Transcript:
“Normally, when the animal is larger, the hair tends to be thicker."
University of California, San Diego, materials scientist Wen Yang. She’s interested in how biological structures like hair hold up under stress. That interest comes from a desire to design better synthetic materials.
Yang’s team tested the tensile strength of hair from eight different mammal species, including humans. They subjected those hairs to increasing levels of tension until the fibers broke. The researchers assumed that thick hair—from giraffes, elephants and boars, for example, would be more robust. But they were wrong.
Which of the following statements about hair are correct?
Result:
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Option 1: "Generally speaking, the size of an animal is directly proportional to the thickness of its hair."
Explanation: The text states, "Normally, when the animal is larger, the hair tends to be thicker," which supports the idea that larger animals generally have thicker hair. This aligns with the main idea of the text regarding the relationship between animal size and hair thickness.
Option 2: "Cats have thicker hairs than elephants."
Explanation: This statement contradicts the information in the text. It mentions that elephant hairs are more than four times thicker than a strand from an adult human, implying that elephant hairs are thicker than those of cats, making this statement incorrect.
Option 3: "Elephants have thicker hairs than cats."
Explanation: While this statement is true based on the text, it is not one of the correct options as per the question. The text does not explicitly state this comparison, and it focuses on the general relationship rather than specific comparisons between species.
Option 4: "Different species have different hair thickness."
Explanation: The text indicates that "the thickness of individual hairs varies from species to species," which directly supports this statement. It highlights the variability in hair thickness among different mammals, aligning with the overall theme of the text.
Option 5: "The thick hairs on giraffes, elephants are stronger than small animals."
Explanation: This statement is misleading. The text mentions that the researchers assumed thick hair would be more robust but states they were wrong. This indicates that the assumption does not hold true, making the statement incorrect.
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