Hair physics

[astra_nomer]

I put my hair in a bun yesterday, and it gave me a crick in my neck. I realized a few things.

1) I have a lot of hair. It's almost as long as it was back in college. Coupled with the fact that I have really thick hair, it can be rather heavy.

2) My neck doesn't care so much about the mass of my hair as it does its moment of inertia. I can wear my hair down or in a ponytail and my neck doesn't get sore. I put it up in a bun, and now all the weight is in a 6-inch ball at back of my head, and its effective torque on my neck (mass times distance) is a lot bigger. Imagine holding a bag of groceries with your arm straight down versus extended out from your body.

3) I am a big old physics nerd. I'm so pleased with myself.

Comments

[gigglefest.livejournal.com]

Hee, that's awesome! I was a fan of the French twist with a chopstick thing, when I had long enough hair to do it. My hair is too thick or slippery to hold in a bun, but the twist thing worked.

[aaltair.livejournal.com]

I have had this problem. Including the physics part. Well, the physics part isn't a "problem" though.

I also found that ponytail concentrated the location of the pull of the weight - giving me a similar headache. Grocery bag held with a single finger versus grocery bag held with the whole hand? Sounds like you don't have that problem.