Is Your Hair Stronger Than Steel?: Questions About Hair, Skin, and Teeth
POWERKIDS PRESS HUMAN BODY FAQ Is Your Hair Stronger than Steel Questions About Hair Skin and Teeth by Thomas Canavan
Why do we need skin and hair Your outer wrapping of skin hair teeth and nails does a lot more than keep up appearances Between them they protect you from damage or infection and keep you at the right temperature You can become seriously ill if you get too hot or too cold Your skin acts as a blanket against the cold and allows heat to escape when you’re hot Are all hairs the same thickness Generally speaking East Asian people have thicker individual hairs than people from other parts of the world 4
Is your hair stronger than steel An object of around 3 ounces 100 g could dangle on a single strand of human hair That’s nearly two regular-sized bars of soap It’s not quite as strong as steel but it’s up there with other strong substances like Kevlar used to make bulletproof vests Bacteria yuck Why do hairs really stand on end Your body hairs lie flat when you’re hot and rise when you’re cold to trap a warming blanket of air How does skin protect you from germs Think about all the germs in the air and on the things you touch Your skin shields your organs and major systems from the illnesses that those germs can cause Just a small break in your skin can provide an opening for infection That’s why your body works quickly to form a scab over a cut It plugs the hole so that new skin can grow 5
