Mammals of all stripes have hair, more commonly called fur for the non-humans, but it acts in essentially the same ways. Humans' hair growth appears seemingly unique in the animal kingdom. The hair itself has no nerve endings and feels no pain, so if ever you’re in a situation where you need to lift yourself or someone else by your hair, we’d recommend you anchor it to something else and take the pressure off your scalp. The real marker here is the ability of the scalp to endure the pressure. The feat is impressive, if a little terrifying, and shows the impressive strength of human hair. Now, using only a metal ring, a rope, and peak physical fitness, she’s able to support her weight even dozens of feet in the air. According to Bim, it took months for her to train herself to be able to support her own weight with only her hair. For proof, we need only to look at circus acts for proof.ĭanila Bim is a performer for Cirque du Soleil, performing the Hair Hang.
Rapunzel brown hair full#
It’s estimated that a full head of healthy hair could hold thousands of pounds, but we know it is at least strong enough to hold the weight of a person. Luckily, the average head has about 100,000 hairs and their combined strength is more than enough to carry the weight of a person. The tensile strength of a single human hair, while impressive, could hold only about one-tenth of a percent of that weight. Still, the average European male (chosen because that’s the most common type Rapunzel might have encountered) weighs about 160 pounds. That’s more than half the weight of the average smartphone (chosen because it’s probably the most common object you regularly hold in your hand). You might then find yourself at the beck and call of a witch or a gallant prince in need of a lift.Ī single human hair is capable of holding up to 100 grams. Presuming you’re one of the genetically lucky (or unlucky) few, with hair that never quits growing, you might end up with a set of locks capable of lowering to the ground from atop a lofty tower. No matter how long you go without a haircut, your own biological processes conspire against your hair getting any longer - though there are some notable exceptions. For these reasons, the average maximum length of human hair is roughly three feet. The old hair will fall out, probably landing in your mouth or in someone’s soup, and the cycle starts all over again.įor scalp hair, the rate of growth is approximately half an inch per month and the anagen phase lasts an average of three years. With the hair disconnected and no longer growing, your follicle has a chance to take a breather and prepare for a new hair to take root. If it had any bucket list items to cross off, this would be the time to do it.įinally, the hair enters telogen, the resting phase.
This is sort of the last gasp of an individual hair. At any given time, about 5 percent of your hairs are in this phase. The hair then separates from the follicle but remains in place. In the next phase, known as catagen, the follicle shrinks and hair growth stops. Those factors are the reason the hair on your head can grow so long, while the hair on your body is more limited. The rate at which they grow, and for how long, depends on a number of factors including chemical signals and the location of the hair on the body. During this time, new hairs grow in the follicle, breach the surface, and grow. This is the most common phase and about 90 percent of your hairs are in this phase at any given time. In the anagen phase, your hair is growing. Your hair goes through three distinct cycles beginning with anagen and ending with telogen. In order to answer this question, we must first understand how hair grows.