Why earphones tangle

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Email address. Deal icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Yet the probability only increased up to a certain size. How the braiding model of knot formation works. A coiled string in a box will have its end sitting next to more central segments and, if jostled, can fall over and around these areas to create tangled knots.

Raymer and Smith also classified the types of knots they found, using the Jones polynomials developed by mathematicians. After each tumble, they took a picture of the string and fed the image into a computer algorithm that could categorize the knots. Knot theory has shown that there are 14 kinds of primary knots, which involve seven or fewer crosses.

Raymer and Smith found that all 14 types formed, with higher odds of forming simpler ones. They also saw more complicated knots, some with up to 11 crossings. The researchers created a model to explain their observations. Basically, in order to fit inside a box, a string has to be coiled up. This means the end of the string lies parallel to different segments along the length of the string.

As the box spins, the string end has a certain chance of falling over and around one of these middle segments. If it moves enough times, the end will essentially braid itself around some part in the middle, tangling up the string and creating different knots. The most important question from these experiments is what can be done to keep my cables from getting all screwy. One method that decreased the chances of knot formation was placing stiffer strings into the tumbling boxes. Perhaps this is what motivated Apple to make the power cables for more recent generations of laptops less flexible.

It also helps explain why your long, thin Christmas tree lights are always a tangled mess while your shorter and stockier surge protector cable stays relatively smooth. All prime knots with up to seven crossings were observed. Our model can qualitatively account for the observed distribution of knots and dependence on agitation time and string length. Schematic illustration of the simplified model for knot formation.

Because of its stiffness, the string tends to coil in the box, as seen in Fig. As discussed in the text, we model knots as forming due to a random series of braid moves of the end segment among the adjacent segments diagrams at bottom. The overall connectivity of the segments is indicated by the dashed line. According to my tongue, that hole is definitely wider. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe.