What are some differences between curly and straight hair? (BioE80 Spr2015)

Applause IconMay 27, 2015 • 2:10 AM UTC
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nhwhite

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In some of my oldest memories, I can remember adults kneeling down and saying (in that squeaky voice that adults use for children), “you have beautiful hair!” referring to my thick head of blonde curls. The brutally honest toddler I was, I would promptly answer, “I hate it!!” and angrily stomp away. I could never understand why my hair was so different from everyone else’s. Although now I really love my curls, I readily took up the opportunity to identify some differences between curly and straight hair. My partner Katie and I first followed the directions to make the foldscope and we made slides by plucking hairs from our heads. Then we observed the slides using the scope. The primary difference between the hairs is the width. The straight hair (on the right) is much thicker than the curly (on the left). This is slightly surprising considering how much volume my hair can have compared to Katie’s. My hair also appears to be less damaged which may be related to how I never brush my curly hair. Although I know the section of hair we see is minuscule, I did expect to see a small amount of waviness to my hair, which is not present in the picture. In fact, in this view size, a viewer might consider them both to be straight strands. Now I wonder if all curly hair is thinner than straight hair or if that was just the case in comparing our hair.
Nicole White

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