Since the start, our group members were dedicated to creating a product that could mimic the natural behaviour of an organism. As we looked into possibilities for our product, we came across multiple videos and articles on the hagfish, a sea creature that produces gill-clogging slime when provoked or threatened. Studies have found that this slime contains fibers stronger than nylon and characteristics that make it resistant to pressure and highly water absorbent. This led us to decide on creating a patch for everyday house leaks.
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Abstract: The hagfish, an eel-like marine animal, is able to secrete slime as a defense mechanism to clog the gills of their predators when they are in danger. The slime created is composed of mucin protein threads. When this substance is secreted from the glands of the hagfish, it mixes with the seawater to create a large volume of extremely thick and durable slime that has a strength which exceeds that of nylon.
Proportions: When creating the non-Newtonian fluid, we wanted to make sure our slime was as similar to that of a hagfish. We discovered from a study by Randy H. Ewoldt in 2010 that hagfish slime contained a 6:1 ratio of milligrams of slime to mucins. When creating our initial samples, we made sure the 6:1 ratio remained the same. In our nylon slime sample, we massed out 170mg in 350.5cm of nylon threads, to create the ratio of 90 grams of slime to contain 185.6cm of thread. Problem: We are looking to utilize hagfish slime as a leak patcher and need to know how durable the slime is so we can then analyze whether or not it will be able to prevent leaks in which the pressure coming from the source is very strong. While we do not currently have actual hagfish slime to work with, we have created an alternative non-newtonian fluid using borax, glue and water to imitate the properties of the hagfish slime so that we can test the durability and gain an idea of the strength. Once we acquire this information, we will then know if the slime can be used as a leak patcher. Purpose: We will test the durability of the non-newtonian fluid (meant to imitate the hagfish slime) using Pasco’s GLX Data Logger with a Force Sensor so we can determine if the strength and its elasticity are enough to patch pipe leaks. Hypothesis: The typical water pressure in pipes is not meant to exceed 80 psi (pounds per square inch) but can sometimes reach up to 100 to 150 psi, so in order to be able to apply the slime to household pipe leaks, the slime must be able to stand up to this amount of pressure. |
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We are a group of high school students looking to create a beneficial product.
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