LITTLE FLOWER HOUSE

KAKARMATTA, VARANASI

TOPIC-
STUDY THE EFFECT OF ACIDS AND BASES ON THE TENSILE
STRENGTH OF A FIBRE.

Name – Shambhavi Singh

Class – XII
Roll No. –
Subject – CHEMISTRY
Submitted by Submitted to
Shambhavi Singh Mr. Suneel Kumar Sahu

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 CERTIFICATE
Little Flower House
Varanasi
To Whomsoever It May Concern
I have great pleasure in forwarding the Chemistry project entitled STUDY
THE
EFFECT OF ACIDS AND BASES ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF A FIBRE
Submitted by Shambhavi Singh of Class 12th.
Shambhavi Singh has prepared this investigatory project in accordance with
the guidelines formed by CBSE and has worked as per my instructions and I
certify that the project is unique and has not been copied from any other
source. I wish
her every success in her future endeavors.

Mr. Suneel Kumar Sahu

Date (Supervisor)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to Mr. Suneel Kumar Sahu,
my Chemistry Teacher who gave his valuable advice and superb
guidelines for completion of my project. He helped me to understand
the important details of my project which would otherwise have not
been possible.
I am also grateful to my friends for boosting my morale and offering me
mental support.
Last but not least, I extend by sincere thanks to my classmates and the
lab assistant who played an important role during the performing of the
experiment.
By shambhavi singh

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Little flower house , kakkarmata Page 4
 SR TOPIC PAGE NO.
NO.
1 INTRODUCTION 6-11

2 OBJECTIVE 17

3 SCOPE AND LIMITATION 18

4 PRINCIPLE / THEORY 20

5 EXPERIMENT NO. 1 21
Aim
Requirement
Procedure 22
Observation

6 EXPERIMENT NO. 2 23
Aim
Requirement
Procedure
Observation 24

7 RESULT AND COCLUSION 26

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 31
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 ABBREVIATIONS

 M/10 :- 0.1 Molarity

 G :- Gram

 NaOH :- Sodium hydroxide

 HCl :- Hydrochloric acid

 N :- Newton

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 INTRODUCTION
Fibre is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete
elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread. A fiber is an elongated tapering
thick-walled plant cell that imparts elasticity, flexibility, and tensile strength.
Tensile strength of fibres can be determined by hanging weights tied to it and
comparing the weight a string can hold. Traditionally, natural fibers have
been used in all cultures for making utilitarian products. Different parts of the
plant are used. Fibers can be extracted from the bark (banana, jute, hemp,
and ramie), stem (banana, palm, and bamboo), leaf (palm, screw pine, sisal,
agave), husk (coir), seeds (cotton), and grass (sikki, madhurkati, benakati,
munj). Animal fibers are obtained from a variety of animal coats, and insect
fibers from cocoons.
Even before the arrival of man-made fibers, manufacturers could create
hundreds of different kinds of fabrics, differing mainly by fiber content,
weight, style of weave, or sheen. Here are just a few of these historic fabrics,
along with the natural fiber from which they were originally made (nearly all
can be made now with other fibers, either natural or synthetic).They are very
important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues
together.
Human uses for fibers are diverse. They can be spun into filaments, string, or
rope, used as a component of composite materials, or matted into sheets to
make products such as paper or felt. Fibers are often used in the manufacture
of other materials. The strongest engineering materials are generally made as
fibers, for example carbon fiber and Ultra-high-molecular-weight
polyethylene.
The history of man-made fibers is less than a century old; until 1910, there
were no synthetic or chemical fibers. Today, by mixing different components,
manufacturers can take the basic fibers listed below and make them more
waterproof or more absorbent, warmer or cooler, thicker or thinner, stiffer or
more supple. Some, like polyester and spandex, combine well with natural
fibers, making fabrics that wrinkle less or are more form-fitting.
Synthetic fibers can often be produced very cheaply and in large amounts
compared to natural fibers, but for clothing natural fibers can give some
benefits, such as comfort, over their synthetic counterparts.

