Trajectory Lab: February 2, 2009

How can the angle of impact of a bullet in a wall be used to determine other critical information about the scene of a crime?
Once you find out the angle that a bullet went into the wall at, you can determine where the bullet was shot from. From this information you may be able to determine the height of the person that was holding the gun (when they shot the bullet).
For example, if one if the suspects in a crime was really tall and the other was really short, after analyzing the bullet hole you could figure out what angle the bullet entered, and where the gun was held when the bullet was shot. If the bullet entered the wall from above, the person that shot it would have to be very tall. If the bullet entered the wall from below, the person would probably be very tall. However, sometimes this method does not work, because a tall person may have been crouching on the ground (or lying on the ground) when s/he shot the bullet.
After analyzing the dimensions of the bullet hole, it is also possible to find out what kind of bullet was used in the crime. Once you figure that out, you can also find out what kind of gun was used in the crime, because if you know the size of the bullet you can find out what KIND of bullet was used, and then what gun goes with that kind of bullet.

How might this lab be helpful in preparing you for the mission?
In the mission we may have to analyze different bullet holes and find out who shot them. In this lab, I also learned other important things, such as how to correctly measure things. I learned about millimeters and centimeters, and all the other different methods you can use to measure things. I also learned a lot about angles and using a protractor. I hope these skills will come in handy for the mission!