What Causes Your Hair To Lighten Hair Essay

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All people are born with hair on their head and many people decide to change it over their lifetimes. Some people cut it and others dye it and some people lighten their hair. So what causes your hair to lighten?
The hair on your head is comprised of a tough protein called keratin. There are two types of keratin. One being the α-keratins otherwise known as the alpha keratin which produces hair, horns, nails and hooves found on mammals and the other is called the β-keratins also referred to as the beta-keratin which is in charge of making scales, shells as well as reptile and bird claws. The keratin found on the human head is the alpha keratin this type of keratin is a fibrous structural protein, meaning that it is made of 18 amino acids. Amino acids are “anyone of a large group of organic compounds; the end product of the breakdown of protein. …show more content…

The most common and practiced method of lightening hair is through bleaching it. In the 1800s, “it was found that hydrogen peroxide was a gentler and safer chemical as compared to the other chemicals for hair bleaching” (human touch of chemistry, discovery of hair dye). Nowadays we still use hydrogen peroxide (h202) in our hair bleach and it is the main oxidizing agent in the alkaline solution which has a pH above 7. (hair bleach as a pH of 9-11)
Hydrogen peroxide has two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen and is a light blue liquid which looks clear in a solution, like bleach, and it decomposes, breaking apart, into water (H20) and oxygen (o) when it is heated or in the presence of substances like iron, copper, magnesium, nickel or chromium. Hydrogen peroxide works when decomposing, releases oxygen and breaks down the “hydrogen peroxide which causes oxygen atoms to attach to the molecule. This usually turns one or more of the double bonds into single bonds. This means the molecule no longer absorbs light the same way, and is either a different colour, or loses its colour

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