wat would u do if u were in an elevator 55 miles up and were in freefall?

Question

no dumb answers

ur weightless so i would do flips and spins then i would take of my shirt and pants and my handy dandy tape and duck tape me 2 de ceiling

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure 55 miles above the earth is space. There would be no gravity and we would not fall to the earth, but rather orbit around it and then burn up once we hit the earths atmosphere.

Answer 2

Assuming I am in the same elevator with all the rest of you, I would watch the rest of doing all the crazy things, someone duct taping himself, someone duct taping her contact address, someone crying like a baby, someone doing flip-flops etc.. then after I am bored I would open the door, come out of the elevator, tear my clothes off and reveal the blue skin tight clothing and red boots and then carry the elevator down to earth safely in the midst of applause and awe of the onlookers.

Just to do a sanity check: 55 miles = 88 km = 88000 metres
In the absence of air resistance:
s = ½ g.t²
t = √(2s/g)
therefore t = √(2*88,000/9.8) = 134 seconds = 2 min 14 seconds
Extremely short time huh!

however, with air resistance:
Mg = ½ D.ρ.V².A
Where M is the mass of the falling elevator with all 10 of us inside , D is the drag coefficient of a blunt body, V is the terminal velocity, ρ is the air density, A is the area of the elevator facing the air and g is g.

size of elevator 8ft wide x 8ft deep x 10ft high
Lets convert to metric units
So A = 8x8=64 ft² = 5.8 m²
D = 2.0
ρ = 1.2 kg/m³
M (since there are some women and some men, lets say average weight 150 lbs and there seem to be 10 of us, also the elevator itself weighs about 1000 lbs, so altogether 2500 lbs = 1128 kg)
9 = 9.8m/s²

Therefore terminal velocity V = √(2.M.g/ρ.A.D)
V = 39 m/s
Time to reach this velocity from start
v = g.t
t = v /g = 4.06 secs
In the first 4 seconds we will have fallen (approx)
s = ½ g.t² = 80 metres.. about 269 ft, not a significant distance

So we will be falling at 39m/s (129 ft/s)
That would take us 88,000/39 = 2256 seconds... about 38 minutes.

hmm not so bad..

Note:
The density of air is not constant but varies with altitude, so it may be less than the value used at higher altitude. Also the value of g varies with distance from the earth's surface as defined by Newton's law of gravitation.

Answer 3

The same thing as if the elevator were 54 miles up and in freefall.

Come on, no dumb answers? Start asking intelligent questions.

Answer 4

Would gravity even affect you 55 miles up? I can't recall off the top of my head. I'd be screaming in irrational fear, I hate heights. Jot a goodbye note, borrow your duct tape and secure it w/ my contact info to the wall of the elevator, so they can ID me after the crash.

Answer 5

Your own answer neglects two things:

The certain destruction of the elevator means even if you stay at the top, it's still crushing you on impact.

Even without external impacts, the sudden stop at the end will probably give you enough internal injuries to do the job.

Answer 6

It is stupid to think that the impact will kill you. Air resistance will do th job well before that.So I would jump out and enjoy the view.

Answer 7

Say good byes to my loved ones

- I dont think you have time to do all flip flops

Answer 8

Truthfully, I would hope I died of a heart attack before I hit the ground.

Answer 9

This is no dumb answer to me. I would pray to God to forgive me,and remember me on Resurrection day.

Answer 10

i would start crying cuz im falling and im afraid of heights so i think i would die of a hart attack before i would hit the floor