What Brand Of Band-Aid Has The Most Adhesive Stick?
Researched by Lacy K. 2000-01	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  About The Author

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which type of Band-Aid brand bandage sticks the longest.
 

I became interested in this idea when I cut my arm and needed to place a Band-Aid on the cut. I wondered what type of Band-Aid brand bandage sticks the longest.
 

The information gained from this experiment could help customers know what Band?Aid bandage has the most adhesive stick and which one to buy.

My hypothesis was compared to three other adhesive strips the Sports Adhesive Strip would last the longest. 

I based my hypothesis on information that the Sports Adhesive Strips were made for active people and active people sweat more. Also, they are exposed to more extreme conditions.
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The constants in this study were:
 The brand of Band?Aids bandages
 Temperature of the room and the water
Raw eggs at room temperature
 Clock 

The manipulated variable was the types of Band-Aid brand bandages.

The responding variable was the time the adhesive stuck to the egg suspended under water.

To measure the responding variable I used a clock to measure the time in minutes.

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1. Fill a 21L. Bucket with room temp. Water. 
2. Label 4 raw eggs with a black marker corresponding with the brand of Band-Aid bandage.
3. Unwrap each Band-Aid
4. Stick 1/2 of adhesive strip to the width of egg
5. Place egg in water, hold under water until bandage falls off
6. Repeat for each brand of bandage

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The original purpose of this experiment was to see which brand of Band-Aid bandage has the most adhesive stick.

The results of the experiment were the Clear Bandage lasted the longest. It lasted an average of 4099 minutes. The Comfort Strips only lasted 1057 minutes and started to come off the egg when it  was placed in the water. 

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My hypothesis was out of 4 brands the Sports Strip Adhesive Strip would have the most stick.

The results indicate this hypothesis should be rejected because the Clear Band-Aid adhesive stuck the longest.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if the Clear bandage would still stick the longest if there wasn’t any water in the bucket.

My findings should be useful to customers, because they would then know the best Band-Aid to buy.

If I were to conduct this experiment again, I would not use eggs as weights because they started to rot after being in room temp. for longer than 24hours. Also I would place the Band-Aids in a warmer location. 

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RESEARCH REPORT   Band-Aid History  Band-Aids have been around for many years. The earliest Egyptian medical records talk about bandages. They used soft plasters of myrrh for an antiseptic action. Honey was used with linen for an adhesive. Most early civilizations used similar things.  In 1600, the development of microscopes detected germs and their part in disease. In the 19th century, Joseph Lister proved it was important to bandage a surgical wound to protect against airborne germs. Before that, doctors were using wrappings made from cuttings swept off the floors of textile mills. Many people died from infection.  In the 1920’s Earle Dickson, an employee at Johnson and Johnson, married a young girl named Josephine. She always cut herself doing housework and cooking. So Earle bought Josephine gauze and tape, but they always fell off. So Earle cut gauze and unwound the adhesive tape. He stuck gauze squares in even intervals on the tape. Next, he covered it with crinoline. Then he rolled it all back into a roll. The next time she needed a bandage she could unroll this cut it off, and stick it on her cut or burn.  In 1921, Earle told Johnson and Johnson about his creation. The bandage was precut in 1924, and completely sterilized in 1939. In 1958 they were made in sheer vinyl. Soon after, other companies started to manufacture similar products.  The Band-Aid sales were slower than the company expected. So Johnson and Johnson gave unlimited numbers of free Band-Aids to Boy Scouts. Since Band-Aids introduction more the 120 billion been sold worldwide. Today, over 4 billion bandages are made every year.   Today Band-Aid brand adhesive tape is made of acrylic. There are 5 main types of Band-Aids. They are clear tape, cloth, hurt free, waterproof, and paper tape. Johnson and Johnson doesn’t use latex on the Band-Aids. 85% of Johnson and Johnson Band-Aid users have no allergic reactions.  There is a difference between Band-Aids and a bandage. A Band-Aid is a trademark of an adhesive bandage with a gauze pad in the center. A bandages a strip of material, such as gauze, used to protect, compress, or support a wound or injured body part. The adhesive tape is used for covering a wound and is coated on one side with an adhesive mixture. The discover of Antiseptic Joseph Lister was born in Upton, Essex, England in 1827. He received a general education at the University of London. He then studied medicine in London and in Edinburgh. He became a lecturer in surgery at the University in Edinburg. He was a professor of surgery at Glasgow, Edinburg, King’s College Hospital, and London. In addition he was a surgeon to Queen Victoria. He was made a Baronet 1883 with the title of Baron Lister. Lister retired from teaching in 1893. He died in 1912. Joseph Lister always believed in cleanliness. He was convinced it was important for cleanliness and the use of deodorants in the operating rooms. Louis Pasteur realized pus was made from bacteria, so Lister used this information to develop his antiseptic surgical methods. This new treatment was let into a general adoption. The results made were really great, so it was one of the great discoveries of its time.  In 1861 it was believed gangrene and other infections were caused by bad air. Lister tried to keep the room clean but the death rate was very close to 50%. Lister would spray the air with a carbolic acid. He learned about a theory of Louis Pasteur, whose experiments had proven infections were caused by microorganisms brought into contact with organic material. So Lister took his carbolic acid spray and put it on the instruments, wounds, and dressings. The death rate dropped to 15%. These discoveries were not accepted untill 1880’s Antiseptic is a chemical substance that slows or stops germ growth. It came from the Greek words "anti" meaning against and "sepsis" meaning poison.  Top of page

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bandage, The World Book Encyclopedia, 1998  Compton’s Encyclopedia online, Antiseptic [online] available http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/0000/00093952_A.html, 1998  Houghton Mifflin company, Bandage: The American heritage dictionary of the English language fourth edition, [online] available http://www.bartleby.com/61/34/B0053400.html, 2000  Internet Modern History sourcebook, Modern history sourcebook : Joseph Lister (1827-1912) Antiseptic Principle of the practice of surgery, [online] available http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1867Lister.html, Aug. 1998 Jill, consumer representative, Johnson and Johnson, December 28,2000 Johnson and Johnson, Band-Aid history [online] available http://www.Johnsonand johnson.com/band-aid,  Jan. 3, 2001 Robinson Research, The band-aid story [online] available http://www.robinresearch.com/TECHNOL/INVENTS/Band-aid.htm , March 31, 1999 The Great idea finder, Invention of band-aid [online] available http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story021.htm, Feb 1, 2000

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