We ’ve all been there . You ’re walk along , when suddenly your shoelaces occur untied for some cause . Cue the awkward moment where you ’ve get to find a place to stop , bend down , and nonchalantly re - twine them .
Well , it turn out there ’s actually some science behind the annoyance . In a peculiar but every bit enthralling survey from the University of California , Berkeley , researchers contemplate the mechanics of a shoe string knot . The results are published inProceedings of the Royal Society Atoday , and as ever with thing like this , there could be greater applications than just shoestring .
" When you talk about knotted structure , if you could bulge to translate the shoelace , then you could apply it to other thing , like DNA or microstructures , that fail under dynamic forces , " said Christopher Daily - Diamond , study co - author and a alumna student at Berkeley , in astatement . " This is the first step toward intellect why certain slub are unspoiled than others , which no one has really done . "
The research worker performed various experiment with a deadening - motion camera , let in twine up a duo of running play shoes with a bow knot and run on a treadmill . This enabled them to see how the knot was failing . Here ’s what they found .
As you lead , your foot hits the floor at seven times the force of solemnity . This cause the gnarl to untie as it stretches and decompress . couple up with the inertia from your swing leg , the complimentary terminal of the laces is able-bodied to draw the knot apart in as few as two footstep once it is informal . Adding weights to the costless ends of the knot , the researchers further substantiate this possibility as the naut mi fell apart even more rapidly .
A television of the knot failure in action . UC Berkeley
" Some laces might be beneficial than others for tying mi , but the key mechanics causing them to break is the same , we think , " say study co - writer Christine Gregg .
So , what can us mere mortal do to prevent our shoelaces undo ? Tightly tying the knot will slow the mental process down , let for more golf shot of the groundwork . But at long last , all traditional bow nautical mile go the risk of failing eventually . It appears that it ’s just a thing of fourth dimension until they do .
" The interesting thing about this mechanism is that your lace can be fine for a really long sentence , and it ’s not until you get one little act of motion to cause loosening that starts this avalanche effect leading to knot failure , " said Gregg .
There you go . See , we tell you it was kind of interesting .
