Your Hypothesis - A summary of the Independent, Dependent and Controlled Variables - The back ground information of your research.

Introduction In this experiment, the hypothesis: If hair is washed using a shampoo branded as 'strengthening' than the hair will be able to withstand more tensile force than hair rinsed with regular water. was tested. Previous experiments done in this area have shown that a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner was the best at keeping hair strong. This is probably due to the moisturising agent being applied at the same time as the shampoo stripping the hairs sebum resulting in a stronger hair cuticle. Other shampoos worked inconsistently and averaged a greater tensile strength but didn't work effectively on all hairs being tested. These were shampoos advertised as providing superior thermal protection from heat styling. The natural pH of hair is 5.0 which is more acidic than water (pH 7.0). Shampoos and conditioners help maintain hair strength by being acidic. A more acidic shampoo will have a greater moisturizing effect on the hair it is applied to. The most common acid used in shampoo is citric acid. However, if hair becomes too acidic, then the cuticles close up too much and hair becomes hard and brittle. Most shampoos contain sulfates which can strip the hair sebum making hair more easily breakable. To counter this effect, some shampoos contain silicones which add a protective layer around the hair shaft. Too much silicone however can lead to a build-up resulting in a weaker hair strand. When the hair's cuticles lie flat and overlap, the hair strand is protected and has a greater net tensile strength. Shampoos have different ratios of acidity, silicone and proteins to best match the hair type it will be used on. Thus, a shampoo for dry hair will not be optimised for oily hair. In this experiment, the tensile strength of hair was tested by varying the cleansing agent used. The keep the experiment fair, the following variables were held constant Same hair source Same hair length Same amount of hair The amount of shampoo The amount of water used to rinse The same hair dryness- how long it was since it was washed