Forensic Chemistry

Question 1

What are the 3 forensic chemistry techniques?

Answer 1

• Thin layer chromatography (TLC) - extracting dyes from fibres
• High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) - drugs of abuse
• Gas liquid chromatography - fire accelerants

Question 2

What is mass spectrometry?

Answer 2

An identification technique used in HPLC and GLC

Question 3

How does TLC work?

Answer 3

1. Put dye sample onto a plate
2. Put the plate in jar with solvent and wet filter paper
3. Seal jar
4. Mark where the solvent reached
5. Shine UV light

Question 4

How do you prep a sample for HPLC?

Answer 4

• Take a liver sample or stomach contents
• Blend it
• Extract from solvent by heating
• Put it in a HPLC machine

Question 5

How does the HPLC machine work?

Answer 5

1. Put sample in machine
2. Attach mass spectrometry machine
3. Analyse compounds on the mass spectrometry machine/graph