Myth confirmed! If Rapunzel were real, her hair would be strong enough to climb.

On April 8, 2017, as the kickoff to LSC’s two-week Once Upon a Myth event, we tested one of the greatest fairy tale myths of all-time: could a person really climb Rapunzel’s hair? For this experiment, the LSC team created a 70-ft long replica of Rapunzel’s hair – made of aluminum – and brought in a professional stuntman to do the climb, right in the middle of the Science Center.

Families watched in excitement and cheered and clapped as the stuntman/prince made his climb up Rapunzel’s hair (not to rescue her, we should mention – this Rapunzel doesn’t need rescuing!).

Though it was tough, the prince successfully made it to the fourth floor of the Science Center, where he and Rapunzel then skipped along to the MythBusters exhibit.

As a refresher, here’s what the LSC team did to make Rapunzel’s hair:

1. First, we researched the story of Rapunzel and discovered that it never clearly states how long her hair was. However, we were able to identify that the tower she was trapped in was 70-feet tall, therefore we could assume that Rapunzel’s hair was at least 70-feet long.
2. Then we set out to determine how much her hair would weigh. We measured and weighed the hair of several team members, and based on averages and ratios we determined that Rapunzel’s hair would weigh 20 pounds.
3. Since we couldn’t get 70-foot-long strands of human hair, we had to use a material that has a similar strength-to-weight ratio as human hair: aluminum.
4. Finally, the team spent roughly 10 hours unspooling 20 pounds of aluminum into a 70-foot-long ponytail and fastened it to a column in our atrium so our stuntman could attempt the climb.

Now, the fairy tale mythbusting continues!

Through April 19, our Governors Hall atrium will be packed with activities where guests can put their favorite fairy tale myths to the test (i.e. Can you really feel a pea under a stack of mattresses? Can you really turn straw into gold, like Rumpelstiltskin did? Could an elephant really fly better with big ears, like Dumbo? Could a tortoise/turtle really win a race against a hare?)

After you’re finished busting fairy tale myths, head over to MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition on the fourth floor and bust a multitude of different myths: Are you really drier when you run in the rain? Can you really pull a tablecloth off a fully-set table without disturbing any dishes? Does toast always land butter-side down?

One of the activities in the exhibit, called “Big Bad Wolf,” is another fairy tale myth that inspired our Once Upon a Myth event! Based on the tale of the Three Little Pigs, guests build miniature houses out of bricks and then see if a gust of wind can blow it down.

See more photos from Once Upon a Myth over on our Facebook page.