Who would be more likely to survive a 10 storey drop; a mouse or a hippo?

Question

Answer me that you madcap physicists!

Engineer ... Engineer. Don't you know that the correct spelling is with an 'e'. Let me give quick list of words that you would probably misspell:
Colour
Defence
Analyse
…

Answer 1

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a joke, but obviously a mouse has far more chance of walking away from such a fall. A hippo would probably explode upon impact. There are several reasons why this is, the first being that the mouse, having a high surface-to-weight ratio, will have a slower terminal velocity than the hippo. There's also the survivability of the impact itself, and, once again, a small mouse is quite strong relative to its own size than a hippo, the same reason why ants are able to carry enormous loads relative to their size. A hippo would never stand a chance.

Answer 2

Probably a mouse. The smaller an object the slower it falls because it's terminal velocity is less than that of a hippos. I know for a fact that an Ant can survive a 10 story fall because of the above fact. Wikipedia shows the fact that terminal velocity is dependent on weight which means the hippo will fall faster than the mouse. Though I agree with dr. sandie neither stands much of a chance though the physics says the mouse has the edge in fallling slower.

Answer 3

Ignoring anatomical differences, the mouse is more likely to survive judging purely on the force exerted on it by the ground upon landing.

The force created on the unfortunate creature is called "impulse", the change in the momentum of an object. This is determined by:

Impulse = Force * Change in Time

They obviously fall at the same rate; t must be equal. It remains that Force must be different.

Recall that Force = Mass * Acceleration. The mass of the hippo is obviously much greater, thus its impulse on impact greater.

It may be argued, from a kinematic view, that they have equal chances for survival, since they fall at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time. That is, however, a misconception, since it ignores momentum. A bowling ball rolling at the same rate of as a tennis ball can deal a good deal more damage.

Answer 4

Mouse.
Air resistance would play much more of a part in slowing a mouse than a hippo. The impact forces on the bones wouldn't be as many times more than the normal in a mouse as they'd be in a hippo.


(& "story" doesn't have an "e")

Answer 5

The mouse.

It's relative, the rat, has been known to survive easily a 5 story (storey) drop.

Even if they fell at the same rate, the hippo would hit with many, many times the impact force, by virtue of its almost infinitly greater mass. It would likely sustain conciderable internal damage, if it didn't actually split open from the impact.

Answer 6

um it's most likely that neither would survive, but if you really want to know i would say the hippo. the mouse wouldnt survive it all going at that speed. like a penny being dropped off from the eiffel tower, or the pentagon, or any high building, would go right through a person.

Answer 7

Research has shown that animals with lower body weight to surface area have a much higher chance of surviving falls, so the mouse is better off.

Answer 8

A mouse. And anyone standing underneath. No so much as the hippo's landing pad.

Answer 9

I would say the mouse because not only are they lighter than hippos but they're bones are so flexible that they would probably bounce right back up.

Answer 10

i would say a mouse cuz a hippo has more weight causing gravity to bring the down faster than a nouse. plus if they tried to hold onto anthing the gravity would be to stong form the hippo to whereas a mouse could easily hod onto sometihing if they tried.