I need to find out if there is a liquid or formula that allows hair to stick to each other?
The outer-layer (cortex) doesn't seem to stick permanently to anything?
Thank you.
What liquid makes hair stick to eachother?
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SamLawrence92
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Alyssayager
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Re: What liquid makes hair stick to eachother?
Hello, and welcome to science buddies!
To answer your question, hair is composed mainly of Keratin and lipids, thus the individual strands are hard to be able to stick together, on top of it being hard to stick individual strands together you have to take into consideration all of the oils on the outsides of the individual strands. The only liquid like substance that I know of that would be able to stick strands together would be Polyurethane.
Polyurethane is a chemical that is commonly used in different types of hair gels.Also, it is commonly found in many house hold items! Polyurethane's effects however, are only temporary and sometimes it can prove difficult to remove the substance from individual strands of hair. This substance is generally non-toxic when bonded correctly, but of course you would not want to get this chemical in your eyes or ingest this chemical.
ATTENTION! If this is for a science fair project or you will have to actually test your hypothesis on the substance I would advise you not to directly put this in hair attached to your scalp! It would be best if you were to use another material to represent the hair strands. You do not really want to use dead tissue matter(hair that has been removed from your head) because most Science Fairs will not allow you to use dead tissue matter and it can prove difficult to work with. If you need any clarification, do not hesitate to repost on this thread with any questions you may have.
I hope this was helpful, Alyssa
To answer your question, hair is composed mainly of Keratin and lipids, thus the individual strands are hard to be able to stick together, on top of it being hard to stick individual strands together you have to take into consideration all of the oils on the outsides of the individual strands. The only liquid like substance that I know of that would be able to stick strands together would be Polyurethane.
Polyurethane is a chemical that is commonly used in different types of hair gels.Also, it is commonly found in many house hold items! Polyurethane's effects however, are only temporary and sometimes it can prove difficult to remove the substance from individual strands of hair. This substance is generally non-toxic when bonded correctly, but of course you would not want to get this chemical in your eyes or ingest this chemical.
ATTENTION! If this is for a science fair project or you will have to actually test your hypothesis on the substance I would advise you not to directly put this in hair attached to your scalp! It would be best if you were to use another material to represent the hair strands. You do not really want to use dead tissue matter(hair that has been removed from your head) because most Science Fairs will not allow you to use dead tissue matter and it can prove difficult to work with. If you need any clarification, do not hesitate to repost on this thread with any questions you may have.
I hope this was helpful, Alyssa
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17eugenekim
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Re: What liquid makes hair stick to eachother?
Hi SamLawrence92,
That is an interesting question! My first thought when considering it is, of course, things like hair glue and hair gel. What these products do is deceptively simple: essentially, they coat the hair in a layer of gel that is strongly cohesive, meaning it likes to stick to itself. If two hairs are each coated in this cohesive material, then they will naturally like to stick to each other. In further detail, lots of hair products are water-soluble, meaning this cohesive property becomes weaker when wet and stronger when the hair is dry. This is also good because hair naturally produces oil, and we don't want oil to break down our product too quickly.
So how might we make hair stick to each other? Essentially, we'd have to cheat a little bit, and cover them in something else that sticks to itself. I'm not sure there's any way you could change the actual biochemical properties of the hair to be more cohesive; even if there was a method, it probably wouldn't be as simple as applying a liquid or formula.
Also worth noting: technically the cortex is not the outermost layer of hair! That would be the cuticle, a series of layers of dead cells. It serves as protection, but little else.
Feel free to ask any questions with more specifics, and we'd be happy to help.
For additional help, I would recommend also posting to the Physical Sciences forum. After all, cohesion and adhesion are ultimately also physical properties.
That is an interesting question! My first thought when considering it is, of course, things like hair glue and hair gel. What these products do is deceptively simple: essentially, they coat the hair in a layer of gel that is strongly cohesive, meaning it likes to stick to itself. If two hairs are each coated in this cohesive material, then they will naturally like to stick to each other. In further detail, lots of hair products are water-soluble, meaning this cohesive property becomes weaker when wet and stronger when the hair is dry. This is also good because hair naturally produces oil, and we don't want oil to break down our product too quickly.
So how might we make hair stick to each other? Essentially, we'd have to cheat a little bit, and cover them in something else that sticks to itself. I'm not sure there's any way you could change the actual biochemical properties of the hair to be more cohesive; even if there was a method, it probably wouldn't be as simple as applying a liquid or formula.
Also worth noting: technically the cortex is not the outermost layer of hair! That would be the cuticle, a series of layers of dead cells. It serves as protection, but little else.
Feel free to ask any questions with more specifics, and we'd be happy to help.
For additional help, I would recommend also posting to the Physical Sciences forum. After all, cohesion and adhesion are ultimately also physical properties.