What is the purpose of ballistics?

Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behavior and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.

What is the role of a ballistics expert?

Ballistic experts, also known as firearm examiners, use their analytical nature and eye for detail to catch suspects who have used guns and weapons in a crime.

What are ballistics in forensics?

Forensic ballistics involves the examination of evidence from firearms that may have been used in a crime. When a bullet is fired from a gun, the gun leaves microscopic marks on the bullet and cartridge case. These marks are like ballistic fingerprints.

What are the 3 types of ballistics?

The science of projectiles and firearms is defined as ‘ballistics’ and it can be divided into three distinct categories: internal, external and terminal.

What are the four branches of ballistics?

Ballistics can be broken down into four areas: interior, transitional, exterior, and terminal.

What are 2 examples of ballistic evidence?

Ballistic evidence—including gunshot residue, angle of trajectory, distance from the target, bullet entrance and exit marks, and damage—are often used to reconstruct the events that transpired in the commission of a crime.

How firearms and bullets can be used as evidence?

The range of evidence in firearms-related cases can be as small as a piece of a bullet fragment which has rifling marks or as large as hundreds of bullets and cartridge cases and numerous firearms. Wads and pellets can be gathered and preserved in the same manner as bullets and cartridge cases.

What affects a bullet in flight?

There are many important pieces that factor into the understanding of bullet trajectories: air resistance, angle, air pressure and temperature, muzzle velocity, bullet shape and drag coefficient. All of these factors contribute to the accuracy of the bullet hitting the desired target.

What are the markings on a bullet called?

To evaluate old bullets, ballistics experts rely on the same basic techniques used at police labs. Most clues are found in two types of tiny markings, called class and individual characteristics. By looking for the bullet caliber and “rifling” marks, experts can identify the type of gun used.

What are the two main types of damage that a bullet does when striking the body?

What are the two main types of damage that a bullet does when striking the body? Penetration – flesh is disrupted or destroyed by the bullet. Cavitation – the bullet leaves a hole in the body, either temporary or permanent, depending on the elasticity of the tissue or organ struck.

What do you need to know about ballistics?

Ballistics is the study of the dynamics of projectiles or the study of the internal action of firearms. In most cases, an expert ballistics examiner can identify what type of firearm was used, where it was fired from and how many shots were fired. Ballistics experts can identify a weapon by…

What kind of work does a ballistics examiner do?

How is ballistics used in a criminal investigation?

In forensic science, the study of ballistics is the study of motion, dynamics, angular movement, and effects of projectile units (bullets, missiles, and bombs). There are many applications of ballistics within a criminal investigation. Bullets that are fired at the scene of a crime will be examined in the hopes…

What kind of hours do ballistics experts work?

Ballistics experts can expect to work standard business hours, but they may be called to a crime scene at any hour. Often, the scenes they investigate are grisly, due to the nature of the crimes they respond to.