Chapter 11: Fingerprints

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Total cards: 24•Content version: v4•Public deck•Updated: 8/1/2026

Card preview (24)

Front (Question)

What are fingerprints?

Back (Answer)

• Ridges on toes, fingers, feet & palms • Raised portions of the skin arranged in connected units called dermal/fricition ridges • Purpose is to help us grip onto objects

Front (Question)

4,000 years ago

Back (Answer)

1st known use as signatures on clay tablets

Front (Question)

1700

Back (Answer)

Andreas Mayer 1st noted that no two fingerprints are the same

Front (Question)

1856

Back (Answer)

Herschel noted that they didn change w age

Front (Question)

1879

Back (Answer)

Bertillion began keeping fingerprints of police files

Front (Question)

1888

Back (Answer)

Galton developed the fingerprint classification system in use today

Front (Question)

1896

Back (Answer)

The Ten Card was invented allowing them to be used in criminal investigations from then on

Front (Question)

Arches

Back (Answer)

• About 5% of all prints • Have ridges that enter from one side & leave from the other w/ a rise in the center • Plain arch > shows ridges entering one side/no angle/no pattern

Front (Question)

Tented Arch

Back (Answer)

angle/can have a loop pattern/delta

#10

Front (Question)

Visible/Patent

Back (Answer)

left on smooth surface when blood, ink, or another liquid comes in contact w/ the hands and is the transferred to the surface

#11

Front (Question)

Plastic

Back (Answer)

indentations left in some soft material such as clay, putty or wax

#12

Front (Question)

Latent/Hidden

Back (Answer)

caused by the transfer of oils & other body secretions onto a surface. They are made visible b dusting w/ powders or making the fingerprints in some way more visible by using a chemical reaction

#13

Front (Question)

When do fingerprints form?

Back (Answer)

10 weeks into pregnancy

#14

Front (Question)

3 Classes of Fingerprints

Back (Answer)

loops whirls & arches

#15

Front (Question)

Loops

Back (Answer)

• 65% of prints • Enter from the right or left & leave on the same side • Has a core at the center and a delta (a triangular region)

#16

Front (Question)

Whorls

Back (Answer)

• 30% of all prints - look like a bulls eye w/ 2 deltas • Plain Whorl - one or more ridges that make a complete spiral/2 deltas

#17

Front (Question)

Double Loop Whorl

Back (Answer)

2 separate loop formations w/ 2 deltas

#18

Front (Question)

Accidental Whorl

Back (Answer)

2 or more deltas & is the combination of 2 of the other patterns

#19

Front (Question)

1987

Back (Answer)

23 mil criminal fingerprint cards collected needed to be manually sorted

#20

Front (Question)

After 1999

Back (Answer)

matches in 2hrs

#21

Front (Question)

What is the AFIS?

Back (Answer)

FBI developed the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System in 1999

#22

Front (Question)

What does the IAFIS do?

Back (Answer)

provides digital automated fingerprint searches, latent searches, electronic storage of fingerprint photo ales, exchange and test results

#23

Front (Question)

Methods to Visualize Latent Prints

Back (Answer)

• Ninhydrin • Super Glue • Silver Nitrate • Iodine • Fluorochromes

#24

Front (Question)

Ninhyrdrin

Back (Answer)

can be sprayed on paper. It reacts w/ amino acids in sweat to leave a purple print