Report

EFFECT OF ACIDS AND BASE
ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH

OF FIBERS
SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

Mahashweda Mr. Tarunesh Sir
Sundarrajan Chemistry PGT
XI-C
10.11.2022
Chemistry
AIM
Test the tensile strengths of different synthetic, vegetable and animal fabrics and
compare the result.
INTRODUCTION
➢ FIBERS
Fibers are the constituent matter of the fabrics and engineering around us. It can
range from weakest fiber called cotton to strongest fiber called Dyneema.
This report focuses on fibers that make fabrics. It is obtained from natural and
manmade sources. It is generally obtained by:
● ANIMALS: Wool and Silk

● VEGETABLEs: Cotton and Linen
● SYNTHETIC METHODS: Polyester and Nylon
➢ MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF FABRICS

1. WOOL
Wool consists of protein together with a small percentage of lipids. Hence it

is distinct from cotton and other plant fibres, which are made of mainly
cellulose.
2. SILK
The primary structure of silk fibroin (SF) is formed by highly repetitive

sequences composed mainly of glycine (43%), alanine (30%) and serine
(12%).
3. LINEN
It significantly contains Cellulose, Semi Cellulose, Lignin, pectin amongst others.
4. COTTON
Cotton is 99% cellulose made of long bonds of glucose linked with oxgyen.
5. POLYESTER
Polyester consists of Long-chain polymers chemically composed of at least 85
percent by weight of an ester and a dihydric alcohol and a terephthalic acid.
6. NYLON
Nylon-6,6 is made from two monomers each of which contain 6 carbon

atoms with a -COOH group at each end.
➢ TENSILE STRENGTH OF A FABRIC
When a fabric is stretched, tensile strength is the maximum force that can be
applied on it before it gets broken into two.
It is measured in the terms of minimum weight required to break the fiber. To

measure the tensile strength, a fabric is tied to a hook on one end and weight is
slowly added on the other end.
➽EXPERIMENT FOR UNTREATED FIBRES➽

REQUIREMENTS
● Apparatus:
Hook, Weight hanger and weights.
● Materials :
Cotton, Silk and Nylon fibres.
PROCEDURE
1. Cut out equal lengths of a cotton fibre, nylon fibre and silk fibre from the
given sample of nearly the same diameter.
2. Tie one end of cotton fibre to a hook which has been fixed in a vertical
plane. Tie a weight hanger to the other end. The thread gets straight.
3. Put a weight to the hanger and observe the thread stretch. Then, increase
the weights gradually on the hanger until the breaking point reaches and
note the minimum weight needed for breaking the cotton fibre.
4. Repeat the above experiment by tying nylon and silk fibres to the hook
separately.
RESULTS
TYPE OF FIBRE WT. REQUIRED TO BREAK UNTREATED FIBRE
WOOL 750 g
COTTON 75g
NYLON 375 g
➽EXPERIMENT FOR ACID-BASE TREATED
FIBRES➽
PROCEDURE
1. Cut out equal lengths of wool, cotton and nylon threads from a given
sample of nearly the same diameter.
2. Determine the tensile strength of each fibre as explained in experiment-1.
3. Soak the woolen thread in a dilute solution of sodium hydroxide for five
minutes. Take it out from the hydroxide solution and wash it thoroughly
with water and then dry either by keeping it in the sun or in an oven
maintained at a temperature of about 400 C. Determine its tensile strength
again as explained in Experiment-1.
4. Now take another piece of woolen thread of the same size and diameter
and soak it in a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid for five minutes. Take
it out, wash thoroughly with water, dry and determine the tensile strength
again.
5. Repeat the above procedure for the samples of cotton and nylon fibre.
RESULTS
WT. REQUIRED TO BREAK THE WT REQUIRED TO BREAK THE

WT. REQUIRED TO BREAK
TYPE OF FIBRE FIBRE AFTER SOAKING IN DILUTE FIBRE AFTER SOAKING IN
UNTREATED FIBRE
ALKALI DILUTE ACID
WOOL 750 g 700 g 750 g
COTTON 75g 785 g 50 g
NYLON 375 g 375g 375 g
HYPOTHESIS
1. The tensile strength of woolen fibre decreases on soaking in alkalies but
practically remains unaffected on soaking in acids.
2. The tensile strength of cotton fibre decreases on soaking in acids but
remains practically unaffected on soaking in alkalies.
3. The tensile strength of nylon fibres remain practically unaffected on
soaking either in acids or in alkalies.
PRECAUTIONS
1. Thread must be of identical diameters.
2. Always take the same length of the threads.
3. Add the weights in small amounts very slowly.

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EFFECT OF ACIDS AND BASE

ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

● ANIMALS: Wool and Silk

➢ MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF FABRICS

Wool consists of protein together with a small percentage of lipids. Hence it

The primary structure of silk fibroin (SF) is formed by highly repetitive

Nylon-6,6 is made from two monomers each of which contain 6 carbon

It is measured in the terms of minimum weight required to break the fiber. To

➽EXPERIMENT FOR UNTREATED FIBRES➽

given sample of nearly the same diameter.

TYPE OF FIBRE WT. REQUIRED TO BREAK UNTREATED FIBRE

WT. REQUIRED TO BREAK THE WT REQUIRED TO BREAK THE

COTTON 75g 785 g 50 g

NYLON 375 g 375g 375 g

1. The tensile strength of woolen fibre decreases on soaking in alkalies but

practically remains unaffected on soaking in acids.

2. The tensile strength of cotton fibre decreases on soaking in acids but

remains practically unaffected on soaking in alkalies.

3. The tensile strength of nylon fibres remain practically unaffected on

soaking either in acids or in alkalies.

1. Thread must be of identical diameters.

2. Always take the same length of the threads.

3. Add the weights in small amounts very slowly.

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