Have you ever wondered which hair texture tangles more: curly or straight? Well you needn’t wonder any more, thanks to the American Journal of Physics. Researcher Jean-Baptiste Masson recently published an academic article in the journal after he studied the physics behind hair strands getting tangled.
About the study:
- hairdressers were instructed to count tangles they found in 212 people’s hair
- tangles were counted in the afternoon and evening so that hair had a chance to tangle during the day
- a tangle was defined as a clump of hair that resisted combing through
- a mathematical model for how hair tangles was developed
Findings of the study:
- curly hair strands met (or crossed) one another more often than straight hair strands (this is because curls and ringlets expand in width compared to straight hair that lies flat)
- despite crossing less often, the angle that straight hair strands cross is more likely to cause a tangle
- to cause a tangle the angle of the cross of two hair strands must be large enough so that the shingle-like texture of the cuticle (surface) of one hair strand can catch onto the other
- curly hair averaged three tangles per head
- straight hair averaged five or more tangles per head
- conclusion: straight hair tangles more often than curly hair
(For practical tips on getting tangles out, consult this.)
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