In this lab, we looked at the differences between wool, cotton, rayon, nylon, and polyester. We first looked at each fabric under the microscope and observed their weave pattern and filament count. We did not see much of a trend in their weave patterns, but we did notice that the natural fabrics tended to have higher filament counts than the synthetic fabrics. Then we exposed each fabric to fire and observed the effect it had on the fabric. We found that the synthetic fabrics, except for rayon, melted in the fire while the natural fibers burnt or smoldered. We also found out how well each fabric was able to retain water. We did this by finding the mass of each fabric, then soaking it in water. We found the mass of the wet fabrics and left them to dry for fifteen minutes. Once we found the mass of each fabric one more time, we were able to calculate how much water they retain. The natural fabrics tended to retain more water than the synthetic fabrics. Our last test was to expose each fabric to different acids and bases. Each fabric acted differently in the solutions, but the synthetic fabrics, except polyester, were damaged more by the acids than the natural fabrics. Based on all of this information, I was able to make a flowchart to identify each fabric using some of these tests (the flowchart is above). Each fabric was identifiable by its unique characteristics that were shown through the fire test and acid test. These two tests were all I needed to correctly identify a fabric. This shows that fabrics have a certain uniqueness that makes them useful for forensic science.