FIber Analysis Lab PDF

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Fiber Analysis Lab...

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Shantel Dixon H002 February 28, 2019 Maggie Staples

FIBER ANALYSIS #3

Lil’Amber FIelds Brittney Blackwell Natalie Kilgone

Introduction The concept of this lab was to see the differences of solubility, microscopic appearance,burning characteristics and staining for unidentified fibers. The purpose of this activity was to identify certain characteristics of different fibers using various types of tests and observations. This lab required undivided attention and extreme carefulness. This lab is great for if an unknown fiber or multiple fibers were found at a crime scene and just viewing with the naked eye, it was hard to tell what fabric it came from. Performing various tests would narrow down the search for figuring out if the fiber was cotton, nylon, silk, etc.

Materials and Equipment ● Acetone + pipet ● Hydrochloric Acid + pipet ● Sodium Hypochlorite + pipet ● Vinegar + pipet ● Small glass test tubes

● Test tube rack ● Candle ● Matches ● Microscope ● 7 microscope slides and cover slips ● Hot plate ● Forceps ● Multi-fiber Fabric ● Water ● Sharpie for labeling ● GLOVES

Procedures 1. The Stain Test: Turn on hot plate 2. Boil water 3. 3 mL of vinegar was added 4. 3 mL of stain was added (should turn purple) 5. The swatch was added into the beaker for 5 minutes 6. The swatch was taken out and rinsed under water 7. The Solvent Test: (Put on gloves) 8. The test tubes were checked for correct labeling and safety

9. Forceps were used to pull acetate thread from fabric swatch 10. Acetate thread was cut into 3 pieces 11. Forceps were used to drop each piece into test tubes labeled “1” 12. Steps 9-11 were repeated for each new fiber . 13. The pipet attached to the bottle was used to add 1 mL of acetone to each tube “A”. The pipet attached to the hydrochloric acid bottle was used to drop 1 mL of acid to each tube labeled “H”. 1 mL of sodium hypochlorite was added to each tube labeled “S”. 14. The tubes were observed for 8 minutes and each reaction was recorded on a data sheet. 15. The Burn Test: The candle was lit with a match. 16. The forceps were used to pull a thread of acetate from the multi-fiber fabric 17. The thread was moved horizontally toward the flame with the forceps and then the reaction was observed and recorded. (did the fiber curl away, melt or show no reaction) 18. Steps 16 and 17 were repeated using the other fibers from the multi-fiber fabric swatch. 19. The Microscopic Examination 20. A sharpie was used to label the slide on a paper towel as acetate. 21. A drop of water was placed on the slide using a pipet 22. The acetate fiber was obtained from the stained multi-fiber fabric and forceps were used to pick little strands. 23. The strands were placed in the water droplet on the slide and a cover slip was placed on top of the water and observed under the microscope on the high and low objectives. Data was recorded. 24. Steps 20-23 were repeated using the different fibers from the stained multi-fiber fabric.

25. Lastly an unknown was tested using all of the test to figure out which fabric it came from.

Data/Results

Conclusion The purpose of this lab was to identify different fibers from their fabric using the various methods of staining, solubility, burnibility, and microscopic examination. Previous knowledge of lab safety rules and previous knowledge of the microscope helped a lot in this lab. There were

no known discrepancies that would have affected the lab materials or results. The data collected did not dispute nor support the concepts of the background, because it was not like the data collected was compared to any work that was already done. Just knowing what was what and how it reacted or did not react was all to the lab. The unknown burned quickly and was beige and ivory so I concluded that it was cotton. It had all of the same characteristics of cotton from earlier data I had recorded. I know I still have a lot to improve on. I think I need to improve on the microscope. I get frustrated really quickly and I just set up the whole microscopic station and put the water, slides and fibers together and let the other group members work the actually microscope....