10/3/2017

Investigating the Ultimate Tensile Strength of a Strand of Xylem Collected from

Celery

Introduction

The stem of a plant has many functions that are vital to the survival of a plant. It acts as
a support structure, keeping the flower in the optimal position for its leaves and flower.
The leaves have to get adequate sunlight on its large surface. The flower also has to be
in the most suitable position to transfer its pollen either by wind or by attaching to
insects and animals. The stem also undergoes minor photosynthesis. The stem also
houses the transport system of the plant.

The epidermis is the outer layer of the stem. It secretes Cutin which is a waxy
substance that prevents water loss through osmosis. The Parenchyma and
Collenchyma are packing tissue that keep the structures in place. These cells remain
living and stretch when the plant grows. The Collenchyma contains extra cellulose. The
Sclerenchyma provides strength and flexibility to the stem. It has strong secondary
walls. If it is surrounded by lignin, it is known as a Sclerid. The Xylem, Phloem and
Cambium are collectively known as the Vascular bundle. The Xylem transports water
and dissolved minerals which the Phloem transports dissolved products of
photosynthesis. The Cambium serves as a place holder of sorts. They are unspecialised
cells hat, when needed, differentiates into either the Xylem or Phloem. The Cambium is
known as pluripotent.

Kyle Edward
10/3/2017

The 3 main content of plant cells are cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin. Cellulose
provides load-bearing qualities while lignin provides stiffness and rigidity. Lignin is much
less hydrophilic than cellulose and hemicellulose. It prevents these polysaccharides
from absorbing water in the cell wall and allows efficient transport of water in the
vascular bundle. Lignin also provides protection against insects and fungi.

Plants fibres of specific plants are commonly used in textiles. Fibres are collected from
the plants and are processed through retting, which is soaking the plant to soften is and
separate the fibres. Common plants used in textiles are hemp, cotton and kapok. They
are desirable for the unique qualities. Cotton's cellulose and lignin content make it
strong and flexible. It is commonly used in clothing. Kapok has a naturally waxy outer
coat which makes it waterproof. Kapok has air pockets within the fibres, which makes it
8x lighter than cotton, however, this makes kapok highly flammable. Kapok is also
hypoallergenic, so it is used in some textiles.

Celery plants are made up of roots, leaves, leaf stalks flowers and seeds. The leaf
stalks are made up of Collenchyma tissue, Xylem tissue and Phloem tissue. Celery is
used as a food source as all parts of it are edible. In our experiment we only used the
stalks of the celery.

Aim

To test the ultimate tensile strength of a celery xylem.

Hypothesis

Adding masses to the fibre should cause it to stretch and increase in length. When I
held the fibre, I noticed that it felt very hard and brittle. This observation was made
apparent when we were trying to fix the fibre to the clamp and mass holder. A brittle
cord would have a constant increase in extension until it eventually breaks. I suspect
that the xylem will show very little plastic deformation and that the extension will not be
exponential. This britleness is likely caused when we dried out the fibres before we
conducted the experiment. The lack of water gives the fibre its brittle nature.

Equipment

Retort Stand
Boss head
Mass holder
Slotted masses
Ruler
Celery xylems
Beaker

Kyle Edward
10/3/2017

Food colouring
Distilled Water
Scalpel

Method

1. Add distilled water to a beaker

2. Add some food colouring to the water until the colour is clearly visible
3. Place celery into the beaker
4. Leave the celery until water mixture is absorbed by the celery and the colour is
clearly visible through the xylem
5. Use a scalpel to expose the xylem
6. Pull as many xylems out as possible (at least 8)
7. Place the xylems on some tissue and leave it to dry over night
8. Once dried, set up the retort stand and boss head. Tie one end of the fibre to the
boss head and one to the mass holder.
9. Measure the length from knot to knot as that is the original length
10. Fix a ruler to the boss head to measure the extension

Health and Safety

Suspended masses should be arranged close to the table so that the force of the
masses falling do not damage the table.
Keep feet away from under the masses to prevent injury
Make sure that the metre rule is perfectly parallel to the wire
Wait in between each trial as the wire will take time for its full extension to be
reached

Limitation

The xylems were very brittle so fixing them to the retort stand and mass holder was very
difficult. This proved to be very time consuming and we went through all of the plant
fibres while only getting one reliable result.

Results

Independent Variable : Load applied to the fibre

Dependant Variable : Extension of wire, Ultimate tensile strength

Control Variables : Length of fibre, Typed of fibre, Increment of mass added,

temperature, water content

Use the same set of masses

Cut all of the fibres to the same length

Kyle Edward
10/3/2017

Trial Mass (g) Length (cm) Extension (cm) Get all

of the
1 10 19.5 0 fibres
2 20 19.6 0.1 from
3 30 19.8 0.3 the
same
4 40 19.9 0.4 celery
5 50 19.9 0.4 Dry out
6 60 20.1 0.6 all of
the
7 70 20.2 0.7 fibres
8 80 20.3 0.8
9 90 20.4 0.9
10 100 20.5 1.0
11 110 20.6 1.1
12 120 20.7 1.2
13 130 UTS -

Kyle Edward
10/3/2017

Extension on Mass Added

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

Discussion

The extension increase consistently up until breaking point. Increments were almost
consistent at 0.1 cm every trial. The highest increment was at trial 3 and 6, where the
extension increased by 0.2 cm. The highest mass that the fibre could stand was 130 g.
This is much less than other threads could handle. This could be because of a higher
lignin content than that of cotton, It could also occur because it was only one strand as a
pose to multiple strands wound together.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was correct. The fibre showed no plastic deformation. The fibre also
could only hold 130g.

Kyle Edward