INTEC EDUCATION COLLEGE

BIOLOGY LABORATORY REPORT

NAME
STUDENT I/D

: NUR HAFIZAH BINTI MUKHTAR

: 1311171158

GROUP

: 11SC1 (TADDINGTON)

TITLE

: THE STRENGTH OF PLANT FIBRE

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 6th FEBRUARY 2014

DATE OF SUBMISSION

: 14th FEBRUARY 2014

LECTURERS NAME

: MADAM LILI SYAHANI RUSLI

TITLE
The strength of plant fiber
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the tensile strength of plant fiber from neetle stems and
compared it with the tensile strength of concrete.
INTRODUCTION
The term fiber can be explained in many different ways. One of them is : a
mechanical cell type belonging to the sclerenchyma (true fibers), long cells used to produce
paper (true fibers and tracheids), vascular bundles used for textiles or to produce ropes (manila
and sisal), long trichomes used for textiles (cotton), and the so called dietary fibers.
Cellulose is a skeletal polysaccharide. It is in the plant kingdom and one of the most naturally
occurring fibrous materials. A fiber is also defined as a unit of matter characterised by
flexibility,fineness, and high ratio of length to thickness while fibre ultimate can be defined as
one of the unit botanical cells into which leaf and bast fibres can be distinguished .
There are many patterns of fiber arrangements at the tissue, organ, and whole plant levels that
may significantly influence the biomechanics of plants, but this aspect has not been studied much
because of the typical botanists limitation in the ability to deal with theoretical aspects of
engineering. Fibers can be part of both the primary and secondary plant body. They can be
derivatives of the procambium (primary phloem fibers, fibers surrounding vascular bundles in
monocotyledons) or even differentiate from the ground meristem . In the secondary body, fibers
are mostly cambial derivatives (fiber bundles in the secondary phloem and fibers of the
secondary xylem) . There are also regenerative fibers that differentiate from parenchyma cells
after wounding . Fibers appear in several cellular types. They can be alive or dead, and
uninuclear or multinucleate. Many fibers have septa that divide them into several chambers
The uses of these cellulosic fiber have been traced a very long time ago. For instance, clothing
made of flax fibers has been traced back to around 3000 B.C. and the Babylonians used flax fiber
for burial purposes in about 650 B.C. The use of plant fibers as reinforcement materials dates

back to prehistoric times when straw was put into bricks during the reign of Pharaoh. The Inca
and Maya made similar plant fiber reinforced pottery . In the 1930s Henry Ford constructed an
entire automobile body from hemp and presently automobile manufactures such as BMW and
Mercedes are beginning to incorporate hemp into car components . The applications of fibers
covered in this article range from apparel and ornamental fabrics to industrial materials.
Fiber is one of the most important renewable resources for humanity. In the world, wood
is considered as a major energy source by a lot of people. When the wood is rich with highly
lignified fibers, the energy content of that particular wood also increases. At the same time, the
mechanical properties of timber for construction and as raw material for various industries are
greatly influenced by their fiber content, chemistry, and structure. The importance of fibers in the
production of textiles is also well known. From both commercial and biotechnological points of
view, the most important fiber types are bast (phloem) fibers, mostly used for textiles, and fibers
of the secondary xylem used as the major raw material for paper production . Their length and
chemistry are critical quality components in the paper industry. Elimination of lignin from fibers
during paper production is a major cost component in the paper industry and an important
environmental polluting process.
Strength can be defined as the maximum stress a material can withstand without failing
or breaking. Tensile strength is the maximum stress caused by a pulling force that a material can
withstand without failing. Compression strength is the maximum stress caused by a pushing
force that a material can withstand without crushing.
In this experiment, we are going to study and find out more about the plant fiber. We are
going to measure the tensile strength of the plant fiber. The tensile strength of the plsnt fiber is
then compared with the tensile strength of concrete. We are going to find out, which one of those
two has a higher tensile strength.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

What is the tensile strength of the plant fiber?

Who has the highest tensile strength? Plant fiber or concrete?

HYPOTHESIS
Plant fiber has a higher tensile strength compared to that of concrete.
NULL HYPOTHESIS
Concrete has a higher tensile strength compared to plant fiber.
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
xiii.

Cylinders,
tap water,
microscope,
stage micrometer,
graticule,
retort stand,
clamp,
suspended mass carries,
masses,
rulers,
force meters,
face masks and
rubber gloves.

PROCEDURE