Forensic Glass Analysis

Introduction

Glass has been shown to be very useful evidence because it is open encountered in criminal investigations. For example, when a burglar breaks a window pane, small fragments of glass are open showered onto his or her hair, clothing, or shoes, and these fragments can later be found on the suspect as transfer evidence. is chapter describes the many different types of glass commonly found at crime scenes and explains how glass fragments can be placed in specific classes through the use of optical and nonoptical analysis methods. In addition, the chapter describes how to individualize a glass fragment by making a fracture match.

Types of Glass

Glass is a solid that is not crystalline but rather has an amorphous structure. e atoms of an amorphous solid have a random, disordered arrangement, unlike the regular, orderly arrangement that is characteristic of crystalline solids. Another characteristic property of glass is that it softens over a wide temperature range rather than melting sharply at a well-defined temperature...

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