A RAPID METHOD FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF WOOL VOLUME AND DENSITY

The volume of wool was measured with a gas pycnometer, and its density was calculated. Samples with a high degree of medullation, low degree of medullation, and no medullation were measured at five relative hum idities and over a range of masses. The procedure adopted required a s ample mass of between 2 and 10 g and used the fourth sequential measur ement of volume to calculate density at 65% relative humidity and 20 d egrees C. The total measurement time per sample was 10 minutes. Densit y decreased as the degree of medullation increased. Non-medullated woo ls had a density of 1.307 g/cm(3).