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Jake Tyler Crosby

Mrs. Stevens

Life Science

21 February 2020

Which Is Stronger? Glue or Tape?

I like to stick paper to the wall with Scotch Tape. Most of the time, it falls down. I was

interested to find out if glue or tape is stronger for sticking items to the wall. So I did an

experiment to test my hypothesis. I thought that if you glue cardboard to the wall and tape

cardboard to the wall, then glue will hold the cardboard to the wall longer.

What Makes Tape Sticky?

Cellophane Tape has a backing where adhesive substance is put on it so that it can

stick to materials with the surface bond. It is known as a pressure sensitive tape so it sticks

when pressure is put on it. Todays tape is made from naturally sticky chemicals. Some

sticky things are made from crude oil distilate that is chemically reacted to form alcohols

and acids. This is mixed with another solvent to create sticky things (Cellophane).

How Was Tape Invented?

Richard Drew invented scotch tape after he invented Scotch brand masking

tape. He got his ideas from cellophane. Cellophane was a backing for pressure

sensitive tape. Cellophane is material that is moisture proof. To help the adhesive

hold, a primer was applied evenly on the back of the cellophane. Scotch Tape was

the first waterproof clear adhesive tape. It can take up to 30 raw materials to make.

Richard Drew invented scotch tape after he invented Scotch brand masking tape
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(Scotch Tape).

What Makes Certain Tape Stronger Than Other Tape?

How sticky tape is, depends on the combination of the molecule forces and

the glue material sticking to an object. For tape to stick good, the adhesive tape

needs to be able to flow out of the surface. How strong the adhesive is, depends on

the flow out of the surface. Pressure sensitive tapes usually don’t flow easily on low

surface materials. Pressure sensitive tapes have a better flow on surfaces with high

energy. Acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives becomes stronger of a bond overtime.

How Does Glue Work?

Most glue works by how it flows and spreads over the material. The glue needs to be

thin so when you touch it, it’s sticky. When the glue flows and spreads on the

material, it needs to be successful so the adhesive and the material stick together.

The glue doesn’t need to respond chemically to glass or metal.

To make sure there is no separation between the glue and the object, the glue needs

to dry so it becomes hard.

What Is The Heaviest Object Glue Can Hold?

A 17 ton truck was attached to a crane using only glue, which set a new record for the

heaviest weight lifted with glue (non-commercially available). Glue was applied to a small

aluminum cylinder on a crane then it lifted it up into the air for one hour. The super strong

adhesive was developed for the record attempt. The adhesive is high temperature

resistant. The one component, heat-curing epoxy resin in this product group is known for
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their high strength. These adhesives are used in the automotive industry and mechanical

engineering.

What Makes Some Glue Stronger Than Other Glue?

Many people think “Super Glue” or “Krazy Glue” as the strongest in the world. These

glues are called cyanoacrylates, also known as instant glues. Cyanoacrylates

probably do supply strongest bond compared to other adhesives Resistant to

chemicals, water and mild heat. Downside to cyanoacrylates is they not flexible so

any amount of bending, expanding or contracting they can become brittle and break.

Two-part epoxies provide high adhesion, low shrinkage and high fatigue resistant.

Downside is that is requires a lot of surface preparation. Polyurethane adhesive

such as “Gorilla Glue” can bond to variety of surfaces , is resistant to water and heat

and cold. Polyurethane adhesives aren’t as strong as epoxies when pulled in

different directions. Being the strongest glue really depends what you put the

adhesive on, what the use is for and how it is applied.

Conclusion

I thought that if you glue cardboard to the wall and tape cardboard to the wall, then glue will

hold the cardboard to the wall longer, and I found out that I was wrong, the tape was actually

better.
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Works Cited

Kinloch, AJ. “How Does Glue Work, Why Is It Sticky and How Can It Bond Seemingly

Impervious Substances like Glass and Metal?” The Guardian, Guardian News and

Media, www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1248,00.html.

Sharpe, Louis H. “What Exactly Is the Physical or Chemical Process That Makes Adhesive Tape

Sticky?” Scientific American, 14 July 1997, www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-

exactly-is-the-physi/.
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Tape.” How Products Are Made, Advameg, Inc., 2019, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-

1/Cellophane-Tape.html.“Cellophane

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/scotchtape.html