Deposited Fingerprints Lab Report

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Abstract Here, the use of attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy to analyze latent, lifted fingerprints is examined. Recently, there has been an upsurge in using IR spectroscopy as it can objectively define chemical properties of residues on fingerprints without damaging the sample. The use of fingerprints is heavily weighted in the field of forensics. Determining the chemical composition of the residue on a deposited set of fingerprints can give more insight to the events prior to the deposit of said prints. Here, the use of FTIR-ATR is used to determine whether aspirin can be detected in sample fingerprint. The way the aspirin had contaminated the fingerprint varied in quantity and the way it was collected on the fingerprint. …show more content…

There are two means of developing a patent print. Depositing a pigmented print on a contrasting surface is a common way. An example would be lightly coating the ridges of a fingerprint in black ink and depositing it on a white paper (Crime museum). These types of prints can not give much insight into the 3D rendition of the finger. A second type of fingerprint which can be visible is known as a plastic fingerprint which is formed by pressing a fingertip on a surface which can easily change its shape such as wax, tar or drying paint, which creates a three dimensional rendering of the fingerprint (Crime museum). Patent fingerprints and plastic fingerprints are highly visible while latent fingerprints require additional processing for visibility purposes (Crime …show more content…

Stretching (which can be coupled with other atoms in or out of sync) are the basic examples of vibrational modes. There are more interesting modes such as scissoring, rocking, and wagging. The number of ways molecules are able to vibrate are dependent on whether the molecule is generally linear or not. For the most part, linear molecules have more degrees of freedom than their non linear counterparts (Chem libretext). The Fourier transform is a mathematical function that can be used to show the different parts of a continuous signal. With respect to Infrared spectroscopy, FTIR exposes a sample to different wavelengths and measures which wavelengths are absorbed. It overall has made the structural analysis of molecules much easier by dividing bands into key components one can analyze to hypothesize functional groups present in a molecule. Attenuated total reflectance, or the ATR enables solid or liquid samples to be examined with minimal preparation by collecting a series of beams. RSC best defines FTIR-ATR