Curly Invisible Hair

When you see ordinary cloth that is usually soft, do you ever wonder just how small the linear strands that create this cloth is?

 

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As you can see throughout these pictures, unlike ordinary fibers, these fibers, called microfibers, are indeed micro small. They have to be looked under the microscope to see it at the size of an ordinary strand of fiber. 

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When  actually measure them, the strands make less than a diameter of the size of  an ordinary line of silk (1/5 the diameter of a human hair).

Normally, either polymer chains also called Polyesters or the macro molecules called Polyamides create these small waves of fiber.   

 

With these micro fibers, they are used to form items such as mats, knits, cloths, cleaning products, etc.

The way they shape and combine the synthetic fibers results in different characteristics starting from softness and absorption to water repellent and filtration.  

 

 

 

 

 

 







Mayonnaise, a nose's greatest weakness

Shut your noses everyone!! Or get ready to double up with the whif of the Mayo!

(Or is it just me that hates the smell of this little dressing?)



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Now you may be wondering what is inside mayonnaise (not the ingredients).
To begin with, know that mayonnaise is really an emulsion "formed from eggs and fat seasoned with lemon juice or vinegar and salt" as stated by Will at Wordpress.com.
As seen in these pictures, Mayonnaise is filled with fat (obviously not good to eat globs at a time)
or more specifically, emulsion which is water and oil mixed together. They are thick in texture as well.

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There is just one problem in these emulsions: they cannot dissolve. Well for one, you could see they are a bit unstable since as water combines with oil, they begin to split off (thus there is a way to form the emulsions which, shortly explained, break the liquid mass.)

 






Duck Down Tender Feather

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Most of you know that inside the soft pillow you use to sleep on

is filled with either cotton or, in most cases, feathers. However, 

please know that usually, these feathers aren't the ordinary feathers you 

find on the outer parts of birds.  

 

 

The feathers birds contain on the external layer are tough compared to the internal ones. 

The internal feathers, also known as down feathers, are very soft and 

are used as an insulation against cold weather (its main function) by trapping air. 

Through this reason, many industries use down feathers for jackets, pillows, sleeping bags, and much more.  

 

 

 

 

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Just additional information: Certain birds, such as herons, have unique down feathers called 

powder down which acts as a water repellent by spreading powder over one's body. 

(So there are two types of down feathers). 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 












So wool! So cool!

 

 

As we all know, wool is the textile fiber which is obtained mainly through sheep. 

The fibers are actually kept together by the scaling and crimp which helps the fleece be spun and attached.

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Because we live in a much more comfortable world than before, we are able to purchase wool without thinking about how it was made and when we do, we assume it's a simple task. 

However, wool straight off a sheep is called "greasy wool" because it consists of dead skin, pesticides, and vegetable matter that needs to be cleaned.

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There are grades for wool that are separated by Merinos (such as "ultra fine" or "strong")

 

Out of all the animal fibers, the wool is the most commonly used out of all of them!

The fibers really look like scaly cylinders under the microscope.

While there may only be a few in the pictures, there are actually millions of them in the wool!

So Wool!















Cloudy graphite (4B) Pencil

The entirely carbon-composed mineral is something that we all use in our daily lives. 

Where you may ask?

The answer: In our pencils!

 

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You may have already noticed from the title that I inserted 4B in parenthesis because there are different kinds of graphite used in pencils that result in them being varied to different usages. 

The 4B here is not the type of graphite used in a test-taking situation at school. Rather, it is used more in a drawing situation.

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The reason why graphite here is not really used in a school or note taking situation is because it is very brittle and gives off a much darker color than an ordinary pencil we normally use. Here in the picture a 4B graphite is shown when it is broken (when used) and it shows that unlike an ordinary graphite pencil, this one gives off a much more scattered color sense and is much darker than others.  

A chart is shown online where it displays the different graphite used, scaling from the lightest (being 9H) to the darkest (being 9xxB) also showing that while the 4B here may seem to be a very dark color, there are much more darker and brittle ones above it. 

Now you may be wondering why kind of graphite we use on a normal basis, we use a type called HB. The letter "H" indicates hardness of the pencil while "B" designates the blackness of a graphite. 

In the graphite we were mentioning until now, 4B, has only one difference which is the number. The number indicates that as it grows, it will become much softer than the previous one. For example, 4B would be much softer than 2B meaning it would break faster. 



HB graphite on pencil

 Picture shows a normal pencil right? 

Well how many of you wondered just what kind of graphite you're using for your daily tests and homework at school? (probably not huh but I'll tell you in hopes that 

this information will come in handy in the future). 



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HB pencil drawing on the Kleenex tissue 40X

As seen, not as dark as other pencils that are used for different purposes

but still shows a bit of darkness. 

*This is not regarding HB graphite however, just something I think you should know in the future: 

the lightest lead/graphite is called a 9H while the darkest graphite found is the 9xxB!*



 

 

 

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dandelion

When I looked at a taraxacum (dandelion) I never in a lifetime thought it would look something like a wall that was almost wooden looking.

 

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What amazed me the most when looking at it was the spirogyra (which looks like a cluster of noodles or a piece of spring) which, believe it or not, is a cluster of chloroplasts!


 

 

 

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When the spirogyra was stained, it looks more clear with a better quality.


Spirogyras reproduce when water is warm and there are lots of minerals. The cells quickly divide and the chain grows longer. It may break to form new chains.





Now you may also be wondering: Do they reproduce when they're in cold weather? Certainly!
When cold, 2 neighboring threads and tiny projections reach the opposite cells and form a tube connecting both sides. The things that are in the cell shrink and move to the other cell's cytoplasm.
This type of reproduction is called Conjugation.


 

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All these pictures were taken from a vertical angle of the dandelion*


Celery





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Ever thought that when you looked closer at a celery peel it would still have that light greenish color? Wrong! The peel is a brownish and dark green color. 

Notice the fibers as well!

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Know why your parents always tell you to eat celery? Well for one, you can see the many fibers it has. There are soluble fibers in these little plants. The soluble fibers absorb water creating a gel-like mass going to the digestive tract and aiding it. 



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And finally, Cleveland Clinic stated that eating those fibers lead to a lower rate of having diabetes meaning a healthier life!  Eat healthy!



 

And finally, Cleveland Clinic stated that eating those fibers lead to a lower rate of having diabetes

meaning a healthier life! 

Eat healthy! 

sponge Bob








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The sponge (material NOT the living ones) is a tool used to clean the surfaces when they're dirty. They are famous for their ability of absorbing water and water based solutions.

 

 

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Sponges are made of cellulose wood fibers or plastic polymers (molecules with high molar masses). 



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rose leaf



There are over 100 different types of rose species around the world that can grow together to create shrubs consisting of thorns of the roses. 

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Almost every rose has five petals on them which are used to attract insects to help them pollinate. 



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The thorns that are all around the surface of a rose is actually called a prickle. A prickle is the outgrowth of an epidermis or the outer layer of the tissue of the stem. 

 

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