• Question: Why does my hair stand on end when I take off my hat on a cold, dry day?

    Asked by dalvindk to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi dalvindk

      I couldnt remember this but have looked it up!

      When two things rub together (like your hair and a hat) electrons can move from one thing to another. Your hair has picked up extra electrons all have the same charge. This causes your hair to repel against each other because like charges repel one another. The furthest any hair can get from another hair is to stand straight up.

      We call this static electricity

      I hope this answers your question.

    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi @dalvindk
      Can’t argue with what Rachael’s said, one thing I’ll add though, is why it’s more common in winter, in dry weather. When the air is moist, it conducts electricity better, so the extra electrons on your hair get dispersed in to the air around you before they build up too much.

      When it’s dry, they can’t escape, so they repel your hairs away from each other, and (as happens to me a lot) they mean you get electric shocks when you touch something that will conduct the electricity. Often I get shocks from door handles, people, my car, once a University laptop I was using gave me a shock EVERY TIME I picked it up! And all in the name of science 🙂

    • Photo: Damien Hall

      Damien Hall answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      You have too much gel in it.

      Seriously, I was going to write something about static electricity, but I see that Rachael and Suzi already have, so I’ll take my infantile humour away with me.

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