In our
first session back in person, we explored forensic physics. In the
popular-science lectures we explored how physics is used in crime scenes to get
information about what happened. The interesting part of the session was the
experimental part, where we put the gained knowledge to test – we solved a
crime ourselves.
In this
crime a member of the School of Young Physicists was “murdered”, and we had to
find his killer. There were 3 parts to the task. Students were given a list of
suspects and their alibis and what they were doing at different times. Firstly,
students had to narrow the time frame of the murder, this was done using
Newton’s law of cooling. This allowed them to eliminate some of the suspects.
The second task was blood splatter analysis, there was a sheet filled with
blood splatter, and measuring the blood droplets, they could gain information
on suspects height. The third task was ballistic analysis, figuring out the
bullet’s trajectory. All the collected information allowed them to make a
calculated guess at who is the “murderer”. They were able to check hypothesis
by shining an ultraviolet light at their prime suspect’s hands, because the
murderer’s hands were covered in “gunpowder”, which glows under UV light, they
had one try, the most careful and attentive students found the “killer”.
This has
been one of the more interesting experimental sessions we have had, students
had a lot of fun and gave great reviews to the session, an interesting and fun
experience for everyone.
