Detangling hair

ORAL

Abstract

Tangled hair is difficult to manage. We investigate the everyday problem of taming a tangle of hair with a comb by focusing on a minimal model of this system: a pair of chiral, elastic helical rods entangled to form a braid. As a single, stiff tine combs through the double-helix, it leaves two untangled filaments in its wake. We use experiments, theory and computation to characterize this problem with both mechanics and topology.

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Presenters

  • Thomas Plumb-Reyes

    • Harvard University

Authors

  • Thomas Plumb-Reyes

    • Harvard University

  • Nicholas Charles

    • Harvard University

  • L Mahadevan

    • Harvard University
    • SEAS, Harvard University
    • Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
    • Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard
    • John A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences, Harvard University
    • SEAS, Harvard
    • SEAS, Physics, OEB, Harvard University