Things happen nearly everyday. We wake up. We breathe. We eat. We walk. We learn. We make friends. We talk. And everyday, science continues to advance our understanding of these daily human occurrences further and further. We know why we wake up. We know why we breathe. We know why we eat, why we walk, why we learn, and why we make friends. But almost everyday, one thing happens that few of us understand, that few of us even bother to actually question… Our headphones tangle in our pockets. But why? What’s the scientific reasoning for why our headphones tangle despite no serious movement or handling? Why does this happen nearly every…single…time they’re stored in our pockets?
Bill Murray is reported to have summed up this issue best for readers. “What’s the best way to tie the strongest knot ever?” he asked, then answered, “Put headphones in your pocket and wait a minute.”
According to James Vincent, scientists have been curious to find out the reasoning as well. Promptly, as scientists do, they moved to experiment- the individuals placed all different pieces of wire, like headphones, into a cardboard box and shook them…3,415 times. The result? Tangled wire. But more than that, the scientists discovered that there are two important factors involved in the formation of these difficult-to-untangle knots: “critical string length” and “agitation time”. The chart from the study can be seen below.
It was also discovered that the probability of your headphones getting tangled (if they’re approximately 139 centimeters in length) is very close to…1 in 2. 50%. This experiment, and many others similar, are monumentally more complex (and were certainly difficult for me, as a nonscientist, to easily wrap my head around). More details can be found within the hyperlinks. But some may still be wondering why exactly headphones tangle?
Put simply for further explanation, logic speaks plenty regarding the all-to-common tangling of wires. “There is one way for a cable to be straight, but a massive number of ways it can get tangled”. The two involved scientists, Dorion Raymer and Douglas Smith, also mentioned that the shape of the headphones, with the split into two separate wires, adds to the likelihood of entanglement greatly. In addition, it’s been discovered that even the slightest bit of movement and slightest variation in temperature can lead to these wires shifting and reshuffling in your pocket, or backpack.
However, the most important question to the reader is perhaps, “Can I stop my ear buds from getting tangled?” To which, sadly, the answer is that there’s no proven, easy, definite fix. If you’re up for a “gamble” or more complex solutions though, these scientists have a few methods to offer (of course).
A loop can be formed with the wire. Scientific experiments have tested the loop method in nearly 12,000 trials. The result? Less tangling and less knots…by nearly 10x.
The other simpler, less tested strategies are to keep the individual earphone and wires separated, make the chord thicker, or simply…prevent movement at all (good luck with that obvious, but difficult strategy).
Despite the amount of research and studies done, it seems that this issue may just be one for humans to remain tangled in handling. The only 100% effective method of keeping these headphones unknotted seems to leave us with two choices:
1.) We can use our headphones, and they’ll tangle. Or 2.) We can’t use our headphones, and they won’t tangle.
Sad song
I think its safe to say that everyone can relate to this point so thank you for posting this! I have wondered why my headphones get tangled over and over again. And knowing that there is no known solution to such an annoyance is upsetting. But ive noticed that the type of wire your headphones is made of does make a difference in how much it gets tangled or not. I use to have these Sony headphones that were made out of thinner and smoother wire and it would get tangled very badly that it would take me a couple of minutes to just to detangle them. It was so annoying to deal with every time i wanted to listen to music. I compared these headphones to the one Apple makes and those are less likely to get as tangled. They still do but they are easier to detangle than the Sony ones i once had.
This post was very interesting to read and extremely funny! That is such a cool topic to think about and it’s awesome that you were able to find research on this common problem! I have tried many ways to prevent my headphones from tangling but they do not work. It’s interesting that even walking for 2 minutes with headphones in your pocket can cause them to tangle. I really like the research you put in here and the humor made it more entertaining to read! I found a link that has devices you can buy that will keep your headphones from tangling! Great post! Here is the link. http://www.brit.co/earbuds-organization/
Hey I thought this post did a really good job of explaining a very common problem. Another technique that people use to prevent their headphones from tangling is to wrap them around pieces of rubber or plastic. http://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Wrap-Core-Winder-Black/dp/B001MBLPNM
What an interesting article as I, myself, suffer from the inevitable tangled headphones. Often i’ll find my headphones wrapped as if an animal or child was playing with them for hours. I would have to agree that forming them into a loop does help to prevent tangling. It’s quite sad that there is no explanation of how to fix this problem! It’s seems like such a simple issue that could easily be fixed, but maybe infact it is just too simple. Maybe not changing the headphones but creating a device to prevent this from happening would lead to less stress over tangled headphones and more happiness!
I really enjoyed this post! I think this is something we all struggle with no matter what we do and it is so annoying. I have found myself keeping my headphones plugged into my phone and sitting on my desk or in my lap in class to help prevent it. Sadly, it only works every once in awhile and they still manage to tangle. I’m glad scientists are looking into it though!
Unfortunately this issue is a problem for everyone, and something I severely struggle with. It’s interesting that temperature even plays a factor into headphones tangling- that’s something I wouldn’t imagine has to do with anything. I definitely think more research needs to be conducted on this topic considering it seems like not much has been put towards this mystery. I think there should be a new shape for headphones considering a major reason towards why headphones break so easily is from the tangling of the cords and the damage it causes to the wire underneath. I actually know they sell headphones with a flat cord rather than a round one which helps prevent tangling. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gear/how-to/a8868/a-solution-for-tangled-headphones-15413257/ This article explains that “Some companies say headphones with flat cords are less likely to tangle because there’s less friction between the wires than with round ones.”
This is a really fun and practical post! When thinking about potential solutions to the tangled cord problem, I felt like a bad infomercial actor- “there’s got to be a better way!!!?!?”. I came across one suggestion from a Physicist at Aston University in Birmingham, described in this article. He says that if you simply clip together the earbuds (with the typically provided connector, or another small clip of some sort) and then clip the earbuds to the end of the headphones near the audio jack, the problem of the headphones tangling in your pocket will be no more. If I were an entrepreneur, I would look into marketing “non-tangling” headphones, with clips provided. It could be the next big thing.
Very interesting post. Looking at your info, it seems like the chance and extent of headphones getting tangled is much less significant if you keep it in a pocket or area of your backpack where there are no other wires or objects to bump them. It would be hard to do a study about this, but it would be interesting to see if wires are more likely to get tangled/ get tangled to a greater extent when they are close to other wires and objects in a confined space.
Very funny and interesting post! I have wondered about this myself a lot. My mom had bought these headphones what were made of a rope-like material that would magically not tie in your pocket, which is probably the best invention ever (until my dog ate them, of course).
I would love to understand more about the reasons for why headphones seem to do this more than anything else. Is it the width of the wire? The material it’s made out of? I think there is a really interesting idea for an experiment in there.
I think you did a great job explaining stratagies for preventing this from happening. Good job!