Background:
     Chemistry is used all around us to make the things we use every day. one of those thing that we will be using a lot this school year is paper. the most important part of paper is a substance called cellulose. Cellulose is found in plants and is protected by lignin (C9H10O2). Cellulose is great for paper-making because of its adequate tensile strength and suppleness, or its flexibility. Not only that but the fibers that comprise cellulose bond just so perfectly after being wetted and dried that it creates what we know and use as paper.

     To go from having plant matter to having paper we have to use chemistry to break down the lignin and free the cellulose fibers. Lignin is broken down in basic solutions for this we will use washing soda. heating a solution will speed the rate of reaction so we will heat the whole thing over a stove top.

     In conventional paper-making, trees are used as the source of cellulose. However, trees around the world are being harvested at unsustainable rates and there are alternative. For more info on the sustainability perspective of this project head to it's agriculture page.

      In this activity I will show you how to make paper using nothing but household chemicals and grass clippings!