WEBVTT - Why doesn't paper money disintegrate in the washing machine?

0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works dot com where

0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.360
<v Speaker 1>smart happens. This podcast is brought to you by Go

0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:11.280
<v Speaker 1>to Meeting, the best way to hold meetings over the Internet.

0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.760
<v Speaker 1>Reduce travel expenses, save time. Just hold an online meeting

0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880
<v Speaker 1>with go to Meeting. Try it free, visit go to

0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:25.159
<v Speaker 1>meeting dot com slash Brainstuff. Hi, Am Marshall brain with

0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.760
<v Speaker 1>today's question, why doesn't paper money disintegrate when it gets

0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:35.000
<v Speaker 1>washed in the washing machine? Normal paper, which includes notebook paper, newspaper,

0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.440
<v Speaker 1>construction paper, is all made out of cellulos, which comes

0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:42.040
<v Speaker 1>from trees. The trees are chemically broken down into their

0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.000
<v Speaker 1>individual wood fibers, and the cellulose fibers are formed into

0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.960
<v Speaker 1>very thin sheets to create paper. Paper. Money, on the

0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.720
<v Speaker 1>other hand, is made from a different kind of fiber,

0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:57.240
<v Speaker 1>cotton and linen fibers. To be exact, you've probably heard

0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:02.000
<v Speaker 1>of rag paper or fine linen writing paper. This is

0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.160
<v Speaker 1>where it comes from, and money is made from the

0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.960
<v Speaker 1>same thing. It turns out that cotton and linen fibers

0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.520
<v Speaker 1>bond together much more firmly than fibers in regular wood

0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:16.440
<v Speaker 1>fiber paper. Cotton and linen fibers are basically unaffected by water,

0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.479
<v Speaker 1>whereas cellulose fibers absorb water and come apart when they

0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:24.039
<v Speaker 1>get wet. So paper money comes through the washer just fine,

0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:28.280
<v Speaker 1>while cellulose paper comes on glued. Do you have any

0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.960
<v Speaker 1>ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send

0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.280
<v Speaker 1>me an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com.

0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:37.679
<v Speaker 1>For more on this and thousands of other topics, go

0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.520
<v Speaker 1>to how stuff works dot com.