Does this sound familiar? You are about to walk the dog, grab your iPod and have to spend the next 5 minutes untangling the $%*&@ earbuds. It seems to happen to everyone who owns an Apple iPod or iPhone your “EarPods.” (even though Apple has shipped its white in-ear headphones with every iDevice since the iPod in 2001, they updated its earbuds to “EarPods” in 2012)
Your earbuds have conspired against you. Whatever you call them, the earbuds have mysteriously tangled themselves into a knot so vicious that you risk snapping the wire to get them undone. Especially the little thin wires that go to each earpiece.
To be fair, Jim Edwards at the Business Insider says it happens to all earbuds, not just Apple’s (AAPL). But iPhone tangles seem more visibly conspicuous because their wires are white as part of Apple’s branding. BI observes that the knots even occur when you coil them carefully before putting them away. Typically the headphone wires will knot themselves on a daily basis.
Earbuds tangle for a reason
Mr. Edwards explains that tangling happens for a reason, and it has been the subject of scientific research. Dorian M. Raymer and Douglas E. Smith of the University of California at San Diego Department of Physics proved that iPhone earbud tangles are predictable. The tangle is a function of the length of the wire and the amount of “agitation” the wire is subjected to. The author explains that when — length versus agitation — are plotted against each other, the rate of knots and tangles obeys a statistical pattern that describes a curve.
The physicists published a paper titled “Spontaneous knotting of an agitated string” (PDF). Their research revealed that the length of a cord influences how much it will tangle when sealed inside a rotating box. The length of Apple’s iPhone earbuds is 55 inches long and right at the 50% tangle-rate-sweet-spot of the curve.
BI provided a schematic showing how a cord that starts off neatly coiled and quickly becomes tangled. The tangle test shows that one end of a wire only has to cross another part of the wire twice to start spontaneously knotting itself. The research shows that your earphones are indeed spontaneously knotting themselves. The knots really do form as a matter of physics, so it is an unstoppable force of nature that can’t be prevented.
That is until Professor Robert Matthews of Aston University in England saved the day. Rebecca Borison at BI says the physicist has developed a surefire way to end all earbud tangling: clip them together.
Professor Matthews suggests that you clip the two earbuds together and attach them near the audio jack to create a loop. He claims that this will reduce tangling tenfold. He told ABC News,
First, by forming the loop you’ve effectively reduced the length of string able to explore the 3-D space by 50%, which makes a big difference. Second, you’ve also eliminated the two ends, which are the prime movers of knot formation.
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CNET says the tangled earbuds research has attracted interest from biochemists concerned with the tendency of thread-like DNA to get itself tangled. The new study suggests nature may form loops in DNA to prevent this from happening.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
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