Fabric and Water: Drag, Retention, and Drying Alex Tischler

Question: #1: Which fabric creates the most water drag? Fabric 1: Loose-fitting polyester shirt and shorts Fabric 2: Polyester two-piece swimsuit Fabric 3: Cotton tank top and cotton crop pants Hypothesis: I think that that the polyester swimsuit will create the least water drag, because it was built for swimming, the polyester shirt will create the second least water drag, because it’s in athletic clothing, which repels perspiration, and cotton would create the most water drag because it easily becomes waterlogged.

My Procedure I swam two laps of breaststroke in each outfit at a pool, taking breaks between laps. I started with the swimsuit. My hypothesis was correct, the swimsuit had the fastest time. The polyester got the second fastest, because this outfit was loose-fitting, and it quickly filled with water and slowed me down. The cotton outfit got the slowest time because the whole outfit instantly became waterlogged and heavy, and I had to work harder.

Conclusion #1 In conclusion, the swimsuit is the easiest to swim in and creates the least drag because it will become the least waterlogged, due to the material. The cotton will be the most waterlogged, due to the fact that they are made of plants, which absorb water. The polyester outfit and swimsuit are made of a synthetic material that doesn’t naturally absorb water.

Question #2: Which fabric has the best retention? Hypothesis: I think that the cotton will absorb the most water because it’s the most easily waterlogged, the polyester outfit will be second, and the swimsuit will repel the most water, because that’s what it was built to do.

My Procedure I took three large cups, the (now dry) pieces of clothing, and a timer. I filled each cup with one cup of water, put a piece of clothing in each cup, and set the timer for one minute. After the one minute, I took out the clothes, and after measuring how much water was left, I saw that the polyester outfit had absorbed 6 ounces of the water, the polyester swimsuit had absorbed 5 ounces of water, and the cotton absorbed 6.5 ounces of water. So my hypothesis was correct. Cotton Swimsuit Polyester

Conclusion #2 In conclusion, because cotton is made of organic plant matter which generally absorbs water, it absorbs the most liquid. Because polyester is built to repel water, the two outfits made from it didn’t absorb much, if anything.

Question #3: Which fabric dries the fastest? Hypothesis: I think that the swimsuit will dry the fastest, because it was meant to repel water, the polyester loose-fitting shirt will dry second-fastest because of the material, and the cotton will dry last.

My Procedure After doing the retention test, I laid each outfit outside to dry at 10:30 AM, frequently checking them and recording how long it took for each one to dry. This was probably the simplest of all the tests.

Conclusion #3 In conclusion, cotton dries the fastest because it easily absorbs air. Polyester is synthetic, making it slower to dry.

Final Conclusion In conclusion, the outfit most likely to repel water is the swimsuit, due to the non-absorbent engineering, the polyester outfit is the second most likely to repel water, because the material is non-absorbent, but the clothes are still loose-fitting, the clothes will still be waterlogged. The cotton is the most absorbent of the three, because the fabric was not designed to repel water. This experiment has proven just how interesting it is that people have created a garment designed just for water use.