The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #100926   Message #2030292
Posted By: Amos
19-Apr-07 - 03:40 PM
Thread Name: BS: The physics of a fall
Subject: RE: BS: The physics of a fall
Had it been a free fall, it would have accelerated at 32 ft/sec per second of time falling. You were pretty close to the ground at the low end, but suppose you were moving at 7000 meters per hour, 116.6 m per minute, about 2m per sec. If your fall took .5 seconds, which seems reasonable, the increase would be about 4.9 m/sec, so assume your final velocity on impact was 6.9 m/sec.   

If I recall basic physics correctly, which is always problematical, kinetic energy = 1/2 mass * v^2. This would equate to 42.5 * 47.61 or about 2023 joules of energy. About 675 joules per square cm.

I hope John H will come check my work, though. Insult to nerves can sometimes cause reaction in a region rather than a single point of impact in my experience. I would be more inclined to attribute it to nerve insult and shock than to transmitted hydrostatic pressure.


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