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 Types of fibre
Textile materials are made in three stages:
1. Spinning: fibres are spun into yarns
2. Weaving or knitting: yarns become fabrics
3. Finishing: fabrics are finished to make them more useful

There are two types of textile fibres:

 Natural
 Synthetic

Natural fibres
Natural fibres come from plants, animals and minerals. They usually have
short fibres, called staple fibres. The exception to this rule is silk, a natural
fibre whose continuous filaments are up to one kilometer in length!
Sources of natural fibres
 Cotton from the cotton plant.
 Linen from the flax plant.
 Wool from sheep.
 Silk from silkworms.

Synthetic fibres
Synthetic fibres are man-made, usually from chemical sources. They are
continuous filament fibres, which means the fibres are long and do not always
have to be spun into yarn.
Sources of synthetic fibres
 Viscose comes from pine trees or petrochemicals.

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  Acrylic, nylon and polyester come from oil and coal.

Natural fibres from plants

1)Cotton
Used for making jeans, T-shirts and towels and has the following qualities:
 cool to wear
 very absorbent, dries slowly
 soft handle
 good drape
 durable
 creases easily
 can be washed and ironed

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2)Linen
Used for summer clothing, tea towels and tablecloths and has the following
qualities:
 fresh and cool to wear
 very absorbent, dries quickly
 stiffer handle
 good drape
 durable
 creases badly
 can be washed and ironed

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 Natural fibres from animals
1)Wool
Used for jumpers, suits and blankets and has the following qualities:
 warm to wear
 absorbent, dries slowly
 breathable, repels rain
 soft or coarse handle
 can shrink, should be dry cleaned
 good drape
 not durable
 creases drop out

2)Silk
Used for evening wear and ties and has the following qualities:
 warm to wear
 absorbent
 soft handle
 good lustre and drape
 durable
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  creases drop out
 dry clean

Synthetic fibre.
1)Acrylic
Used for jumpers, fleece jackets and blankets and has the following qualities:
 warm to wear
 non-absorbent, dries quickly
 stiffer handle, like wool
 good drape
 durable
 crease resistant
 easy care

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2)Nylon (Tactel)
Used for active sportswear, fleece jackets, socks and seat belts and has the
following qualities:
 warm to wear
 absorbent, dries slowly
 breathable, repels rain
 soft or coarse handle
 can shrink, should be dry cleaned
 good drape
 durable
 creases drop out

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3)Polyester
Used for raincoats, fleece jackets, children's nightwear, medical textiles and
working clothes and has the following qualities:
 low warmth
 non-absorbent, dries quickly
 soft handle
 good drape
 very durable
 crease resistant
 easy care
 can be recycled

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 OBJECTIVE
The objective of the project is to determine the strength of different types of
fibres and the effect of alkali and acid on the tensile strength of the fibre. This
project enables us to know which is the appropriate one for the appropriate
use.
One cannot judge the fibre thread by just looking but can conclude after
performing the following experiments.

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 SCOPE AND LIMITATION
As this experiment is carried out to investigate whether plant fibre under
tension are stronger or weaker than concrete, tensile strength has to be
calculated. Theoretically, tensile strength of plant fibre should be more than
2.0 x N/m2
which is the tensile strength of concrete. However, there are a few limitations
in this experiment. First, the fibre strands taken from the stem have different
maturity. If extracted from different part or different plant but of the same
species, the strengths may have big variations. Other than that, in a fibre, the
diameter may be different at different part along the strand. For example, the
end of fibre may have thicker diameter but thinner in the middle. Besides,
when drying the fibre, the fibre may become over-dried. This will result in
more brittleness in the fibre. Thus the fibre may snap easily even with the
smallest mass of loads and give a wrong implication on their real tensile
strength.
The scope of this project is to study the dependence of the tensile strength of
stone wool fibres on various factors and to understand the fracture
characteristics. These factors are:
a) Production-related factors:
i. hyper quenching,
ii. Melting atmosphere
iii. Fibre diameter variations and
iv. Applied axial tension during forming

b) Fibre surfaces characteristics:

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i. surface homogeneity,
ii. Surface roughness and
iii. Surface reactivity
These factors are of course highly correlated. This correlation will be
discussed both in the short overview part of the thesis and in the four articles
belonging to this thesis. The mechanical performances of both continuous and
discontinuous fibres will be studied by measuring their tensile strength as
functions of the production parameters.

