Flammability of Various Fabrics

Researched by Jacob Z.
1999-2000

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to compare how fast fire spreads and consumes various types of fabric.

I became interested in this idea when I was watching the news and heard about a person dying in a fire.

The information gained from this experiment will help people know which fabrics to avoid for clothes, furniture, drapes, bedding, and other things that involve cloth. It will also tell people which fabrics to keep away from heaters, matches, cigarettes, etc. 


 HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis is that cotton will burn the fastest.

I base my hypothesis on information that I collected stating that fire needs oxygen to burn, and cotton lets a lot of air through the fibers.
back to top


EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were: 
The size of fabrics used, 
The style (or method) of lighting the fabrics, 
The wind speed, 
The temperature, 
The same corner that is lit on fire on each fabric, 
The type of lighter used to light, 
The time that the fire is held to the fabrics.
Where the hole in the fabric is located

The manipulated variable was: the type of fabric used.

The responding variable was: the speed that fire consumed the fabrics. 

To measure the responding variable: I will use a stop watch to measure how long it takes until the fire goes out, or consumes the entire piece of fabric.
back to top


MATERIALS


QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION
7 various types of fabric
1 lighter
7 aluminum pie trays
7 nails
1 stop watch
 7  pieces of aluminum foil for each trial

back to top


PROCEDURES

1. Cut material into squares of about 3 or 4 inches on each side. 
2. Put hole into materials all in the same spot (right top corner).
3. Cut aluminum foil big enough to cover whole pie tray.
4. Make a hole on inside of aluminum foil.
5. Make ridge on aluminum foil on inside and outside.
6. Put nails through pie trays in exact center and attach with wick holders.
7. Put aluminum foil on nail near bottom.
8. Put fabric on nail.
9. Put wire screen dome on and bend on bottom.
10. Ignite material and keep track of time with watch.
11. Wait until the fabric is consumed or the fire goes out
12. Let cool for 10 minutes.
13. Observe speed burned and remains.
14. Record data on data sheet.
15. Repeat steps 10 through 17, five times.
16. Repeat 10 through 18 with other fabrics.
17. Average results
18. Study data.
19. Organize data.
20. Create graph of data. 

back to top


RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine which fabric burned the fastest.

The results of the experiment were polyester burned the fastest at 61.97 seconds, cotton the second fastest at 74.86 seconds, wool third fastest at 116.80, linen fourth fastest at 148.42 seconds, and rayon fifth at 155.35 seconds. Silk and nylon did not burn but just melted.
 
 
 

back to top


CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that cotton would burn the fastest.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected. 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if I should have used more kinds of material and cut the pieces of material into larger squares.
I would use a different color of fabric to see if the color makes a difference in the speed that the fabric burns, I would use a different type of lighter, and I would do the experiment at a different temperature.
 

If I were to conduct this project again I would use more kinds of material, cut the squares into larger squares and I would do more trials of each material. 
back to top


 
 
 

Research Report

Fire is heat and light resulting from the rapid combination of oxygen with a flammable substance. Fire needs three components in order to burn, a flammable substance, oxygen, and a temperature high enough to ignite the substance. A flame is the glowing particles of the substance being burned that floats up. Flames are usually red, orange, or yellow but sometimes they are green, blue, or mauve. The color changes depending on the substance being burned.

History of Fire
Fire was discovered over 500,000 years ago. Although no one knows exactly how man began using fire, Encarta 98' says "Maybe ancient civilization got the idea of fire from watching the natural wonders of volcanoes or fires started by lighting or maybe they just dropped a rock on to another rock and saw the spark."

How Fire is Helpful
Fire can be helpful by giving people heat to live so we don’t freeze to death, heat to cook so we will not get sick from diseases like e. coli. It creates energy to power jets, airliners, cars, boats, and anything else that has a gasoline powered engine. Fire creates a small explosion in the piston making them move up and down to power the engine and make the craft move. Fire breaks things down like old trees, plants etc. to make fertilizer for new growth.

How Fire is Harmful
 Fire can be very harmful to property, people, and even animals. Fire destroys billions of dollars of property and kills thousands of people and animals every year. It’s hard to save anything once it catches on fire because is spreads so quickly. Most of the time it is not the fire that kills people and animals but it is carbon monoxide and other gasses that suffocate the victim so they can’t breath and eventually kills them. In fact, there are over 2.5 million fire accidents caused by candles, lighters, electrical outlets, and cigarettes every year. A fire can start in a hay bail or an oily rag if they are left in one place for too long and they build up heat until it ignites.

Methods of Starting Fires
 There are two main methods of starting fires, there is the friction and there is percussion. The friction method is where you rub two things together and generate enough heat to ignite the substance. An example of this method is rubbing two sticks together or hitting flint or steel together. Another example is matches, which were first invented by English physicist John Walker. The first match was a stick with a gum type substance soaked in a chemical, when the tip is rubbed against something rough the chemical ignites. The percussion method is where you use natural energy such as the sun and direct it in one spot with a piece of glass or a magnifying glass.

Ignition Temperature
The Ignition temperature is the temperature at which something ignites. For liquid fuels such as gasoline which can ignite at a temperature of as low as negative 36 degrees Fahrenheit. For solids it is between 500 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

back to top

Bibliography

Clatser, Tom "Combustion", Chicago, Scott Fetzer Company pg94-95 1997

"Fire" Encarta, 1999

"Fire" Encarta, 1998

"Fire" World book encyclopedia. 1995 volume "F"

"Flammable fabrics" http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/fire/firefbrc.html 

Smith, James W. "Fire" World book encyclopedia. 1999 volume "F" pg. 120-122.
 

Top of page

Menu of 1999-2000 Science Projects

Back to the Selah Homepage