All you need to know about fingerprint

Information about Fingerprint

In the modern world, the use of+ fingerprints has become very common. You might have used it while you unlock your mobile phone, or while you mark your attendance in the attendance machine at the college, school, or office. So, many of us are making use of fingerprints in some or another way.

You might have also heard that no two people have the same fingerprints. Even twins have different fingerprints. This is such a unique thing that opens the doors for many things, like identification and security.

Have you ever wondered about what are fingerprints, what is the history of fingerprints, How are fingerprints formed, what are the different types of fingerprints, etc? Here, we are going to discuss the things that you need to know about fingerprints. So, let’s now dive into the details of understanding fingerprints.

All you need to know about fingerprint

What is a fingerprint?

A fingerprint is basically a pattern that is formed by the ridged skin on our fingertips. You might have seen your, or someone’s fingerprint sometime. Our fingers are not the only part of our body that have such skin. There are some other body parts like the palm, or even the soles of our feet, which have such kind of skin.

The thing is that the fingerprint is something that is unique. This simply means that no two people do have the same fingerprints, which makes it way more useful for many things, like identification and security purposes. Also, the thing is that fingerprints do not even change with the growth or age of a person. Even there are some other parts of the human body that are unique, like the iris (even if your two iris do not match), tongue, and some others as well.

Since the fingerprint is unique for every human, it is used for many different things, from unlocking your phone to finding criminals.

The fingerprint is something that is unique to all of us. Other than the fingerprints, there are some other parts of the body, which are unique. this includes the tongue, iris, etc.

You can explore and understand them too. The thing is that due to the unique trait, fingerprints are used for identification or security purposes.

Scientists call it dermatoglyphics, which is the special parts of your body, and something that can uniquely identify you. Actually, when you have touched some glass, for example, you leave your fingerprint there, which is actually the skin oil or dirt that is left on the object.

How are fingerprints formed?

Well, this can be a big curiosity that how is this amazing and unique thing like a fingerprint formed. Let’s now have a look at how fingerprints are formed since it is very interesting. We would not go much biological in terms, but let’s discuss this so that we can understand how fingerprints are formed.

Basically, we can say that our fingerprints began formation even before we were born. The thing is that when the fetus starts to grow, the outside layer of the skin is smooth.

But, after some weeks, the basal layer, which is a deeper layer of skin starts to grow faster than the layers that are above it. So, the skin buckles and folds. Due to these folds, the upper layers of the skin fold too, and so the pattern on the fingers is set.

The process of how fingerprints are made is interesting, isn’t it? Also, the fact that every human has a unique fingerprint makes it much more interesting.

History of fingerprints

The use of fingerprints marks its presence from pretty ancient times the ancient Babylonians used fingerprints as the seals on contracts, and the ancient Chinese people used fingerprints for identification purposes. So, fingerprints are being used for different purposes for a long, also from the old times, you might have seen people giving their thumb impressions on several documents, so we can say that it was used as a signature for many people. Also, fingerprints were started to be used for identifying criminals, because of the fact that fingerprints are unique for everyone, and they do not change with the growth of age.

Since then, the fingerprint has been widely used for personal identification purposes. There are many fingerprinting techniques are there, which are being implemented today.

Also, fingerprints are being used today for many identifications and security purposes, like you can unlocking your phone or laptop using your fingerprint, or you can mark your attendance at the office, school, or college. Also, many documents require fingerprint impressions as identification. So, basically today, fingerprints are being used for identification purposes, from unlocking your phone to finding a criminal.

The uses of fingerprints

Now, that we are familiar with what is a fingerprint, how it is formed, and some history about it, let’s also have a brief look at where are the fingerprints being used. Let’s again highlight the fact that fingerprints are unique for every human, and they also do not alter with the growth of age (unless you are forcibly changing them), they are used for many different purposes, related to identification and security.

You might have used the fingerprint many a time, when you are dealing with some government documents, or when you are unlocking your mobile phone or laptop, or the fingerprint can be also used as a method of authorization for some kind of transaction, or some kind of verification.

Fingerprints are also used for identifying criminals since they are infallible means of personal identification and the fact that they never change with age.

So, there are many use cases for fingerprints. Also, fingerprints can be used for security purposes, when it comes to storing some important documents, money, or commodities in some storage safe, one might consider using the biometric safe, which can be secured with the fingerprint, so that only the authorized person, or people, can open the safe.

Also, it can be used to secure the rooms, in order to prevent unauthorized access, so that only authorized people(basically with the help of a fingerprint) can enter the room, and there are many other uses where you can consider using the fingerprint.

Types of fingerprints

Now, we are going to head toward the types of fingerprints. So far, we have realized that the fingerprint is very important, and can be used in various sectors for various purposes.

When talking about the types of fingerprints, can majorly be classified into 3 types –

• The Arch
• The Whorl
• The Loop

Lets now address these types of fingerprints one by one –

The Arch

The Arch is the least common type of fingerprint of all. In other words, it is the rarest type of fingerprint. This type of fingerprint pattern is encountered in less than 10% of the population of world. What makes it unique, is the lack of cores, lines, or deltas.