THEORY
Depending upon the source, various fibres can be categorized as:
1. Animal fibre(e.g., silk and wool)
2. Vegetable fibre(e.g., cotton and linen)
3. Synthetic fibre(e.g., nylon and rayon)
Natural fibres can be classified according to their origin. The vegetable, or
cellulose-base, class includes such important fibres as cotton, flax, and jute;
the animal, or protein-base, fibres include wool,mohair, and silk; an important
fibre in the mineral class is asbestos.
The vegetable fibres can be divided into smaller groups, based on their origin
within the plant. Cotton, kapok, and coir are examples of fibres originating as

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hairs borne on the seeds or inner walls of the fruit, where each fibre consists of
a single, long, narrow cell. Flax, hemp, jute, and ramie are bast fibres,
occurring in the inner bast tissue of certain plant stems and made up of
overlapping cells. Abaca, henequen, and sisal are fibres occurring as part of
the fibro vascular system of the leaves. Chemically, all vegetable fibres consist
mainly of cellulose, although they also contain varying amounts of such
substances as hemicellulose, lignin, pectins, and waxes that must be removed
or reduced by processing. The animal fibres consist exclusively of proteins
and, with the exception of silk, constitute the furor hair that serves as the
protective epidermal covering of animals. Silk filaments are extruded by the
larvae of moths and are used to spin their cocoons.
With the exception of mineral fibres, all natural fibres have an affinity for
water in both liquid and vapour form. This strong affinity produces swelling of
the fibres connected with the uptake of water, which facilitates dyeing in
watery solutions.
Unlike most synthetic fibres, all natural fibres are nonthermoplastic—that is,
they do not soften when heat is applied. At temperatures below the point at
which they will decompose, they show little sensitivity to dry heat, and there is
no shrinkage or high extensibility upon heating, nor do they become brittle if
cooled to below freezing. Natural fibres tend to yellow upon exposure to
sunlight and moisture, and extended exposure results in loss of strength.
All natural fibres are particularly susceptible to microbial decomposition,
including mildew and rot. Cellulosic fibres are decomposed by aerobic
bacteria (those that live only in oxygen) and fungi. Cellulose mildews and
decomposes rapidly at high humidity and high temperatures, especially in the
absence of light. Wool and silk are also subject to microbial decomposition by
bacteria and molds. Animal fibres are also subject to damage by moths and
carpet beetles; termites and silverfish attack cellulose fibres. Protection against
both microbial damage and insect attacks can be obtained by chemical
modification of the fibre substrate; modern developments allow treatment of
natural fibres to make them essentially immune to such damage.

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 EXPERIMENT NO:-1
AIM:-To compare tensile strength of cotton, silk and nylon fibres.
Apparatus Requirements:- Cotton, wool, silk, polyester, hook, weight hanger, weights.
Procedure:-
1. Take equally cut pieces of cotton, silk and nylon fibres from given sample of same
diameter.
2. Tie one end of the cotton fibres to hook and the other end to weight hanger.
3. Now start adding weights gradually until breaking point is reached. Note the minimum
weight required to break the fibre.
4. Repeat this procedure taking silk anf then nylon thread. Make observations and record
them.

