Couldn't stay away from passing on the latest information from the New York Times (Feb 11) - 2 columns, below the fold, on page A10, from a piece entitled "Like How Your Hair Hangs? Praise the Laws of Physics"
I'll just get to the meat of the matter - the physics of the ponytail. Ponytails have been assigned a "Rapunzel Number" based on how the ponytail hangs. A low PTRN (Ponytail Rapunzel Number) indicates more springiness, causing the ponytail to "fan outward." A high PTRN indicates a longer ponytail which hangs down rather than fans outward, according to three researchers from England.
But more recently, a Stanford mathematician discovered why joggers' ponytails sway side-to-side instead of forward and backward, or up and down. Can you guess why? It's because the jogger's head prevents a forward-backward motion and up-down motion is "unstable"(independent of Rapunzel numbers, I guess.)
The Stanford mathematician and the British researchers are now collaborating on some more advanced studies for a "better understanding of ponytails."
I look forward to the fruits of their future collaborative efforts with great anticipation!
I'll just get to the meat of the matter - the physics of the ponytail. Ponytails have been assigned a "Rapunzel Number" based on how the ponytail hangs. A low PTRN (Ponytail Rapunzel Number) indicates more springiness, causing the ponytail to "fan outward." A high PTRN indicates a longer ponytail which hangs down rather than fans outward, according to three researchers from England.
But more recently, a Stanford mathematician discovered why joggers' ponytails sway side-to-side instead of forward and backward, or up and down. Can you guess why? It's because the jogger's head prevents a forward-backward motion and up-down motion is "unstable"(independent of Rapunzel numbers, I guess.)
The Stanford mathematician and the British researchers are now collaborating on some more advanced studies for a "better understanding of ponytails."
I look forward to the fruits of their future collaborative efforts with great anticipation!
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