Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Forensics Glass Density Lab

    Uploaded by

    Tommy Hill
    532 views2 pages
    Different types of glass have different densities due to their varying chemical compositions. Forensic scientists can use density measurements to help identify and match glass fragments found at crime scenes. The density of a substance is its mass per unit volume and can be calculated by dividing a sample's mass by its volume. Glass has a higher density than water, around 2-3 g/ml depending on its composition. While matching glass from a crime scene to a suspect's car provides evidence linking them to the scene, it does not definitively prove guilt on its own due to the possibility of contamination. The density of a material is constant regardless of sample size.

    Original Description:

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Different types of glass have different densities due to their varying chemical compositions. Forensic scientists can use density measurements to help identify and match glass fragments found at crime scenes. The density of a substance is its mass per unit volume and can be calculated by dividing a sample's mass by its volume. Glass has a higher density than water, around 2-3 g/ml depending on its composition. While matching glass from a crime scene to a suspect's car provides evidence linking them to the scene, it does not definitively prove guilt on its own due to the possibility of contamination. The density of a material is constant regardless of sample size.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    532 views2 pages

    Forensics Glass Density Lab

    Uploaded by

    Tommy Hill
    Different types of glass have different densities due to their varying chemical compositions. Forensic scientists can use density measurements to help identify and match glass fragments found at crime scenes. The density of a substance is its mass per unit volume and can be calculated by dividing a sample's mass by its volume. Glass has a higher density than water, around 2-3 g/ml depending on its composition. While matching glass from a crime scene to a suspect's car provides evidence linking them to the scene, it does not definitively prove guilt on its own due to the possibility of contamination. The density of a material is constant regardless of sample size.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 2

    Unit 4: Glass Density Lab WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW...

    Different kinds of glass have different physical characteristics which allow us to distinguish them from one another. Investigators can use glass fragments as evidence to help place a suspect at the scene of a crime. Glass is a hard, brittle substance made of silicon oxides (sand), lime, soda, and oxides. The metal oxides found in most window glass are sodium, calcium, magnesium, and aluminum. Automobile headlights and other heatresistant glass, such as Pyrex, contain boron oxides. Forensic scientists use the physical properties of glass to associate one type of glass fragment with another. Density is one of these physical properties. Density refers to a materials mass per unit volume, and can be summarized in the formula: Because different types of glass contain different combinations of metal oxides, they have different densities. The density of a substance remains constant, no matter what the size of the substance. This means scientists can use the density of a piece of glass to help identify it. Scientists follow a simple three-step method for determining the density of a sample: Density is a constant relationship between the mass and volume of a specific type of matter. Measurements for both mass and volume can be obtained for a metal sample. The relationship can be shown graphically by plotting the volume of a sample on the horizontal x axis and the mass of the sample along the vertical y axis. Plotting the values for several samples, a linear relationship can be seen for density (slope = density). Procedures:

    CREATE YOUR OWN PROCEDURE


    Data Table:

    Calculations:
    Show work for a single density calculation. Calculate average for each type of glass

    Calculate the percent error using the table that has the actual densities of common types of glass POSTLAB QUESTIONS: 1. From your experimental results, which of the glass samples (A-F) matched the unknown? 2. Water has density of 1 g/ml. Based on your work, does glass have a density greater than 1 g/ml or less than 1 g/ml? Explain your answer. 3. If you were able to identify the unknown glass as the type found at the sight of a hit-and-run accident and were also able to match the unknown glass to a suspects car, does this evidence positively prove that this suspect is guilty? Explain your answer. 4. All of the glass samples you tested were not the same size. When determining density, does the size of the sample make a difference? Why or why not?

    You might also like