We can further classify the Arch-type fingerprint into more sub-categories, like –

• Plain Arch
  This pattern is the rarest pattern of all, found in merely less than 10% of the world’s population. This pattern shows consistency of flow, starting from one side of the finger, and the ridge follows the upward path, almost resembling the wave of the ocean. The thing is that the plain arch pattern is the simplest fingerprint pattern to recognize.
• Tented Arch
  This pattern is similar to the plain arch pattern, since in this pattern as well, it starts from one side of the finger and then flows to the other side in a similar fashion, but the difference here is that – the arch lies in the center ridges, and is not continuous like the plain arch.

The Whorl

The Whorl is the second most common type of fingerprint of all, making up around 25% to 35% of all.

In contrast to the arch pattern, the whorl pattern is going to have a core and two deltas. It can be further categorized into some subcategories like –

• Plain Whorl
  A plain whorl makes a circular pattern representing a swirl or a spiral. It is an unbroken pattern, where the ridges make a turn of one complete circuit. With two deltas. This pattern is the simplest whorl pattern and the most common as well.
• Central Pocket loop Whorl
  In this pattern, the central ridges curve more than once, forming a smaller inner whorl. The ridges make a complete circuit and can be oval, spiral, or circular.
• Accidental Whorl
  As the name of the pattern says, this type of pattern is irregularly shaped.

The Loop

This type of fingerprint is the most common type of all, with a majority of all, making around 60% to 70% of all. In this type of pattern, there has to be at least a single core and delta. They can be characterized by a circular or oval-shaped pattern.

It can be further categorized into different subcategories like –

• Radial Loop
  This pattern is named after a bone in the forearm, which is called the radius, or radial bone, which joins the hand on the same side, as the thumb. In this type of pattern, the flow runs in the direction of the radius bone, which means flowing in a downward slope from the little finger to the thumb. This type of pattern is not very common.
• Ulnar Loop
  This pattern is named after a bone in the forearm, which is called the ulna. This bone is on the same side as the little finger. The flow of this pattern is from the thumb to the little finger.
• Double Loop
  As the name of the pattern suggests, it consists of two separate formations of loops. It also has at least one recurving ridge within the inner pattern.

As you can see, we have majorly classified fingerprints into three types, which can be further categorized into different types. The Arch type of fingerprint is the least common type of pattern found, and the loops are the most common ones. If you are interested to know more about the types of fingerprints, you can explore them. You can also try to find what type of fingerprint you have.

Facts about fingerprints

Well, fingerprints are used widely in today’s world, and they have been used for a long. It has become very popular in terms of personal identification. So now, we are going to have a look at some of the facts related to fingerprints.

• No two people have identical fingerprints, even identical twins have different fingerprints.

Yes! You have read it correctly. No two people have identical fingerprints, even if they are identical twins. This makes fingerprints a good means for personal identification purposes.

• The scientific name for the fingerprints

  The scientific name for the fingerprints is dermatoglyphics, which comes from the two Greek words, Dermato (from derma, which means skin), and glyph, from gluphikós which means sculpted.

• Other unique things in the human body

  We know that the fingerprint is something that is unique in the human body. Along with this, there are some other parts of the human body, which are unique. These include the tongue, the iris, etc.

• Koalas too have the fingerprints

  Well, so far, we are known about only some of the non–human species which have unique fingerprints, like chimpanzees, gorillas, and Koalas. The thing is that the fingerprints of a Koala are so similar to that of humans, that even the experts have trouble distinguishing them. Just imagine someone blaming something on a koala!

• Some people are born without fingerprints.

  There are some genetic conditions like NFJS, DPR, and Adermatoglyphia that can prevent the fingers from forming.

• Types of fingerprints

  The fingerprints can be majorly classified into three types, including arches, whorls, and loops. They can be further sub-categorized into more types.

• The least common type of fingerprint.

  Arches are the least common type of fingerprints, with around less than 10% of all.

• Using fingerprints is not new.

  The fingerprint is being used for several purposes since ancient times. The ancient Babylonians used fingerprints as the seals on the contracts.

• Fingerprint pattern does not change with growing age.

  As people grow, their appearance changes, but still, the fingerprint pattern is something that does not change even with growing age.

• Fingerprints develop even before we are born.

  You can consider exploring how fingerprints are formed in greater detail, but this is a fact, that fingerprints are formed even before we are born.

• Fingerprints can help distinguish identical twins

  Well, identical twins may look identical in many different aspects, but fingerprints can help distinguish them, so we can say that identical twins are not 100% identical.

These were some of the interesting facts related to fingerprints. The fingerprint is something that makes us very unique. These facts even tell us more about fingerprints. You can explore some other facts as well.

Conclusion

We have discussed many fingerprints, and we tried to understand different things, like what is fingerprints, how are they formed, what is the history of fingerprints, and where are they used, and we also saw some facts related to fingerprints.

We tried to keep things simple so that we can easily understand what are fingerprints. You can dive deeper into it if you want, and understand more about fingerprints.

The fingerprint is a very important means of personal identification and is used for security purposes as well. Through this article, we tried to make you understand fingerprints. This article is for information purposes.

FAQ About Fingerprints