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By Douglas, age 9 3rd Grade, River Valley School System Favorite subject: math

Problem: I want to find out if cloth is stronger when it is wet.

Hypothesis: I think the cloth will soak up the water and will make the cloth stronger.

Procedure: To find out if wet cloth is stronger than dry cloth, I will stretch samples of many different kinds of cloth on a stretching tool until they break. I will test one set of each kind of cloth wet, and one set dry. I will then record and average the results, and compare the results to each other.

Description: We stretched 1" x 12" strips of many different kinds of cloth until they broke. We tested one set of each kind of material wet, and one set dry. We recorded and averaged the results, and then compared them to each other.

Materials Needed:
(10) 1" x 12" cloth strips of each kind of cloth tested
(1) Cloth stretching tool
(-) Water, stop watch, ruler, notebook

Experiment:

Procedure:

Step 1: Cut cloth into 1'' x 12 '' strips, 10 of each. Step 2: Put half of the cloth samples, 5 of each kind, on the stretcher and stretch each one until it breaks. Step 3: Record how many turns it takes to break the samples. Step 4: Soak the other half of the samples in water for 3 minutes, and then stretch each one of them until they break. Step 5: Record how many turns it takes to break the wet samples. Step 6: Examine and analyze our results.

Results: In all of the tests except for the polished-cotton, the dry cloth turned out to be stronger than the wet cloth did.

Conclusion: The kinds of cloth I tested (the kinds used for making clothes) are weaker when they are wet. I conclude that most cloth is weaker when it is wet.

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