Forensic Science Final Exam Review
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Forensic Scientists - CORRECT ANSWER use scientific method to collect physical evidence,
deduct reasons, and apply other laws to solve a crime
Physical Science Unit - CORRECT ANSWER -chemists, physicists, geologists
-look at drugs, paint, glass, explosives, soil
Biology Unit - CORRECT ANSWER analyze DNA, bloodstains, body fluids, hair, fibers, and
plant material
Firearms Unit - CORRECT ANSWER -examine firearms, bullets, cartridges, shotgun shells
-determine distance between target and weapon
Document Examination Unit - CORRECT ANSWER examine handwriting, typewriting, ink
and paper, indents, obliterations, erasures, and burned docs
Photography Unit - CORRECT ANSWER take pics of evidence w/ digital imaging, infrared,
UV, or xray photography
Toxicology Unit - CORRECT ANSWER examine body fluids and organs to determine the
presence of drugs or poisons
-1781, Joseph Plenic said that the only way to determine poisoning was through looking for poison in
the organs
Latent Fingerprint Unit - CORRECT ANSWER discover, process, and examine latent prints
(latent prints are left on hard materials)
Polygraph Unit - CORRECT ANSWER uses a lie detector and measures psychological changes
while questioning
,Voiceprint Analysis Unit - CORRECT ANSWER conduct voice comparisons in phone threats
Evidence Collection Unit - CORRECT ANSWER specially trained personnel collect and
preserve evidence
Forensic Pathology - CORRECT ANSWER investigates unnatural, sudden, violent deaths
Forensic Anthropology - CORRECT ANSWER -identifies and examines human skeletons
-thomas dwight is "father of forensic anthropology"
-John Wayne Gacy "Killer Clown" - killed 33 children
Forensic Entomology - CORRECT ANSWER time of death can be determined based on life
cycle phase of insects
Forensic Psychiatry - CORRECT ANSWER determine if people are competent to stand on
trials or make decisons (wills, refusal of treatment)
Forensic Odontology - CORRECT ANSWER identify human remains through teeth, bite mark
analysis
Forensic Engineering - CORRECT ANSWER reconstructs accidents to find origin of fires or
explosions
Psychological Profiling - CORRECT ANSWER investigates an offender's behavior, motives,
and background
Cause of Death - CORRECT ANSWER Cases:
Isadora Duncan - scarf caught in car wheel, almost decapitated, neck broken
Johnstown, PA - baby starved to death because parents had OD'd on heroin and died
Arson and Explosion - CORRECT ANSWER -investigators examine aftermath
,-look for clues, triggers, and residues
-Pan Am Flight 103 - suitcase full of explosives caused the plane to blow up, 270 died
Ballistics - CORRECT ANSWER - each gun leaves unique indents and marks on a bullet or
shell
Cases:
-John Orner - taxi driver, killed and thrown off cliff
-.22 Caliber killer - 1980s, racist, killed many
Archimedes - CORRECT ANSWER 250 BC, king wanted crown of gold, thought he actually
got one of silver and gold. Archimedes tested the density, and the smith was sentenced to death
Antistus - CORRECT ANSWER 40 BC, performed autopsy of Julius Caesar
Song Ci - CORRECT ANSWER 1247 China, "Washing Away of Wrongs," 1st case of forensic
entomology
Mathiew Orfila - CORRECT ANSWER 1823, father of modern toxicology
James Marsh - CORRECT ANSWER 1836, M(ars)h test for (ars)enic
Major LW Atcherley - CORRECT ANSWER 1880s, coined term modus operandi
Alphonse Bertillion - CORRECT ANSWER 1887, developed anthropometry (using body
measurements as a form of ID)
Galton and Henry - CORRECT ANSWER Galton - 8 categories of finger prints
Henry - Henry Classification system
Karl Lansteiner - CORRECT ANSWER 1990 - blood typing groups
, Edomond Locard - CORRECT ANSWER 1904 - Locard's principle of exchange
Theodore Roosevelt - CORRECT ANSWER 1908 - created FBI
Leon Lattes - CORRECT ANSWER 1915 - Lattes test (quick blood test for crime scenes)
Calvin Goddard - CORRECT ANSWER 1920s - comparison microscopes to see if a gun fired a
specific bullet
AFIS (SAFIS) - CORRECT ANSWER Automated Fingerprint Identification System
- arrested people, looking to carry a concealed weapon, crime scene evidence, background checks
William Bass III - CORRECT ANSWER Body farm dude, he made the first one in Knoxville,
TN. Body farms are essentially places where scientists can recreate crime scenes or scenarios to help
the police draw conclusions about a case.
