Fibre

Definition of Fibre

A small very thin hair like material

Fibres are filamentous and can be woven or processed for manufacturing of ropes, mats or any kind of cloth
Fibres are broadly of two types

A) Natural fibres
B) Synthetic fibres

The sources of natural fibres can be animal or plant
Animal sources of fibre include wool of sheep or goat, hair of horse or goat, silk fibres from the cocoon of silkworm, feathers of the birds
Plant sources of fibre include in the cotton, jute, hemp and bagasse
The plant sources differ in their origin of the fibre or collection from a particular plant part
It can be collected from - Seeds of cotton, the bast of flax, jute and hemp, the coconut fruit (coir), stalk fibre such as straws of wheat, rice, grass, bamboo
Wood from the tree is also another source of fibre, Example Bamboo and Sisal
Synthetic fibres are also called as artificial or man-made fibres
They are made by chemical processing of the raw materials such as petrochemical substances
They are made up of long chain of small units forming a polymer
Acrylic, nylon and rayon are the examples of synthetic fibres
Artificial fibres are cheaper than the natural fibres and they are not dependent on the harvest of the agricultural crop or animal breeding
They are durable and readily available
The clothes made from synthetic fibres are wrinkle free and easily dry when compared to those made from natural fibres
The use of the synthetic fibre varies from making different clothes, making tough ropes, parachutes, for fishing nets