Testing the tensile strength of celery

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Tensile Strength of Celery Stems Experiment

This experiment aims to measure the tensile strength of fibres from the stem of the celery plant. Celery is an herbaceous plant grown for both eating and as a medicinal.

Aim

The aim of this investigation is to measure the tensile strength of celery fibres.

Hypothesis

I believe that the tensile strength of the celery fibres will very much depend on how thick and healthy the sample is. I reckon that the celery will have a high tensile strength, however it is difficult to investigate 100% fairly.

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Apparatus

  • Celery
  • Knife
  • Clamp stand and clamp
  • Sticky tape
  • Weights and Weight holder.

Method

First of all, we were unable to do a control experiment with the celery because we did not have the apparatus. However, if we did, one possible method would be to damage the fibres by heating them, perhaps by placing them in boiling water for a few minutes. We would then use the following method.

        Initially, we cut the stem with a knife and gently peeled away fibres with the help of a mounted needle. Next, we needed to attach the ...

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Inconsistent use of full stop and capital letters in the listing of apparatus. Makes the essay look untidy. Other spelling, grammar and punctuation are all okay.

The candidate does not explain the scientific reasoning behind their hypothesis, such as why celery which is thicker and healthier will have a higher tensile strength. The candidate should examine the structure of celery and relate structure to function. The candidate should expand on why the experiment is hard to test fairly and how they might have avoided this. The candidate did not provide adequate reasons for not using a control experiment. Rather than investigating the thicker and healthier hypothesis that the candidate presented, all the candidate actually examined was the strength of a consistent size and health of celery which does not relate to the objectives of the experiment well at all. The candidate also does not examine their cell composition theory.

Overall a very basic essay format. The response to the question was adequate for the most part, although the hypothesis stated was completely wrong compared to what the candidate actually investigated. The candidate also lacked scientific reasoning and depth behind a lot of the experiment. A conclusion was also not included, and the evaluation did not suggest improvements to the experiment.