The Science of Rapunzel

I came across this article called The Science of Fairytales, which explains how scientifically, some fairytales could have happened. In the article they gave three examples: Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid, and 1001 Arabian Nights. They explain in the Rapunzel section that YES, human hair could hold a man! But, in order for the hair not to be pulled too much, Rapunzel would have done best to tie it around something, which is exactly what happens in Barbie as Rapunzel! When she is dreaming and Prince Stefan arrives, she ties her hair around the column in the window!!! How neat, huh???

Here is the article excerpt mentioning Rapunzel:

Rapunzel

In the Brothers Grimm story of Rapunzel, a witch holds a beautiful young woman captive in a tower. Rapunzel is blessed with a lovely singing voice and long, long blond hair. One day, her voice enchants a prince passing through a nearby forest. They fall in love, and Rapunzel lets down her hair so that the prince may use it to climb the tower to meet her. This chain of events begs readers to ask a question. Can human hair support the weight of another person?

On average one strand of hair can support about three and one-half ounces, or about the weight of two candy bars. Each strand of dark hair is generally thicker, and therefore stronger, than blond hair.

But, alas, Rapunzel must make do with blond locks. Given that blondes generally have about 140,000 hairs on their heads, her hair should easily support the weight of many, many princes. However, there is more to this story.

If Rapunzel simply let down her hair and the prince started climbing immediately, her hair would not break, but it might rip out. Also, the rest of her body might not be able to support the weight. Thankfully, there are strategies that she can use to help reduce the strain on her head and body.

Nathan Harshman, Assistant Professor of Physics at American University in Washington, DC, suggests Rapunzel would be safer and more secure if she tied her hair around something before lowering it. “The whole idea is that you can use the friction of the hair against itself in the knot, and whatever it is tied around will support the weight of the prince.” That is a much better idea than making Rapunzel’s scalp the anchor point.

And here are the links:
Yahoo Article
Live Science Article