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Submitted by kruzzoli on Sun, 12/02/2018 - 22:54

The aim of this study is to determine if there is a relationship present between spider body weight and spider silk thickness among Pholcus-pholcidae,commonly known as cellar spiders. This experiment tested the effect of spider weight on the thickness of spider silk. Discovering the various factors that contribute to differences in spider web characteristics, such as thickness, could help us learn more about the factors that contribute to their extreme elasticity and could be useful for material engineering of a material that is both strong and soft . Previous studies have shown that there is some variation in spider silk diameters, as well as the mechanical characterization of spider silk . Light-microscopy is a proven method to study the differences between objects that are small, such as spider silk, and will be used in this study to measure the diameter differences. In this experiment, six spiders were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and they spun webs for 3 days after being weighed. After the third day, the thickness of an individual strand of silk from each web was measured using a microscope and micrometer. The measurements of weight and silk thickness were compared to determine if a relationship existed between the two factors.

 

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