If somebody falls from a great height, does the person die from the fall or from the impact?

Answer 1

The true answer is "yes"...the fall or the impact.

From a great height, a person can die of the lack of oxygen or hypothermia (freezing) long before the impact. But if she is lucky enough to survive those things while falling, the impact is likely to finish the job.

The terminal velocity of a falling person is roughly 176 ft/sec (120 mph). If a pilot ejects from a fighter at 45,000 ft., she will take a little more than t = h/v = 45000/176 ~ 300 sec or roughly 5 minutes to fall to impact. Time to impact will be more than 5 min because that pilot will not actually reach 120 mph until some time after ejecting. At first her falling velocity will be less, which means she'll spend more time in the upper half of her ejection altitude than in the lower half.

In the first few minutes of that fall, while above 20,000 feet, our hapless pilot could either freeze or asphyxiate. And, as luck would have it, there could be updrafts to keep her aloft even longer than the 3-4 min she would otherwise be above 20,000 feet where it's freezing cold and the oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for very long.

So, to be honest, the velocity of the fall will not kill a person who can withstand 120 mph winds (people often survive 120 mph hurricanes for example). Those winds, generated by the velocity of the fall, would buffet the person around, but they would not kill her in all likelihood. But the lack of oxygen or freezing cold at "great height" are potential killers.

And then the impact...there are stories of pilots bailing out of their aircraft and surviving the impact after their parachutes failed to open. But these are rare events and they usually occur under special circumstances (like a freshly plowed field of very soft, impact cushioning soil). Bottom line, if the lack of oxygen and freezing don't get the person, the impact most likely will.

Answer 2

Although there have been theories about acceleration being so great that you suffocate, or that you fall so long you die from fright. None of these theories hold up. The impact with the earth or other solid body is what kills you. If you could fall for a period of greater than three days, I suppose it would be possible to die from starvation on the way down.

Answer 3

They might pass out from the fall, but they die from the impact.♥

Answer 4

Any skydiver will tell you that falling won't kill you. You accelerate to terminal velocity (weightless feeling in your gut). Then it just feels like you're floating on an air pillow when the air drag catches up to gravity. So unless you have a cyanide pill handy or pass out or have a heart attack, you'll be alive right up to the splat.

If you fell from a high enough altitude, the lack of oxygen and/or the cold might aid in the passing out process. Boy it would sure suck, though, if you came to just before landing!

Answer 5

I would have to say impact. Nothing is happening to them when they are falling. It's like sky diving. No one is hurt from the falling, unless there was a mishap. It is when impact is made that damage can occur that may kill someone.

Answer 6

Impact.. Just wanna share.. I've worked in the Civil Defence as my National Service.. And have saw many cases of this.. People who die from jumping off building is.. wow.. not like tv show where their family member still can hug their body and cry.. but the body is kinda like.. squashed..

Answer 7

Usually the impact. There is a possibility that the fright of falling could cause a stroke or heart attack that might cause death before the impact.

Answer 8

Many people try to commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. There are documented cases of people surviving the jump. That is clear evidence that the fright from the fall does not kill.

Answer 9

It relies upon on the dimensions of the spider. as an occasion, if say a Mexican pink Kneed tarantula exchange into dropped or fell off a kitchen or eating room table onto a tiled floor (or different stressful floor) then it may better than probably chop up it abdomen and die. it is conceivable to assist them to recover from such an harm by using employing steristrips to close the wound besides the undeniable fact that it may nonetheless be probably to die after some days. Now if the spider exchange into an hassle-free sized homestead spider then certainly one of those fall exchange into have not got any effects in any respect. considering that spider have not got a skeleton they have not got any bones to interrupt. For them to enhance they ought to shed their entire outer dermis, inclusive of the fangs. whilst they have executed this they are at their maximum vulnerable because it takes countless hours for his or her new 'dermis' to harden. Gosh i actually ought to bypass on for hours approximately spiders. yet do not trouble I won't. I purely discover them attractive. you be attentive to from time to time you will detect a cobweb interior the nook of your room? from time to time there will be what feels like a lifeless spider in it. properly fairly lots, if not maximum, of the time, it fairly is fairly a shed spider dermis which it has left interior the internet. in case you wanna be attentive to something alse approximately spiders, you may digital mail me!! Sorry for waffling!

Answer 10

Ever hear of sky divers? They do it all the time with no harm. Falling doesn't hurt. But that sudden stop at the bottom is a real killer.