Spiders can produce silk which is five times stronger than steel. According to experts, yes, spider webs are stronger than steel. This article will present the facts on why spider webs are stronger than steel.
Webs vs. Steel – Facts on Why Spider Webs are Stronger Than Steel Scientific research has revealed that spider silk is actually five times stronger than steel of the same weight , and ten times tougher than Kevlar. If you were to weave a web with steel wire of the same thickness as a spider’s silk, it would take 2,000 meters of the wire to create a piece of fabric just 1 square meter in size. The tensile strength – which measures how much force is needed to break something – was found to be comparable between spider silk and mild steel (180 megapascals versus 210 megapascals), so the real key lies in density. The weight ratio between spider silk and steel is about 1:3 . If the weight of steel is the same as that of spider silk, then its strength would be comparable to that of spider silk .
A strand of spider web thread with a fingernail for scale .
That’s why spider webs are stronger than steel – their lightness combined with high tensile strength makes them suitable for use in bulletproof vests and fishing nets. The tensile strength has also led some people to refer to this amazing fiber as ‘nature’s steel fibers’.