Kurnia 1

Putri Khairunnisa Kurnia

Ivan Pattiasina
Physics 10
28 November 2014
Physics Experiment Proposal: The Science of Blood Spatter
Research question
How can the diameter of a blood spatter determine the height of where the blood dripped?

Introduction: Background Theory

Blood spatters are often found in violent crime scenes. This particular kind of evidence is
very vital and crucial for those who are investigating the criminal case, for the blood itself could
determine how the victim of the case was killed. There are many considerations while analyzing a
blood spatter, such as the angle of the spatter, the position of the droplets, the shape of the droplets,
the size of the droplets, and many more. There are also many types of blood spatter such as single
drop, impact spatter, cast-off stain, transfer bloodstain, etc, but right now, I am focusing my
experiment on the single drop type of blood spatter. The size and appearance of the droplet will
depend on the volume and the quantity of blood, and also the surfaces area.
According to Forensics Science Central, single drop bloodstains are often blood that have
fallen vertically, whether it be from a body or an object, then landed on to another surface. When a
blood drop falls directly perpendicular to the surface, the drop will maintain a spherical shape until
it hits another surface. If the blood lands on an absorbent surface, then the size of the blood stain
will be smaller. If the blood lands on a non-absorbent surface, then the blood stain will be bigger. A
rough target surface will also affect the blood stain. A blood droplet that impacts on a rough target
will be likely distorted, causing satellite bloodstains, which are the term of additional blood droplets
that are radiating outwards the main blood stain. The height is also one of the factors that will affect

Kurnia 2

the droplets size of stain. The higher the blood falls before impacting on a surface, the larger the
stain will be.

Hypothesis
The higher the blood falls, the wider the diameter of the blood spatter will be.

Variables
- Independent Variable: The height from which the blood will be dropped to the target surface.
- Dependent Variable: The diameter of the droplets that have splattered the target surface.
- Control: a.) The fake blood that will be used for this experiment, b.) the fake blood must be
dropped vertically straight.

Materials and Equipment

- Measuring spoon
- Cornstarch (17 gram)
- Corn syrup (60 mL)
- Red food coloring
- Bowl
- Forks and spoons for mixing
- Cardboard
- Stationaries to write
- Pipet
- Metric measuring tape (in millimeter and centimeter)
- Water
- Desk

Kurnia 3

Experiment Procedure
1. First, create the fake blood. Prepare and measure all of the materials needed for the fake blood
accordingly. Those materials are the measuring spoon, bowl, fork, cornstarch, corn syrup, and red
food coloring.
2. Add the cornstarch into the bowl, then pour approximately 30 mL of water to the bowl. Stir until
smooth.
3. Add the corn syrup to the bowl, stir thoroughly until smooth.
4. Add red food coloring until it is very red (and look like real blood), then stir. After that, put the
fake blood bowl aside. (Be careful as the fake blood can make a permanent stain on clothes when
spilled.)
5. Cut the cardboard into six squares. One cardboard will be tested for the 50 cm high spatter, one
will be for the 20 cm high spatter, and the last one is for 80 cm high spatter. There will be two
trials of this experiment.
6. Mark the pieces of cardboard according to the height that the blood will drop, and also the trial.
(For example, write 20 cm - 1st trial on the cardboard that will
be used for 20 cm high spatter during the first trial.)
7. Prepare the pipet, bowl of fake blood, cardboard, and the metric
measuring tape.
8. Extend the measuring tape according to the height which the
blood will be dropped, and straighten the pipet next to the exact
height.
9. Squeeze the edge of the pipet, so a drip of blood will fall onto the cardboard. Dont squeeze to
hard, as too much blood may come out from the pipet.

Kurnia 4

10. Drip the blood from the pipet five times on each cardboard. Number every spatter so it wouldnt
be too confusing while analyzing the diameter later in the lab report.
11. Wait to finish the experiment when taking record of the spatters size. Measure the spatters
diameter when it is already, and then write it down on the lab report. In real-life investigation,
blood spatters are usually already dried on the surface while forensic scientists are measuring the
diameter.
12. Tidy and clean up the working space.

Table of Results
Height

Spatter
number

20 cm

Diameter of spatter

Average diameter size

Diameter of spatter

Average diameter size

2
3
4
5

Height

Spatter
number

50 cm

1
2
3
4
5

Kurnia 5

Height

Spatter
number

80 cm

Diameter of spatter

Average diameter

2
3
4
5

Compare every average of blood spatter and see the final result from there.

Height of the
spatter
20 cm
50 cm
80 cm

Average diameter of the stain/

spatter

Kurnia 6

Bibliography
"Forensic Science Central." Bloodstain Pattern Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.