Observations:-
SR TYPE OF FIBRE MINIMUM WEIGHT REQUIRED AT
NO. BREAKING OF THREAD.(N)
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 1 COTTON 8.50
2 SILK 3.50
3 WOOL 9.20
4 POLYSTER 7.00

EXPERIMENT NO:-2
AIM:-To find the effect of acids and alkalies on the tensile strength of
cotton, wool and silk fibres.
Apparatus Requirements:- Cotton, wool, silk, polyester, hook, weight hanger, weights.
Chemical Requirement:- Hydrochloric acid( ) and sodium hydroxide( ).
Procedure:-
1. Cut out equal length of cotton, wool and silk threads from given samples. The threads
should be nearly the same thickness.
2. Determine the tensile strength of each fibre as explained in experiment 1.
3. Soak a given thread into a dilute solution of sodium hydroxide for about 5 minutes.

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4. Take it out of NaOH solution and wash it thoroughly with water and dry it in sun or
oven at 40°C.
5. Determine again the tensile strength of woolen thread as explained in experiment 1
6. Now take another piece of wool thread and soak it in hydrochloric acid for about 5
minutes. Take it out and wash thoroughly with water. Dry it and again determine its
tensile strength.
7. Repeat the above procedure for the sample of cotton and nylon fibres.
[21]

Observations:-
s.no TYPE OF TENSILE STRENGTH OF FIBRE (N)
FIBRE
BEFORE AFTER AFTER
SOAKING IN SOAKING IN SOAKING IN
NAOH NAOH HCL
1 COTTON 8.50 8.50 8.20

2 WOOL 9.20 8.90 9.20

3 SILK 3.50 3.00 3.50
4 POLYSTER 7.00 7.00 7.00

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 RESULT AND CONCLUSION
Conclusions drew from the experiment are:-
1. Alkalies decrease the tensile strength of woolen fibers.
2. Acids practically do not affect this fiber.
3. Tensile strength of cotton thread is decreased by acids and it remains unaffected
by alkalis.
4. Nylon fiber is practically unaffected by both acids and alkalies.

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 DEFORMATION OF FIBRES
1) Polyster:-
A typical engineering stress-strain curve from tensile test of individual polyester
(PET) fiber . According to previous literature [12], one PET fi ber consists of
microfi brils aligned along the fi ber axis. These microfi brils, in turn, consistof
crystalline and amorphous regions, and connected to other microfi brils by another
kind of amorphous phase, known as mesamorphous phase. The different regions
observed in the tensile stress-strain curve can be explained by the deformation of
the different microstructural regions mentioned above. During the initial
deformation, the amorphous regions within the microfi brils align themselves in the
similar orientation as the mesamorphous phase. The stress-strain curve goes
through another point of infl exion when the applied load starts to strain the bonds
in both amorphous and crystalline phases. The fi nal part of the curve represents
slippage between microfi brils.

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2) Wool:-
The tensile deformation behavior in an individual wool fiber is shown
in Figure 6. These fibers can be stretched about 30% of their original length before
failure, much higher strains compared to other fibers. Although the fiber diameter
is uniform along the length of the fibers,
the expected defect distribution in the natural fiber is higher.
When the variation in dynamic storage modulus with strain is
Plotted , there is a slight drop corresponding to the yield in
engineering stress-strain curve. This correlates to the molecular movement in the
microfi brils to align themselves along the fiber axis. As this alignment process
dissipates energy, it increases the loss factor
After the molecules in the microfi brils are aligned, the deformation
is mostly due to stretching of various hierarchical layers along the fiber axis. More
systematic micro structural characterization is needed to completely understand the
deformation process.

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3)Cotton:-
The engineering stress-strain curve for a typical test on a single strand of cotton .
Although the cellulose crystals in the mercerized cotton fibers exhibit high modulus
and strength, they are also the least ductile compared to the other fibers studied
herein. The electron micrograph in Figure8 clearly shows the anisotropic cross-
section of the cotton fiber. Moreover, the mechanical properties
of cotton also vary with the length of the fiber and the chemical treatment it
undergoes before application.

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showing the stress vs strain graph of a nylon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:-

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 Comprehensive practical chemistry-XI
 Wikipedia
 Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
 www.textileschool.com
 www.meritnation.com.
 http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/

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