Paper

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

Paper is a thin sheet of fibers pressed together. People write on paper, and books are made of paper. Paper can absorb liquids such as water, and so people clean things with paper.

[edit] Paper making

Paper is made from the wood of trees. Wood is ground up and mixed with water and other chemicals to make a thin liquid called "paper pulp". Paper pulp can be bleached, to make white paper, or dyes can be added to make colored paper. This pulp is pressed into sheets of paper. When the sheets are dry, they are cut into pieces of paper.

Sometimes paper is made glossy (shiny) by adding clay or other materials.

Sometimes paper is made from other kinds of paper. This is an example of recycling.

Not all paper is made from wood. Other kinds of fiber can be used also. People make paper from cotton, linen, and hemp.

[edit] Uses of paper

Paper is used for writing and printing. Books, magazines and newspapers are printed on paper.

Paper is often used for money. Paper used for money is often made in very special ways, to make it hard for people to print their own money. A piece of paper money is called a banknote, a bill, or a note.

Paper can be used for cleaning. Special forms of paper are used, such as paper towels, facial tissues, or toilet paper.

Pretty paper can be used as decoration. It can be pasted onto the walls of a room; this is called wallpaper. Paper can be used to wrap gifts. This is called wrapping paper or gift wrap.

Some kinds of paper are strong and can be used in boxes and other packaging material. Sometimes several layers of paper are held together with glue, to make cardboard.

[edit] History of paper

Many centuries ago – as early as 3000 BC – people in Egypt made a kind of paper from the papyrus plant. This is where the word "paper" comes from. The people of Greece and Rome learned to do this too.

Around the year 105, a man in China named Ts'ai Lun thought of a way to make paper from cotton rags. People in Japan learned how to do this with fiber from the mulberry tree, in the year 610. This discovery spread to India, and then to the Middle East, and then to Italy. The Italians used hemp and linen rags.

Paper was hard to make, and it cost a lot of money. In the 19th century, new machines were made that could make paper out of wood fibers. This helped to make paper cheap enough for everyone to buy. Around the same time, other inventions were made, like the pencil, the fountain pen, and a printing press that used steam power. Because of these new things, it was easy for people to write letters, to buy books and newspapers, and to keep records of what they did.