• Question: why do the hairs on your body stand up when your cold and naked?

    Asked by lollypopsucker to Charlotte, Colin, Becki, Rick on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Rebecca Scott

      Rebecca Scott answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      At the base of the hairs on your body there are tiny muscles in the skin which contract when you get cold. This causes the hairs to stand on end. The upright hairs then trap air in between and this helps to insulate your body. So it is your body’s way of trying to protect you from the cold.

    • Photo: Colin Swift

      Colin Swift answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      Rebecca is right, it is of course more effective the more hairy you are – I guess its mainly a left over from when man was very hairy!

    • Photo: Charlotte Dalton

      Charlotte Dalton answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      this is your body trying to trap heat, like when a bird fluffs up to stay warm- the hairs trap more warm air when stood up so you loose less heat

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