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Asked by wizzyg12 to Claire, Kate, Matt, Rob, Sam on 18 Jun 2013.
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Sam Geen answered on 18 Jun 2013:
Apparently! During the day you stand up, and your spine is pressed down by gravity, so you shrink a tiny bit. During night you lie down, so your spine isn’t pressed down your body, so it can expand again a bit.
(I didn’t know this until I looked it up, and it’s kinda scary! But apparently true.)
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Matthew Pankhurst answered on 18 Jun 2013:
Yes it is! And it’s something you can test really easily! Just before you go to bed measure yourself (don’t wear any shoes or socks!) against a wall (or get someone else to because this can be tricky). Then have a nice stretch and go to bed. In the morning before anything else measure yourself again – and see what happens! It probably happens more to some people than others, but give it a go!
Its because overnight you relax and all the tiny muscles and ligaments which hold your bones tightly together to keep them stable (and not flopping everywhere) when you move about during the day get to have their turn to relax. As they relax they loosen and your bones can move a tiny bit further away from each other. Try measuring your arm or leg before and after bed and see if you notice a difference in them too! -
Claire Lee answered on 19 Jun 2013:
I’m wondering if anyone has now done Matt’s proposed experiment? 🙂
Comments
wizzyg12 commented on :
Wow thanks! PS. I tried this and it is really true. In the morning i was 155 and the evening about 154.1. Brilliant feedback from all my questions answered so far 🙂
wizzyg12 commented on :
(cm) added onto all the measurements ! :p
Sam commented on :
Ha, yes, 155 metres would be very tall. Glad you’re being careful about units – one time NASA crashed a Mars probe because the instructions were given to it in Imperial units rather than metric units, so it’s good to get it right before you crash a million-dollar probe!