April 26, 2006

Tapes

The tapes in your hardware store, from masking tape to electrical tape to decorative tapes to tapes for sealing to reflecting tapes for bikers and joggers, all have one thing in common: they use a pressure-sensitive adhesive. There are a number of pressure-sensitive adhesives around. Some are rubber. Others are synthetic. All of them are tacky to the touch. Here's how you can compare their adhesive strength.

Materials and Equipment

• an assortment of tapes from the hardware store: masking, decorative, electrical, transparent, etc.
• scissors
• blotting paper or cardboard
• metal pie pan

Procedure

Cut three-inch lengths of the different tapes. Press one half of the length onto a piece of paper or cardboard, leaving the other end free. Smooth down the adhered end to make a good, firm bond. Now for the peel test. Fold back the free end of the tape so that it rests back to back with the stuck end. Peel back the adhered end, keeping the tape back to back. Some of the paper fibers will adhere to the peeled tape. The amount of paper fiber sticking to the tape is a measure of the strength of its adhesive bond.

Adhere half of the lengths of the different tapes to a metal pie pan. When you pull them off, you can easily feel the different adhesive strengths of the different tapes.

Reprinted with permission from The Secret Life of Hardware: A Science Experiment Book by Vicki Cobb. Text © 1982 by Vicki Cobb (www.vickicobb.com). Published by J.B. Lippincott.

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