Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?

Question

Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?

Answer 1

Hair is bleached out by the sun.  Skin melanin darkens to protect other layers from damage.

Answer 2

the sun bleaches hair, radiation in sun destroys pigments which forms colour in hair. sunlight bleaches lots of things, everything with pigments, and so nearly anything with colour. just look at a wall which gets lots of sun exposure, the colour in the paint slowly gets lighter.

when our skin is exposed to sunlight it triggers the production of melanin, which forms tans (and freckles for that matter). melanin is a pigment which protects us from the radiation in sunlight, the sun would be bleaching the melanin pigments as well, but the pigment is stopping the sun getting to other cells in the body and doing more damage. the more sun exposure you have, the more melanin your body produces, and so the darker your skin gets. melanin is also what gives people different skin tones. people who's ancestors evolved in places where the sun is stronger have darker skin because they have a higher default level of melanin to protect them from sun exposure.

even though a tan is protecting your skin from sunlight, you should still try and avoid too much exposure. the melanin only works so well, the sun still does damage. anytime you get a tan, you've always accumulated some damage. the sun ages your skin and also increases the number mutations happening in your cells dna, increasing the chance of developing cancer. the more naturally pale you are, the less protection you have, and the more damage you will do if you pursue a tan.

Answer 3

hair gets sun-bleached because all hair is is dead strands of vitamin e, so it cant change its color itself, it has to have a seperate medium change its color for it. if you get what i mean.

skin contains melanin (which is what makes us freckle and makes us tan), so we have a built in thing in our skin to make it darker. skin is active so it can change color as well using the sun.

i dont know how that came across to you but it makes sense in my head haha

Answer 4

Our Hair bleaches from the sun but our skin is like an organ... and the heat burns it... hope this helps

Answer 5

idk science?

Answer 6

it doesn't in northern ireland, we have no sun

answer this

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...