"Ponytail Shape Equation" Devised by English Scientists

Rapunzel number helps scientists quantify ponytails

By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON | Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:26pm EST

(Reuters) - British scientists said on Friday that a "Rapunzel Number" may have helped them to crack a problem that has perplexed humanity since Leonardo da Vinci pondered it 500 years ago.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick said they had devised a "Ponytail Shape Equation," which when calculated using the Rapunzel Number and a measure of the curliness of hair can be used to predict the shape of any ponytail.

MORE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/us-science-hair-rapunzel-idUSTRE81918V20120210

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