Paper
material · 141 BC · Ancient world
A material made of plant fibres; the oldest find is from Fangmatan (2nd century BC), and Cai Lun improved the technique (105).
Inventor: Cai Lun.
Principles and materials it uses
- Cellulose — is made of. Paper is cellulose fibres.
- Paper machine — uses. Industrial production.
- Bleach — is made of. Bleach makes paper white: without it wood pulp would be yellowish grey.
Where it is used
- Gutenberg printing press — is used in. The impression is made on paper.
- Codex (book) — is material for. Later ones were made of paper.
- Newspaper — is used in. Newsprint.
- Paper money — is material for. Paper.
- Index card — is material for. Paper.
- Tea bag — is material for. Filter paper.
- Paper coffee filter — is material for. Paper.
- Tetra Pak — is material for. Cardboard.
- Paper bag — is material for. Paper.
- Postage stamp — is material for. Paper.
- Sewing pattern — is material for. Paper.
- Sandpaper — is material for. The backing.
- Fireworks — is material for. The body of a firework is a paper tube.
- Playing cards — is material for. Cards were printed on paper.
- Fire lance — is material for. The barrel of a fire lance is a paper or bamboo tube.
- Rocket — is material for. The first rockets were paper tubes filled with gunpowder.
- Globe — is material for. The world map is glued onto the ball in paper gores.
- Wall calendar — is material for. Calendars were printed on paper.
- Punched card — is material for. Punched cards are stiff card.
- Bouchon’s loom — is material for. The program is a perforated paper tape.
- Photometer — is material for. A photometer compares the illumination of paper screens.
- Hot air balloon — is material for. It was lined with paper on the inside.
- Zoetrope — is material for. The pictures are on a paper strip.
- Rotary printing press — is used in. It prints on a paper web.
- Billboard — is material for. The poster is paper.
- Player piano — is material for. The program is a perforated paper roll.
- Loudspeaker — is material for. The cone is paper.
- Magnetic tape — is material for. Pfleumer’s first tape was paper coated with magnetic powder.
- Colossus — is material for. The data is on paper punched tape.
History: what it evolved from and what it influenced
- Papyrus — evolved from. Paper displaced papyrus and parchment as a cheap writing material.
Things built in a similar way
- Papyrus — works like. Both are thin sheets of plant material, but papyrus does not go through a pulp stage.