Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Types of Fingerprints

There are three basic types of fingerprints that can be used in forensics: direct, latent, and plastic.

Direct
Direct prints are clearly visible to the naked eye. In order for these to occur, the print must be pressed into a substance which would make it visible. These can include blood, dirt, ink, or similar materials. The fingerprint must come in contact with one of the materials and then a surface to leave a direct print.







Latent
Latent prints are formed when the sweat or grease from the finger leaves a print on an object. These fingerprints aren't visible to the naked  eye and must be lifted via dusting or another process to be examined later.








Plastic
Plastic prints are formed when the finger presses into a soft surface to leave behind an impression. Some examples include wax, clay, and soap.

3 comments:

  1. very good explanation of these three types. also, good choice of images to be visually appealing :)

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  2. This is really well organized and there is a good balance of pictures and text. The pictures are also really nice.

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  3. Great pictures, they go really well with the content. This is really organized and easy to read. :)

    ReplyDelete