Forensic Science Fibers

Fibers are an excellent source of trace evidence because

• they are easily transferred from a victim to a suspect

• they are often overlooked by a suspect

• they can be easily collected and stored

• all of these choices

Natural fibers can be harvested from

• plants and animals

• only from plants

• only from animals

• plants, animals and minerals

All of the following are characteristics of a synthetic fiber except

• they are formed by combining monomer compounds into polymer molecules

• they are man-made

• they are used in the production of carpet fibers

• they do not contain any natural fibers

A characteristic of natural fibers is that they

• are stronger than synthetic fibers

• will not break down when exposed to bright light

• melt at a lower temperature that synthetic fibers

• are affected by microscopic organisms

Which of the following observations are used to help identify a specific fiber?

• smell of the burned fiber

• on contact with flame, does the fiber coil or melt?

• color and structure of the residue left after the fiber burns

• all of these choices

amorphous

• without a defined shape; fibers composed of a loose arrangment of polymers that are soft, elastic, and absorbing
• the passing of evidence, such as fiber, from victim to suspect or vice versa
• dense, strong fiber that resists rot and light damage
• The transfer of evidence such as a fiber from a source (such as a carpet) to a person (suspect), and then to another person (victim)

crystalline

• regularly shaped; fibers composed of polymers picked side by side, which make it stiff and strong
• the smallest indivisible unit of textile, it must be at 100 times longer than wide
• dense, strong fiber that resists rot and light damage
• fibers that have been spun together

linen

• dense, strong fiber that resists rot and light damage
• the passing of evidence, such as fiber, from victim to suspect or vice versa
• a collection of mineral crystals formed into recognizable pattern
• fibers that have been spun together

mineral fiber

• a collection of mineral crystals formed into recognizable pattern
• the smallest indivisible unit of textile, it must be at 100 times longer than wide
• dense, strong fiber that resists rot and light damage
• fibers that have been spun together

monomer

• a smll molecule that my bond to other monomers to become a polymer
• the passing of evidence, such as fiber, from victim to suspect or vice versa
• a collection of mineral crystals formed into recognizable pattern
• fibers that have been spun together