CH 118 - Forensic Science

Credit Hours: 3

A liberal arts elective in which the basic principles underlying the science of chemistry will be applied to an understanding of criminal investigative techniques. General chemical techniques used in criminal investigations from the gathering of evidence to the final presentation of expert testimony will be discussed.

Fulfills SUNY General Education – Natural Sciences.

Course Outcomes
At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:

apply science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system;
apply the chemical principles underlying the analytical methods used in criminal investigations;
depict the role of the forensic scientist in the criminal justice system and the consideration of admissible expert testimony;
categorize matter according to state and distinguish between physical and chemical properties and changes;
name the major contributors to the development of forensic science;
describe the services of a typical comprehensive crime laboratory in the criminal justice system;
define physical evidence and its proper handling;
describe and explain the process of chromatography;
name the parts of a simple emission spectrograph and distinguish continuous and line emission spectra;
define and distinguish between protons, neutrons and electrons;
list the parts of the compound microscope;
distinguish the forensic applications of the compound microscope, stereoscopic microscope, polarizing microscope and scanning electron microscope;
name and classify the commonly abused drugs;
explain the testing procedures used for forensic identification of commonly abused drugs; and
explain how alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, transported throughout the body, and eliminated by oxidation and excretion.

F/S (C)