RunningStyle

Background Drag is used in physics and engineering. It’s central to the field of fluid dynamics and is also called air or fluid resistance. Drag refers to forces that oppose the motion of a solid object through a liquid or a gas. Drag forces move in a direction opposite of the velocity. Drag depends on velocity unlike other resistive forces like dry friction, which is nearly needless of velocity. Drag is the force on an object that resists its motion through a fluid. When the fluid is a gas like air, it’s called aerodynamic drag or air resistance. Drag is a very complicated concept. It’s really hard to explain from a theory based on fundamental rules. Drag is a topic that is better explored experimentally. Drag increases with the denseness of the fluid. The more density there is, the more mass there is. In other words, more resistance gets out of the way. Drag also increases with area. More surface area means that there is more of the object in contact with the fluid. increase with speed. Some people think of the “area” as the area of contact between the object and the fluid. Clothes and hair also add additional drag. Shoes with laces add 0.5% more drag. Hair on limbs add 0.6% more drag. Long socks add 0.9% more drag. Short hair adds 4% more drag. Loosely fitted clothing adds about 4.2% more drag. And long hair adds 6.3% more drag. Drag is a very important factor to consider in certain races. For example, bike racers are very aware of drag, also called wind resistance. The faster a cyclist goes, the more resistance he experiences. Aerodynamic drag involves air pressure drag and direct friction. On a flat road, pressure drag counts for 70 to 90 percent of the resistance that a biker feels when pedaling. The only larger obstacle is biking up a hill, where gravity is a much harder thing to overcome than resistance. Also, the design of the bike also accounts for some drag (about 6-8 pounds of drag). Drag also affects performance in running and jumping, two major events in track and field activities. When a person runs on a track, he/she must be able to overcome the drag resistance of the air, especially when there is wind. However, when the wind is coming up from their back, humans can run 10% faster. Smoothing the air flow around stream-lined areas such as the chin ears and hair can reduce your running speed by 1% - 3%, depending on how long the race is.

Question: How does the style of your hair effect how long it takes you to run 50 feet?

Hypothesis: As I put my hair in a bun, then the time it takes me to run 50 feet will decrease because my hair will be tied together behind my head, and it will not fly around as much as if it was in a ponytail or pigtails. With my hair bound together behind my head, there will be less wind resistance which will keep me from slowing down.

Variables Manipulated Variable: Style of hair Responding Variable: Time it takes to run 50 ft Controlled Variables: Level surface, Running distance, Clothes, Tennis shoes, Type of hair ties, person running

Materials: Timer A set of clothes Tennis shoes Hair ties Measuring tape/ Meter stick 50 feet of level ground Person

Procedure 1.Set up as shown in diagram. 2.Start running on a level surface and start timer at the same time. 3.Stop the timer once you finish running 50 feet. 4.Record how long it took you to run 50 feet. 5.Rest for at least five minutes to regain full energy. 6.Repeat steps 1 to 5 for repeated trials. 7.Repeat steps 1 to 6 w/ a ponytail. 8.Repeat steps 1 to 6 w/ a bun. 9.Repeat steps 1 to 6 w/ pigtails.

Hairstyle vs. Speed Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3Average Down4.7 seconds 3.94 seconds 4.19 seconds seconds Ponytail4.15 seconds 3.84 seconds 4.16 seconds 4.03 seconds Pigtails4.35 seconds 4.32 seconds 4.41 seconds 4.36 seconds Bun4.16 seconds 4.13 seconds 3.97 seconds seconds

Conclusion I thought that if I put my hair in a bun, then it would increase my speed the most. My results showed that putting my hair in a bun makes me run faster than with my hair down but slower than with my hair in a ponytail. I can prove this because my slowest running average was when I had my hair in pigtails. The average was 4.36 seconds. My fastest running average was when I had my hair in a ponytail. The average was 4.03 seconds. The difference was 0.33 seconds. This rejects my original hypothesis. Therefore if I put my hair in a ponytail, then it will increase my speed the most.

Abstract The purpose of my project was to see if/ how the style of your hair affects how fast you run because at track meets and races, some girls have their hair in different styles, usually ponytails. I just wanted to test and see if the style of your hair can raise or lower your chance to win in a race. Also, my little sister loves to run, so I thought I would do this experiment for her. I thought that having your hair in pigtails while running will slow you down the most and putting your hair in bun would slow you down the least. ‘ A few errors I made in my experiment were that the temperature on the different days that I did the trials were different. The second day was colder than the first day. Also, I used flat, cement surfaces to run on, but I didn’t run in the same place on both days. What I learned about completing my experiment was that you run faster with your hair in a ponytail, and pigtails make you run even slower than with your hair down. What I could do differently is do the experiment inside a gym where the temperatures stays the same all the time. There, the surface is also smoother.