Q 01/05

Hair is made mostly of which protein?

A) Keratin

B) Collagen

C) Elastin

D) Melanin

Answer · why

A) Keratin

The same protein forms fingernails, feathers, hooves and horns.

Q 02/05

Hair is a distinguishing feature of which class of animals?

A) Birds

B) Mammals

C) Reptiles

D) Amphibians

Answer · why

B) Mammals

Even whales and dolphins have a few hairs at some stage of life.

Q 03/05

Which part of a hair is actually alive?

A) The shaft above the skin

B) The very tip of the strand

C) The follicle under the skin

D) The outer cuticle layer

Answer · why

C) The follicle under the skin

The visible shaft has no biochemical activity, which is why a haircut does not hurt.

Q 04/05

What determines whether a person's hair is straight or curly?

A) The number of hairs

B) The colour of the hair

C) How often it is washed

D) The shape of the follicle and shaft

Answer · why

D) The shape of the follicle and shaft

Round shafts give straight hair; the flatter and more oval the shaft, the curlier the hair.

Q 05/05

Which pigment dominates in red hair?

A) Pheomelanin

B) Eumelanin

C) Carotene

D) Haemoglobin

Answer · why

A) Pheomelanin

Brown and black hair are dominated by eumelanin; blond hair simply has very little pigment of either kind.