Analyze Refractive Index of Glass

• Grade Level 10-College
• Links to a real world scenario

When investigators discovered three deceased victims at a vehicle crash site over the side of Backbone Mountain, they retraced the vehicle's path and also discovered several pieces of broken glass lying in the roadway. By examining the refractive index of various glass fragments, students will learn the importance of glass analysis in the forensic field and how this analysis is performed by forensic scientists. In addition, students will learn to microscopically determine the refractive indices of several known types of glass, and then apply what they have learned in the comparison of glass fragments collected from a crime scene to a potential source.
Web access to fully illustrated teacher's manual with technique background.