1. Subspecialties of forensics
Ballistics, Pathology, Entomology & Toxicology

2. Ballistics
Ballistics deals with the flight, trajectory, and behaviour of projectiles. The kinds of projectiles we will typically talk about in this class are bullets.
Forensic ballistics is often used to provide useful information to the court in regards to whether or not a particular weapon was used to commit a crime, and who that weapon may have been fired by.

3. 4 Branches of Ballistics
Internal Ballistics – the study of the processes that originally accelerated the bullet.
Transition Ballistics – the study of the projectile’s behaviour when it leaves the barrel.
External Ballistics – the study of the flight of the bullet through the air.
Terminal Ballistics – the study of the impact of the projectile with its target, which in forensics is often flesh.

4. Pathology
Pathology is the study of disorders. In medicine, it is more specifically known as the study and diagnosis of disease.
Medical pathologists are typically the professionals who carry out procedures such as autopsies.
Autopsies are performed upon the death of a victim (in the case of a crime) to determine an exact cause of death.

5. Toxicology
Toxicology is concerned with the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
Specifically when we discuss forensics, toxicology concerns itself in particular with the poisoning of another person through the use of a chemical or some type of reagent.

6. Entomology
Entomology is the study of insects, and people who study insects are known as entomologists.
You may be asking yourself why entomologists have anything to do with forensics. It turns out the entomologists, using their knowledge or the life cycles of flies and other insects, can determine how long a corpse has been dead based on the types of bugs that are decomposing it.