Elasticity, plasticity, and compression for cylindrical plant tissues, and fine structure of their cell walls

Abstract

1. 1. The transverse modulus of compression for rubber-like elastic cylindrical plant tissues has the small value 0.1 × 10 5 g/cm. 2 2. 2. Van der Waals forces between the chains of cellulose in the secondary cell walls of rubber-like elastic cylindrical plant tissues are small and are only dependent on distance. 3. 3. Elasticity, plasticity, and submicroscopic structure of average secondary cell walls in rubber-like elastic cylindrical plant tissues are closely related to each other because of the same elasticity-plasticity equation for these tissues E μ ·φ = m . In this equation is m = 0.00002 cm. 2/g, E μ is the elastic ratio, φ is the transverse coefficient of plasticity with respect to bending. 4. 4. Living cylindrical tissues of higher plants have stress-strain curves which are S-shaped, or straight lines with a simple tail. In the secondary cell walls of these tissues crystalline and amorphous layers of cellulose alternate. Death occurs if the amount of the crystalline layers is too great, Dead metallic rods have stress-strain curves which are straight lines with a complicated tail. These metals may have a crystalline lattice structure. Hence, it may be assumed that a large amount of crystallization in cylindrical plant tissues means death. The life conditions are related to the amorphous layers of cellulose in cell walls which have a molecular network structure.