An examination of a tool mark is essential when it comes to "Criminalistics" <em>(the study of physical evidence in a crime). </em>It allows the forensic investigator to know what kind of tool was used in the crime scene. There are only two kinds of characteristics of tool marks and these are: individual and class. <em>Striated and molded are types of tool marks. </em>They are not characteristics.
The "class" characteristic of a tool mark allows the investigator to know the <u>shape of tool, its dimensions and its type</u>. However, <em>it doesn't point to the exact tool that was used, </em>but it gives him an idea how the mark was actually created.