"A dream is a wish your heart makes," Cinderella sings. (Video via Walt Disney Pictures)
A dream is a wish your heart makes, but if your heart wishes for glass slippers in order to go to the ball and dance with your destined prince — you're in for some sore feet.
Scientists calculated the force it would take to break the glass shoe, which, as it turns out, isn't much. They also determined the maximum heel height of the glass slipper to ensure Cinderella could safely dance the night away with Prince Charming.
"They're made of glass?" Cinderella asks.
"And you'll find they're really comfortable. Now, off you go!" replies her Fairy Godmother. (Video via Walt Disney Pictures)
Sure, they'd be comfortable — until they shattered all over your feet.
And it looks like Cinderella couldn't have done anything but stand perfectly still in those slippers. No dancing. No dashing away from the prince at the stroke of midnight. None of it. Movie over.
The researchers assumed Cinderella's foot was a U.K. size 4, which is a U.S. size 6. The heels would have to be no more than 1.15 cm, or less than half an inch, for her to run in them.
You can check out the numbers yourself in the Journal of Physics Special Topics. Thank you, scientists, for crushing our fairy tale dreams.
This video includes an image from Getty Images.
