Peter's Day

Under the microscope, the structures of the two types of web fluid were actually quite similar, both resembling the silk of the Black Widow spider found in nature.

Peter had learned from literature that scientists at the University of California, Riverside, had meticulously studied the genetic code of Black Widow spider silk. They discovered that Black Widow silk contained two key proteins: Masp1 and Masp2.

Both are serine proteases and are part of the lectin pathway of complement activation.

The web fluid used by these two Spider-Men, with its Masp-like components, was more obscure and profound than that of natural spiders.

It was almost magical!

This made Peter wonder if the source of their abilities as Spider-Men wasn't just science, but also involved metaphysics.

Unfortunately, although the school laboratory's equipment was quite extensive, it wasn't enough for further research.

Peter could only temporarily note down this idea and continue in-depth research when conditions allowed in the future.

Afterward, he found a single fiber electronic tensometer in the laboratory.

He had one of these at home too, placed on his desk, the one Iron Man jokingly called his "retro tech" – that big-bottomed computer.

The reason that big-bottomed computer had a "big bottom" was because it housed a motor inside the main unit's base.

With its help, Peter could manually clamp and measure the strength of his web fluid.

Oh, right, the small workshop of the Amazing Spider-Man also had one of these on its table (it's actually in the movie, a small one with something resembling a monitor next to it; you can look it up if you're interested).

Clearly, researching web fluid was one of the natural hobbies and commonalities shared by every Spider-Man.

However, compared to the two "retro" and lower-spec versions used by him and the Amazing Spider-Man, the one at the school was much more advanced.

The school laboratory's version used pneumatic clamping. By adjusting the inflow and outflow of the air source, it could achieve slow clamping and slow release, thereby minimizing damage to the material being tested.

Moreover, the deformation process was more controllable and easier to observe in detail.

If it were his own manual version, Peter would have to constantly pay attention to the force applied by his muscles, carefully controlling the strength in his hands while also making observations and records. Just thinking about it made him realize how tiring it would be.

So, if possible, Peter preferred to do this at school.

Anyway, no one else knew what he was doing.

Teachers generally didn't interfere with what students were doing in their experiments because each student chose their own research topics.

Classmates were all busy with their own things and rarely bothered him, except for Ned.

"Peter, what are you researching?"

"Uh, a Stark internship project, composite fiber materials, you know." Peter was quite pleased with this excuse; it seemed like he could attribute anything to it. With Iron Man taking the blame, if there were any problems, you could just ask Iron Man.

"Oh~" Ned suddenly understood. No wonder he had been watching for so long without understanding what Peter was doing.

But it made sense. Ned's expertise was in electronics and computer programming, so it was normal for him not to understand biomaterials.

With that, Ned turned back to his own work.

Peter continued his experiments using the single fiber electronic tensometer.

Under the action of the tensometer, the mechanical properties of the web fluid were well demonstrated.

The differences between the two types of web fluid also became apparent.

Compared to his web fluid, the Amazing Spider-Man's web fluid had stronger toughness, mainly reflected in its tensile strength.

But correspondingly, the Amazing Spider-Man's web fluid's elasticity was not as good as his; its elongation at break was higher.

To summarize: the Amazing Spider-Man's web fluid was stronger and harder, able to withstand more force. However, because it lost some elasticity, its cushioning performance was relatively reduced. If used to stick to objects, or even people, the force they would have to endure would be greater than with Peter's.

This was because the total force remained the same!

A portion of the force was absorbed by the elasticity of the web fluid, naturally reducing the force exerted on the recipient.

However, the impact of such details should not be significant.

Afterward, Peter used other equipment in the laboratory for further observations. He discovered that the density of both his web fluid and the Amazing Spider-Man's web fluid was similar to that of silkworm silk among insects, but less than most high-performance fibers like Kevlar, and far less than the density of steel.

This discovery meant that he might truly be able to use web fluid to make clothing!

By simply adjusting the rigidity of the web fluid, moving away from its current biological fiber bias, and incorporating other elements, sacrificing some performance, he might be able to create a composite material superior to existing polymer fiber materials!

After researching the materials, Peter discreetly dismantled the pneumatic electronic single fiber tensometer while the teacher wasn't paying attention, examined its internal structure, and committed it to memory.

When he traveled to other Spider-Man's worlds in the future, there would undoubtedly be many more different types of web fluid.

He couldn't wait until lab class every time to study them.

So, he decided to find a way to completely upgrade his manual version at home into a pneumatic one.

Even if it couldn't match this one, it should at least have 90% of its performance, no, 70%!

The lab class ended just like that, with Peter busy.

No joke, he was busy for the entire class.

He just wasn't busy with the content of the lesson.

But, can doing experiments be called slacking off?

That's for a better future!

It's for the prosperity of all humankind's technology!

Cough cough.

The next half-day was uneventful.

Aside from that annoying guy Flash, who always picked a fight with him and occasionally tried to show off in front of him, Peter's half-day was smooth sailing.

As for Flash, he was just an idiot who liked to get attention.

Peter couldn't be bothered to deal with him.

What was interesting was that this guy actually liked Peter when he wore the suit, meaning, as Spider-Man.

Flash had declared himself Spider-Man's number one fan. His clothes were printed with Spider-Man designs, he kept photos of Spider-Man in his backpack, and he often bothered Peter, the actual Spider-Man.

He was a truly rabid fanboy—though he didn't know Peter's real identity.

What could Peter do about it?

He could only forgive him!

He really hadn't expected to gain a rabid fan after being active for such a short time.

Even more unexpectedly, this rabid fan was his classmate!

Sometimes, Peter thought about putting on the Spider-suit, appearing in front of Flash, then suddenly taking off his mask to reveal his identity and give him a huge scare.

Uh, well, he only thought about it.