physics

Hair clipper

Hair clipper is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hair clipper rather than just read about it. In short: A hair clipper, often individually called the apparent plurale tantum hair clippers (in a similar way to scissors), is a specialised tool used to cut human hair. Hair clippers work on the same principle as scissors, but are distinct from scissors themselves and razors.

Key takeaways

Hair clipper belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hair clipper to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hair clipper from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A hair clipper, often individually called the apparent plurale tantum hair clippers (in a similar way to scissors), is a specialised tool used to cut human hair. Hair clippers work on the same principle as scissors, but are distinct from scissors themselves and razors. Similar but heavier-duty implements are used to shear sheep, but are called handpieces or machine shears.

Operating principle Hair clippers are made up of a pair of sharpened comb-like blades in close contact, one above the other, and the sides which slide sideways relative to each other, a mechanism which may be manual or electrical to make the blades oscillate from side to side, and a handle. The clipper is moved so that hair is positioned between the teeth of the comb, and cut with a scissor action when one blade slides sideways relative to the other. Friction between the blades needs to be as low as possible, which is attained by choice of material and finish, and frequent lubrication.

Manual clippers

Hair clippers are operated by a pair of handles which are alternately squeezed together and released. Barbers used them to cut hair close and fast. The hair was picked up in locks and the head was rapidly depilated. Such haircuts became popular among boys, mostly in schools, and young men in the military and in prisons. Manual clippers were invented around 1855 by Nikola Bizumić, a Serbian barber. While they were widely used in the distant past, the advent and reduction in cost of electric hair clippers has led to them largely replacing manual clippers. Some barbers in Western countries continue to use them for trimming. They are also used in the Russian army: when conscripts enter boot camp, they cut their hair close to the skin, sometimes using manual clippers.

Culture and religion In Greece, male students had their heads shaved with manual hair clippers from the early 20th century until it was abolished in 1982. The same practice was used in the military, where recruits had their heads shaved as they set foot in boot camp. In the 1950s and 1960s a law was implemented in Greece whereby head shaving with manual clippers was to be used as a punishment for young people caught by police, such as teddyboys and prostitutes. This practice was extended to Greek hippies and leftist youths during the 1967-73 military regime. Obligatory hair clipping was abolished in Greece in 1982. Manual hair clippers are used extensively by barbers in India to give short back and sides haircuts. Orthodox Jews tend to avoid clipping the side of their heads. Among Muslim men, some consider it haram to clip more than a fistful of the beard.

Electric clippers

Electric hair clippers work in a similar way as manual ones, but are driven by an electric motor which makes the blades oscillate from side to side. They have gradually displaced manual hair clippers in many countries. Three different motor types are used in clipper production: magnetic, rotary and pivot. Rotary style may be driven by direct current or alternating current electricity source. Both magnetic and pivot style clippers use magnetic forces derived from winding copper wire around steel. Alternating current creates a cycle attracting and relaxing to a spring to create the speed and torque to drive the clipper cutter across the combing blade. Leo J. Wahl invented the first electric hair clipper. He first designed a hand-held massager for his uncle, Dr. Frank Wahl. Frank Wahl opened a manufacturing plant in Sterling, Illinois to produce and sell Leo's massager. During this time, Leo would sell massagers to various barbers and noticed an opportunity to improve upon the tools barbers were using at the time.

Leo Wahl took over his uncle's manufacturing business after Frank left to serve in the Spanish–American War in 1898. Leo continued to work on his inventions and by 1921, he patented his final design of an invention more than a decade in the making- the first electric hair clipper. Within a year, Wahl Manufacturing had manufactured and sold thousands of clippers all over the United States and in 1921 Leo renamed the company the Wahl Clipper Corporation. When Leo J. Wahl died on May 20, 1957, he had over 100 patent applications to his name. His descendants still operate the company today. By 1921, Mathew Andis Sr. entered the electric clipper industry. Production of these clippers began in the basement of his home, with help from Anna, his wife. Andis sold his electric clippers door to door and one year later established the Andis O M Manufacturing with John Oster and Henry Meltzer. After the three men parted ways, Mathew established Andis Clipper Company the following year. Today, Andis Company remains a family-held business. In 1928, the John Oster Manufacturing Company joined the electric clipper market. In 1960, the John Oster Manufacturing Co. was acquired by Sunbeam Corporation. Oster continues to manufacture clippers today.

Maintenance Electric hair clipper blades are usually lubricated frequently. Each major hair clipper manufacturer sells its own brand of hair clipper oil. Clippers can also be maintained with aerosol clipper spray which acts as a coolant, disinfectant, lubricant, cleaner, and rust preventative. It is possible to find out what is inside such a product by viewing the product's safety data sheet online. Wahl Hair Clipper Oil, for example, is simply mineral oil packaged in a bottle with a dropper tip. Some maintenance-free clippers use very hard stainless-steel blades and do not need periodic application of oil or other lubricant. Most magnetic-type consumer grade hair clippers use a vibrating motor that moves the blade at a high resonant frequency. Sometimes the motor will come out of tune and make a loud noise. There is a screw on the side that is used to retune the motor and bring it back into resonance.

Blades

Blade material Blades are usually made of rust-resistant stainless steel. Ceramic cutters are available; they are not subject to corrosion, and stay sharper longer because of a higher resistance to wear than metal blades. However, ceramic blades are brittle and easily broken, and more expensive to replace than metal blades.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hair clipper

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hair clipper claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hair clipper before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hair clipper ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hair clipper

In research: Hair clipper appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hair clipper in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hair clipper is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cutting tools, Hairdressing, Mechanical hand tools, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hair clipper outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hair clipper in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hair clipper means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hair clipper out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hair clipper in simple terms?

Why does Hair clipper matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hair clipper?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hair clipper.