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You put on your shoes, tie them as firmly as possible, but soon after the laces come undone.
Now scientists think they know what causes one of life's knotty problems.
[...] The researchers say an understanding of shoelaces can be applied to other structures, such as DNA.
[...] They found that when running, your foot strikes the ground at seven times the force of gravity.
Responding to that force, the knot stretches and then relaxes.
As the knot loosens, the swinging leg applies an inertial force on the free ends of the laces, leading to rapid unravelling in as little as two strides.
related stories:
Untangling the Mechanics of Knots
Useful Dead Technologies Redux
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(Score: 3, Informative) by draconx on Thursday April 13 2017, @02:35PM (1 child)
My shoes came with round laces, which I found would tend to work itself loose even when the regular shoelace knot is tied correctly.
I now normally tie Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot [fieggen.com]: which is almost as easy to tie, and has never come undone, except when I want it to (in which case it comes undone easily).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @03:33PM
Just tried it. That's handy!