Analysis of Hair of Various Ethnicities Michelle Dy

Analysis of Hair of Various Ethnicities Michelle Dy: mich 08 red@yahoo. com Jack Britt High School Summer Ventures in Math and Science 2010 Visual and Image Processing Mentors: Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Mr. Dale Henries, and Mr. Sina Tashakkori Appalachian State University 24 July 2010

HYPOTHESIS The objective of this research was to identify the ethnicity by determining the thickness, shape, and color of the hair.

HAIR • Made up of keratin, a strong protein • A human hair is comprise of follicles and shafts • The hair originates from the follicle where it gets its nourishment • Hair shaft contains three layers

PIGMENTS • Pheomelanin • Eumelanin • Lack of Pigments

MONGOLOID • Asian descent • Withstands 100 grams • Thickest and most coarse hair • Almost always straight

CAUCASOID • European descent • Withstands 60 -100 grams • Straight, wavy, or curly • Thin hair fiber

NEGROID • African descent • Withstand 60 grams • Most fragile • Spiral hair, hair alternates to thick and thin hair

PROCESS • Samples gathered • Under the microscope at 400 x • Straight, wavy, or curly • Pigmentation of the hairs. • T=L*W to find the thickness

UNKNOWN SAMPLES • Two unknown samples were gathered • The images were distorted • Thickness and shape were classified

OUTCOME NAME SHAPE COLOR THICKNESS (mm) RACE 1 wavy dark brown 0. 12 Caucasoid 2 straight red-orange 0. 129 Caucasoid 3 wavy brown 0. 141 Caucasoid 4 straight blonde 0. 104 Caucasoid 5 straight dark brown 0. 15 Negroid 6 wavy blonde 0. 085 Caucasoid 7 straight dark brown 0. 164 Mongoloid 8 curly dark brown- black 0. 098 Negroid 9 straight Clear-blonde 0. 114 Caucasoid 10 straight clear 0. 104 Mongoloid 11 straight black 0. 161 Mongoloid

OUTCOME Average Caucasoid: 0. 1155 Average Mongoloid: 0. 143 Average Negroid: 0. 124 UNKNOWN SAMPLE SHAPE THICKNESS (mm) COLOR 1 straight 0. 157 blond 2 straight 0. 105 black

CONCLUSION -The hypothesis was proven correct -Thickness, shape, and color can aid in the identification of ethnicity of the known and unknown -However, people who perm, iron, or dye their hair can destroy those characteristics -This kind of classification, unfortunately, will be arduous in identifying mixed- race individuals

RESOURCES • • • [1] Johneen Manning, http: //haircare. suite 101. com/article. cfm/curly_hair_wavy_hair_straight_hair [2] Summerwinds BIS, Inc. , http: //www. summerwinds. com/downloads/howtodocs/ANATOMY-OF-HAIR. pdf [3] Zoe Diana Draelos MD, http: //www. sciencedirect. com/science? _ob=Article. URL&_udi=B 75 J 2 -4 GWC 57 TG&_user=634929&_cover. Date=10%2 F 01%2 F 2000&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_ sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_search. Str. Id=1407409813&_rerun. Origin=google&_acct=C 0 00033778&_version=1&_url. Version=0&_userid=634929&md 5=19983660 ca 105714 fde 2 b 2 d 1 b 2 eea 2 cd [4] L’Oréal International, http: //www. hairscience. com/_int/_en/topic_sousrub. aspx? tc=ROOT-HAIR-SCIENCE^PORTRAIT-OF -AN-UNKNOWN-ELEMENT^WHAT-WE-DO-SEE&cur=WHAT-WE-DO-SEE [5] White hair Burford, Michelle (August 2009). "Gray Hair Myths and Facts" [6] Life's Little Mysteries Staff, http: //www. lifeslittlemysteries. com/what-makes-hair-curly 0255/

Acknowledgements • • • Summer Ventures of Science and Math Department of Computer Science at ASU Ms. Lori Tyler Mentors Classmates