Scientific Fact in Fairytale Fiction — part 1.
by lyndsie ~ September 24th, 2008. Filed under: Strange & Funny News.
How many times have you heard the story of Rapunzel? Ah, the long haired maiden rife with split ends, stuck way up high in her isolated tower, constantly at the mercy of a witch while she waits for her prince. He, naturally, is later enticed by the sound of her beautiful singing voice. Of course, we all know that none of that could happen. At the very least, no man could ever climb up a head of human hair, right?
Wrong. It terms out that one average strand of human hair could easily support approximately three and a half ounces of weight. That means you could tie up two candy bars with a strand of your hair, and they would just dangle there, chillin’. Insofar as that goes, dark hair tends to be thicker than fair hair, and that thickness makes dark hair stronger.
Rapunzel was, of course, a blond. Blonds have somewhere around one hundred and forty thousand hairs, so Rapunzel could totally support the weight of her prince, scientifically speaking – but there’s more. While the prince could theoretically climb up home girl’s hair, there is the question of whether or not he’d rip it out by the roots – plus, would she be strong enough to support the prince? Actually, the answer to both questions is yes, as long as she tied her hair around a stable object first. That way, the hair is protected by its knot, and the object supports the prince. So fear not, girls – if you’re willing to let your hair grow a few (dozen) feet, then someday your prince will come.
