STUDY THE EFFECT OF ACIDS AND

BASES ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH

OF A FIBRE.
A Project Report
Submitted by

Giridharan R.N, Hari Prakash .R, John Francis Xavier.S

In partial fulfillment of the

CBSE GRADE XI
IN
Chemistry
AT

RAMCO VIDYALAYA
R.R.NAGAR , VIRDHUNAGAR DISTRICT.

2023-2024

[1]
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that GIRIDHARAN.R.N, HARI PRAKASH.R, JOHN FRANCIS

XAVIER .S Grade XI, RAMCO VIDYALAYA , R.R.NAGAR with Roll Number 4,5,6
Respectively has satisfactorily completed the project in Chemistry on STUDY
THE EFFECT OF ACIDS AND BASES ON THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF A FIBRE in
partial fulfillment of the requirements as prescribed by CBSE in the year 2023-
24.

Signature of the
Teacher In-Charge

Signature of the

Principal

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I warmly acknowledge the continuous encouragement and timely suggestions

offered by our dear Principal Dr. Sivanand extend my hearty thanks for giving
me the opportunity to make use of the facilities available in the campus to
carry out the project successfully.

I am highly indebted to Mrs.Sheela, our chemistry teacher for the constant

supervision, providing necessary information and supporting in completing the
project. I would like to express my gratitude towards them for their kind co-
operation and encouragement.

Finally I extend my gratefulness to one and all who are directly or indirectly
involved in the successful completion of this project work.

Signature of the

Candidates

[3]
 INDEX

Sl. No. Topic Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION 6-11
2. OBJECTIVE 12
3. SCOPE & LIMITATION 13
4. PRINCIPLE/THEORY 14-17
5. EXPERIMENT NO.1
 AIM 18
 REQUIREMENT
 PROCEDURE
 OBSERVATION
EXPERIMENT NO.2 19
6.  AIM
 REQUIREMENT 20
 PROCEDURE
 OBSERVATION 21

7. RESULT AND CONCLUSION 22-25

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 26

[4]
Abbreviations:-

 M10 :-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 kilometre 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.
 Acrylic, nylon and polyester come from oil and coal.

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 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

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
 creases drop out
 dry clean

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 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


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
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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FIGURE 1

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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 106 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:

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.

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 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 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

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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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Structure of a polysaccride.

Figure-2
Structure of a polyamide.

[16]
Figure-3
Structure of a nylon6,6.

EXPERIMENT NO:-1

AIM:-To compare tensile strength of cotton, silk and nylon

fibres.

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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.

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Observations:-

Sl. No. Type of fibre Minimum weight required at breaking of

thread.(N)

1. Cotton 8.50
2. Silk 3.50
3. Wool 9.20
4. Polyester 7.00

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 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(M10 ) and sodium

hydroxide(M10).

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.
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.

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Observations:-
Sl.no. Type of fibre Tensile strength of fibre(N)

Before soaking After soaking in After soaking in

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. Polyester 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 is shown in figure-5. 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.
7.00N

Figur
e-5 showing the stress vs strain graph of a polyester.

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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 (Figure 6), 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 fi ber
axis. More systematic microstructural characterization is needed to
completely understand the deformation process.

9.20N

Figure-6 showing the stress vs strain graph of a wool

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3)Cotton:-
The engineering stress-strain curve for a typical test on a single strand of
cotton is shown in Figure 7. 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.

8.50N

Figure-7 showing the stress vs strain graph of a nylon.

[25]
 BIBLIOGRAPHY:-
 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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