2007-01-06 20:51:05 · 11 answers · asked by chattermich 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
A bullet leaving the muzzle of an M-16 rifle has a momentum of 85 kg m/s, this will definitely kill you.
A penny, which weighs 2.35 grams (or 0.00235kg) would need to be travelling at 36,000 m/s to or almost 130,000 km/hour to achieve the same kind of momentum.
Assuming the terminal velocity of the penny in Earth's atmosphere to be around 100 m/s, the maximum momentum of the penny is 0.235 kg m/s.
A baseball travelling at 1.6 m/s (about 5.7 km/h or 3.6 mph) has the same momentum as the penny. It's unlikely that a baseball travelling at this speed will kill you.
I guess a penny might hit someone edge on (rather than flat), then the force would be more concentrated than in the baseball example, but it would seem that you would have to be pretty unlucky to suffer serious injury as a result.
Of course, this argument is unlikely to stand up in a court of law. You will certainly be found guilty of reckless behaviour likely to endanger life if you actually did this.
2007-01-07 01:10:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.
Its terminal velocity will be far too low to kill - almost certainly well below 100 mph (it would need to be more like 400 mph to do damage).
It would also reach its terminal velocity very quickly. For instance, a cat reaches its terminal velocity in about 7 stories, and the smaller things get the faster they reach terminal velocity. So how high the building is will not matter either.
2007-01-07 09:11:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, it will hurt like hell, but it will not kill you. every object has a terminal velocity, meaning it can only go so fast no matter how high you drop if from because of the air resistance acting against it. force equals mass times acceleration and since acceleration is always going to be constant (i.e. terminal velocity) the major factor is going to be mass. a coin does not have enough mass to kill you.
2007-01-07 05:19:37 · answer #3 · answered by Aaron 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure could. Anything traveling over 100 miles per hour can kill ya if it hits you a certain way.
2007-01-07 04:58:13 · answer #4 · answered by llloki00001 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the height of the building and the size of the coin.It may knock him unconcious but rarely kills as it depends on the point of which it hits
2007-01-07 05:02:10 · answer #5 · answered by ashwin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is unlikely but it could injure someone pretty badly. I think the terminal velocity it would reach would be around 140mph, so it would certainly hurt very very badly but i don't think it would be enough to penetrate the skull.
2007-01-07 06:23:24 · answer #6 · answered by Obelix 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, but the person will have a black and blue spot from the coin hitting the flesh
2007-01-07 11:55:26 · answer #7 · answered by Wicked 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to the show mythbusters, A penny will hurt, but it wont kill.
2007-01-07 04:59:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it definitely would i would'nt consider doing it if I were you (not to have anything on your conscience)
2007-01-07 06:05:21 · answer #9 · answered by Olly 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The passerby won't die, but your money will.
2007-01-07 17:08:02 · answer #10 · answered by Izela 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