e sub-ect$ 7s seen wit t e blood spatter! wit out ta/in" into account w ere t e blood came #rom or w ere t e person w o is t e ,ictim was positioned! ow would we be able to determine or e,en rule out possible suspectsF Seems impossible to me$ @orensic science is a part o# law en#orcement w ic is a crucial part o# society no matter w at country! re"ion! or e,en continent$ .owe,er! speci#ically wit in t e *nited States! as crime rates are risin"! t e demand #or t e use o# #orensic science is increasin" and t at means t at more wor/ needs to be done in a s orter period o# time$ 7lso! since crimes are a ,ery sensiti,e topic! it is important #or scientists to remain as accurate and close as possible to t e trut $ *sin" mat ! #orensic scientists are able to more precisely reconstruct a crime scene and determine certain aspects t at are ,ital to sol,in" t e crime in a s orter period o# time$ 1 e

application o# mat ematics in t is #ield is #ascinatin" but most importantly! it is an e+treme necessity$

%or/s cited
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