Sir Alec Jeffreys - CORRECT ANSWER used DNA profiling to identify a murderer in England
What year was DNA first used in the US Supreme Court? - CORRECT ANSWER 1989
CODIS - CORRECT ANSWER The DNA database, for convicted felons
Tips to locate a dead body - CORRECT ANSWER Look downhill, variations in soil texture,
different plants, Use dogs, Look for bugs, Aerial pictures and thermal images, chemical analysis of
soil, and electrical field
Modus Operandi - CORRECT ANSWER a particular way or method of doing something,
especially one that is characteristic or well-established (criminal always kills with a certain weapon or
has a certain type of victim)
Locard's Exchange Principle - CORRECT ANSWER Every encounter causes something to be
taken from the scene and left at the scene
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS
Forensic Scientists - CORRECT ANSWER use scientific method to collect physical evidence,
deduct reasons, and apply other laws to solve a crime
Physical Science Unit - CORRECT ANSWER -chemists, physicists, geologists
-look at drugs, paint, glass, explosives, soil
Biology Unit - CORRECT ANSWER analyze DNA, bloodstains, body fluids, hair, fibers, and
plant material
Firearms Unit - CORRECT ANSWER -examine firearms, bullets, cartridges, shotgun shells
-determine distance between target and weapon
Document Examination Unit - CORRECT ANSWER examine handwriting, typewriting, ink
and paper, indents, obliterations, erasures, and burned docs
Photography Unit - CORRECT ANSWER take pics of evidence w/ digital imaging, infrared,
UV, or xray photography
Toxicology Unit - CORRECT ANSWER examine body fluids and organs to determine the
presence of drugs or poisons
-1781, Joseph Plenic said that the only way to determine poisoning was through looking for poison in
the organs
Latent Fingerprint Unit - CORRECT ANSWER discover, process, and examine latent prints
(latent prints are left on hard materials)
Polygraph Unit - CORRECT ANSWER uses a lie detector and measures psychological changes
while questioning
,Voiceprint Analysis Unit - CORRECT ANSWER conduct voice comparisons in phone threats
Evidence Collection Unit - CORRECT ANSWER specially trained personnel collect and
preserve evidence
Forensic Pathology - CORRECT ANSWER investigates unnatural, sudden, violent deaths
Forensic Anthropology - CORRECT ANSWER -identifies and examines human skeletons
-thomas dwight is "father of forensic anthropology"
-John Wayne Gacy "Killer Clown" - killed 33 children
Forensic Entomology - CORRECT ANSWER time of death can be determined based on life
cycle phase of insects
Forensic Psychiatry - CORRECT ANSWER determine if people are competent to stand on
trials or make decisons (wills, refusal of treatment)
Forensic Odontology - CORRECT ANSWER identify human remains through teeth, bite mark
analysis
Forensic Engineering - CORRECT ANSWER reconstructs accidents to find origin of fires or
explosions
Psychological Profiling - CORRECT ANSWER investigates an offender's behavior, motives,
and background
Cause of Death - CORRECT ANSWER Cases:
Isadora Duncan - scarf caught in car wheel, almost decapitated, neck broken
Johnstown, PA - baby starved to death because parents had OD'd on heroin and died
Arson and Explosion - CORRECT ANSWER -investigators examine aftermath
,-look for clues, triggers, and residues
-Pan Am Flight 103 - suitcase full of explosives caused the plane to blow up, 270 died
Ballistics - CORRECT ANSWER - each gun leaves unique indents and marks on a bullet or
shell
Cases:
-John Orner - taxi driver, killed and thrown off cliff
-.22 Caliber killer - 1980s, racist, killed many
Archimedes - CORRECT ANSWER 250 BC, king wanted crown of gold, thought he actually
got one of silver and gold. Archimedes tested the density, and the smith was sentenced to death
Antistus - CORRECT ANSWER 40 BC, performed autopsy of Julius Caesar
Song Ci - CORRECT ANSWER 1247 China, "Washing Away of Wrongs," 1st case of forensic
entomology
Mathiew Orfila - CORRECT ANSWER 1823, father of modern toxicology
James Marsh - CORRECT ANSWER 1836, M(ars)h test for (ars)enic
Major LW Atcherley - CORRECT ANSWER 1880s, coined term modus operandi
Alphonse Bertillion - CORRECT ANSWER 1887, developed anthropometry (using body
measurements as a form of ID)
Galton and Henry - CORRECT ANSWER Galton - 8 categories of finger prints
Henry - Henry Classification system
Karl Lansteiner - CORRECT ANSWER 1990 - blood typing groups
, Edomond Locard - CORRECT ANSWER 1904 - Locard's principle of exchange
Theodore Roosevelt - CORRECT ANSWER 1908 - created FBI
Leon Lattes - CORRECT ANSWER 1915 - Lattes test (quick blood test for crime scenes)
Calvin Goddard - CORRECT ANSWER 1920s - comparison microscopes to see if a gun fired a
specific bullet
AFIS (SAFIS) - CORRECT ANSWER Automated Fingerprint Identification System
- arrested people, looking to carry a concealed weapon, crime scene evidence, background checks
William Bass III - CORRECT ANSWER Body farm dude, he made the first one in Knoxville,
TN. Body farms are essentially places where scientists can recreate crime scenes or scenarios to help
the police draw conclusions about a case.
Sir Alec Jeffreys - CORRECT ANSWER used DNA profiling to identify a murderer in England
What year was DNA first used in the US Supreme Court? - CORRECT ANSWER 1989
CODIS - CORRECT ANSWER The DNA database, for convicted felons
Tips to locate a dead body - CORRECT ANSWER Look downhill, variations in soil texture,
different plants, Use dogs, Look for bugs, Aerial pictures and thermal images, chemical analysis of
soil, and electrical field
Modus Operandi - CORRECT ANSWER a particular way or method of doing something,
especially one that is characteristic or well-established (criminal always kills with a certain weapon or
has a certain type of victim)
Locard's Exchange Principle - CORRECT ANSWER Every encounter causes something to be
taken from the scene and left at the scene
