Why do your shoelaces keep coming untied?

By Djenane Beaulieu, Buzz60

We finally have an answer to the age-old question of why our shoelaces keep coming undone soon after we've tied them -- thanks to science, of course.

It's not because of poor tying; it actually has a lot to do with the force of the foot on the ground and the motion of walking or running, according to research done by mechanical engineers at the University of California Berkeley, as BBC reports.

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All of these forces combined relax the knot and then pull the laces.

When the foot hits the ground, the knot starts to loosen up and then, when swinging your feet back and forth, the laces get yanked and pull the knot apart. This continues to happen with each step.

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All of this was observed through a recorded experiment on a treadmill. But what's the best solution to prevent laces from untying?

Well, researchers saw the difference between two ways of tying, which are Granny Knot and Square Knot, according to Science magazine.

They say that the Square Knot is the better knot because it is more resilient. Though they look almost exactly the same, the difference is in how they're tied.

With that said, scientists still can't figure out why one knot is more resilient than the other.