Why do crossed hairs seem connected when you try to pull them apart?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter sleepsleep
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Hair Head Human
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
Sign up Log in
1 reply · 3K views
sleepsleep
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
why when you cross the 2 hairs

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8223/image15dz.png

the moment you try to break them up, you would see like they are "somehow connected", is that "static electric" ?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Discussion

Physics news on Phys.org
Not likely... as far as I know, they would both have the same charge if it was a matter of static. If you examine hairs through a microscope, though, you'll see that they are composed of thousands of little scales like the underside of a snake. In your example, I suspect that the scales are catching on each other.