My Science School

Paper can be made from almost any kind of plant fibre. In some parts of the world, banana stalks and sugar-cane stems made fine, strong paper. On the whole, the longer fibres, the stronger paper. Paper money is folded, pushed into wallets and pocket, and passed from hand to hand. It needs to be very strong. A special paper is made that may contain cotton fiber (which come from cotton plants) or linen fiber (from flax plants).

Paper is made out of leaves and other plant fibers; you can find it in most art supply stores. Money is made with cotton fibers because they are stronger. The reason tress are used to make paper is that they provide the most fiber per square acre. There is not enough other fiber in the world to meet the demand for paper. Cotton was used for hundreds of years until the demand for paper was too much to keep up. Cotton rags were imported from other countries to try to keep up with demand until the 1800’s when somebody figured out how to get the fiber out of the trees by “digesting” them. The first paper we find in history was made from rice around 100 AD in China. Cigarette paper is still made with rice. All plants have cellulose fibers, leaves just don’t have as many fibers as wood.

Picture Credit : Google