Purpose
The purpose of this experiment was to determine
how various shampoos affect the tensile strength of human hair.
I became interested in this idea when my mom told
me that my hair could look better if the strands of hair were stronger.
The information gained from this experiment will
help people know which shampoo will make their hair stronger so it wont
break off easily. Consumers will also know which brand to buy so
that their hair is stronger and healthier. I think that this will
be very beneficial for the hair stylists and consumers who are concerned
about their hair.
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Hypothesis
My hypothesis is that Pantene Pro-V will give
the hair the greatest tensile strength. I base my hypothesis on the
opinion of numerous hairstylists that I have contacted.
My hypothesis is based on Andre Walkers professional
opinion. Andre said that the more moisture that the hair contains
the healthier the hair is. He also said that the shampoo should be
full of protein and natural herbs. I think that Pantene Pro-V will work
the best.
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Experiment
Design
The constants in this study were:
1. The amount of the shampoo that
was put on hair
2. The amount of the water used to
rinse the hair
3. The gauge and method used to measure
the pressure
4. The type of hair
5. The amount of the hair that I
used
The manipulated variable was the type of shampoo
that the hair was soaked in.
The responding variable was the stretch force
that the hair withstood before breaking.
To measure the responding variable I used a spring
scale as a pressure gauge.
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Materials
| Quantity |
Item Description |
| 1 |
Spring Scale Gauge |
| 10ml |
Pantene Pro-V |
| 10ml |
Thermisilk |
| 10ml |
Pert Plus |
| 1 |
250ml liter beaker |
| 75 |
Strands of regular hair |
| 4 |
Sheets of paper |
| 1 |
Pencil |
| 1 |
White cotton towel |
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Procedures
1 Gather 10 strands of hair for each of the 3
trials.
2 Gather 10ml of each of the following shampoos:
Pert Plus, Thermisilk, and Pantene Pro-V.
3 Mix one of the shampoos above with 250ml of
water at 40*c.
4 Take 5 strands of hair that youve gathered
and drop them into the shampoo/water mixture.
5 Swish the hair for 10 seconds
6 Rinse the 5 hairs in 250ml of clean water for
20 seconds
7 Take the strands of hair out of the water
8 Use a white cotton towel to dry the hair.
9 Dry the hair until it is almost dry
10 Use a pressure gauge to measure the pressure
until the breakage point in the hair (until it snaps).
11 Take one strand of hair at a time and pull
it until it breaks
12 Record the amounts of the pressure
13 Average them out and write down the average
amount of pressure for the shampoos
14 Repeat steps 1-13 to record what the other
shampoos do to your hair.
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Results
The original purpose of this experiment was to
determine which shampoo would cause hair to hold against the most pressure.
The results of the experiment were that Pert Plus
worked the best on seven of the trials; Thermisilk worked best on one and
Pantene Pro-V on two. These tests suggest that Pert Plus worked the
best out of the three shampoos.
See the graph below.
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Conclusion
My hypothesis is that Pantene Pro-V will give
the hair the greatest tensile strength. I base my hypothesis on the
opinion of numerous hairstylists that I have contacted.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should
be rejected because the shampoo Pert Plus was the best of all the three
shampoos in increasing the tensile strength.
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder
if I would have used other shampoos that the results would have still favored
Pert Plus.
If I were to conduct this project again I would
have tried to find more research because I started with to little understanding
of shampoo and hair. I would have used a lot more types of shampoo
because I didnt use all of the leading brands. I would also have
taken pictures so that the viewer could have been able to view the processing
of the experiment. I also would have conducted it with a more accurate
method when I was measuring. The gram pressure scale was hard to use for
really accurate and reliable measurements.
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RESEARCH REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Hair is made up of dead cells that combine into
thousands of strands. Each strand of hair contains thousands of dead
cells. Consumers spend millions of dollars each year on shampoo hoping
to improve the looks and health of their hair.
WHAT IS HAIR?
Hair is a part of your body that is used as a
protection. It is made out of dead cells. Hair is used as a
protection for the eyes, ears, and nose so that there is no bad matter
that can reach the inside organs. Hair has three main parts.
The Medulla, which is the center of the strand. Second is the Cortex.
The Cortex is the thickest layer in the strand of hair. The outer
layer is the Cuticle.
PARTS OF THE SCALP
The shaft is the part of the hair or skin that
comes above the scalp and is deprived of nourishment. Next are the
Sebaceous glands, which secretes oil into the Follicle. This allows
the oils to flow over the hair lubricating it, thus making the hair softer.
The Arrector Pili comes next. It is attached to most Follicles that are
in the scalp. Next is the Keratinization Zone. When the hair
reaches the Keratinization Zone the hair cells die. Follicles are
next. They are attached to most of the Arrector Pili. The Root
follows the Arrector Pili. The Root is so large that it contains
the Hair Bulb, the Papilla, and the Blood Vessel. The Hair Bulb is
where the root gets lighter and expands into the Hair Bulb. The Papilla
is the part of the root that is in the Hair Bulb and is at the base of
the Follicle. The Blood Vessel is connected to the bottom of the
Root.
SHAMPOO
Shampoo; in order to be effective, needs
to have the four main ingredients. The first ingredient is glycerin.
The second ingredient is Shea butter that comes from a Shea tree.
The third ingredient is sulfur/carotene and last is protein. Protein
is a Greek word that was first discovered in 1838.
SOAP
The main ingredients in soap are alkalis (a chemical),
fats, and fragrance. Other ingredients are also included. Soap
was first made in 600 AD. Pioneers also made it when they were traveling
along the Oregon Trail and also by earlier people. Usually if a person
is hygienic the average amount of soap that they use in a year is 25 pounds.
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Summary
Hair is made out of dead cells. It is a
protection function for the eyes, the ears, and the nose. The hair
protects bad matter form entering the inside organs. Hair has several
different parts that start at the root and go to the shaft. The hair
also has the parts of the Cortex, the Medulla, and the Cuticle. Consumers
today would like to buy the best shampoo to make their hair look better.
So there were tests taken that would tell which shampoo is the strongest
out of the three shampoos Pert Plus, Pantene Pro-V, and Thermisilk.
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Bibliography
Walker, Andre, "Andre Talks Hair," Simon and Schuster,
Andre Walker 1997 all shampoo pages
Woodley, David, "Hair," World Book Encyclopedia
Vol. 9, pg. 9-10 1991
http://www.gloss.com/
http://www.hair-news.com/magazine.html
http://crystal.biol.csufresno.edu:8080/projects97/115.html |
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