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

    Asked by meg123 to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Will on 20 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by niamhcarr.
    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      I recon its static electricity – when you take your hat off you can create static electricity in your hair making it stand up – much like you can if you rub a balloon in your hair.
      Why is it easier to do in dry cold condition? Not 100% sure but my guess is something to do with the ammount of charge in the atmosphere- to stand on end the hair would have to be attracted to the air – if there is no charge in the air there’s no attraction forces making it stand up.

    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      Hi meg!

      It’s because of static electricity! Positive and negative charges separate bewteen your hair and the hat, and when you separate them they are attracted to each other! Dryness leads to charges staying in place and not moving across to the hat through the damp surface.

      🙂
      Sarah

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