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Amino Acid Fingerprints—Demonstration Kit

By: The Flinn Staff

Item #: AP6736 

Price: $42.64

In Stock.

With the Amino Acid Fingerprints Demonstration Kit, explore one of the simplest and most common methods of developing “latent” fingerprints—invisible fingerprints left behind on porous surfaces, such as paper and cloth.

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This item can only be shipped to schools, museums and science centers

Product Details

Demonstrate one of the simplest and most common methods of developing “latent” fingerprints—invisible fingerprints left behind on porous surfaces, such as paper and cloth. Latent fingerprints are composed of several chemicals that are naturally present in skin oils or released through the pores of the skin by perspiration. Ninhydrin, a colorless organic compound, reacts with amino acids found in skin oils to form a bright purple product. The resulting purple “amino acid fingerprints” can then be photographed and processed. In this demonstration, student volunteers make invisible fingerprints on a special blotting paper. The fingerprints are then developed by spraying the paper with ninhydrin solution and heating the product. Use the water soluble ink pad provided with the kit to make a second set of fingerprints for identification purposes. A great activity to show the science behind forensic investigations!

Concepts: Amino acids, ninhydrin reaction, fingerprinting.
Time Required: 30 minutes
Note: Enough blotting paper and ninhydrin solution are provided to make 30 sets of “amino acid fingerprints.”

Specifications

Materials Included in Kit: 
Ninhydrin solution, 0.5%, 150 mL
Black ink stamp pad
Blotting paper, 12" x 9", 10
Bottle & trigger sprayer, 8 oz


Correlation to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Science & Engineering Practices

Constructing explanations and designing solutions

Disciplinary Core Ideas

MS-PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
MS-PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
HS-PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
HS-PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
HS-LS1.A: Structure and Function
HS-LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

Crosscutting Concepts

Structure and function
Patterns
Energy and matter

Performance Expectations

MS-PS1-2: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.