Do you think you could fall in an elevator and before it hits the gound you jump up and survive?

Question

I reckon not cos if you were falling @ 40mph you would have to jump up at 40mph to be at zero

The elevator has a mass and if you are falling with it you can definatly push of it a bit chrisbowe

The air resistance beneath the elevator would mean you touch the floor cos there is no air resistance on you. you keep accelerating.
My question really is can ahuman jump up hard enough.
I know he will be kicking the elevator down at the same time but it is heavier then he and he should move up more than the elevator moves down relative to the both of them falling

Answer 1

I think that if you jumped at the right moment it might be possible. If the elevator is falling freely, then you, also, would be in free fall. The worst damage to you would be if you were in contact with the elevator when it almost instantly decelerates on hitting the ground. If you jumped before then, you would, at least minimise the speed with which you hit the ground, because your downward acceleration would equal that of the elevator LESS the acceleration you could manage by pushing off from the floor. If you jumped too soon, though, you might hit your head on the roof of the elevator before falling full whump on the floor!

I also considered the possibility of lying spreadeagled on the floor. That would probably also minimise the damage, depending on how fast the elevator was falling.

It is likely that the elevator would accelerate until it reached a steady speed due to air resistance in the shaft. The human body in free fall in an unenclosed space is said to reach a speed of 120 mph and no more. An elevator in an enclosed shaft would probably fall considerably slower than that because the air would be compressed below it and there would only be limited space for it to flow round the sides.

After a little further research (see link below), it seems that a competent athlete can achieve a height of about 40 cm in a standing jump. One could calculate from that the speed with which one's centre of gravity would be travelling relative to the elevator and therefore what would happen if the elevator suddenly decelerated at the moment of impact.

Answer 2

You sometimes hear that you should jump immediately before the elevator crashes, so you would be "floating" at the second of impact. Would it work? Nah. Even if you could perfectly time such a leap, it wouldn't help. Let's say you and the elevator are falling at 100 MPH. When you jump up in the elevator, you would still be going about 100MPH. You would hit the ground at 100MPH, just like the elevator. That's gonna hurt!
Your best bet would be to lie flat on the floor. This would stabilize you and spread out the force of the impact - so that no single part of your body would take the brunt of the blow. But, it's still gonna hurt!
If the safeties failed, you would be plummeting rapidly, but you wouldn't quite be in a free fall. Friction from the rails along the shaft and pressure from the air underneath the car would slow the car down considerably (you would feel lighter than normal though). On impact, the car would stop and you would keep going, slamming you into the floor.

Answer 3

If you jumped, you would still be falling, and so would still hit the ground at nearly 40mph.

If the elevator is falling, both you and it are free falling, so you don't have anything to actually push against in order to make the jump. You might be able to push yourself away from the floor, and evben hit the roof, but you will still be dropping at pretty much the same speed, and as soon as you hit the roof you are going at 40mph again.

The speed you are dropping increases constantly due to gravity. Even in normal circumstances, you can't jump upwards fast enough to counteract the downwards momentum. So it is still impossibly. What you need is space, to gradually slow down and a rocket backpack, that you could fire off to counteract it, or a parachute!!

Answer 4

Unfortunately, this would not save you. The reason is actually quite simple and fundamental.

First consider what would kill you if you did not jump: you are travelling at a very rapid speed, and when you hit the ground the rapid (almost instantaneous) deceleration will cause stresses in your body that will damage it irreparably. It is this deceleration that will be fatal and must be avoided.

If you were able to jump prior to impact such that you had no downward speed relative to the ground, then you must still have undergone this deceleration. Regardless of whether the deceleration was caused by you hitting the ground or by you jumping, the effects would be equally damaging to your body.

What would save you is if you could stretch your change in speed over a longer time. The deceleration (which is change in speed divided by change in time) would then be less and (hopefully) would not cause your body harm. A real-life example is the crumple zones in your car: in a collision they allow your car to decelerate slower, protecting you from harm.

Answer 5

It probably depends on how far the evelator is falling from.. a few stories, it's possible to survive. Anything greater than that, I'd be highly doubtful that jumping at the right moment could save you if you're falling from a great height.

Answer 6

I dont think so. You wouldnt be able to jump at all because when the elevator falls your feet would leave the floor. Try holding a marble in an open hand, now drop your hand real fast. Ta da

Answer 7

The chances of even being able to try this is highly unlikely Elevators have safety brakes and wedges which as well as the emergency springs in the well to act as shock absorbers. But its like when a bomb is dropped from an aircraft it strikes directly under the plane as it is still going forward from the plane.

Answer 8

No you couldn't. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you were to jump at 40mph (theoreticly) it would propel the lift down faster. As its in freefall, what would you be propelling yourself from, as there wouldnt be a force to push off against. Often thought the same though haha

Answer 9

Sure, if you are Superman. Even if you are not, hopefully it is an elevator with emergency friction brakes that apply if the elevator is going too fast. Or, as previously mentioned, the fall is less than 3m or so.

Answer 10

If you could time it exactly you possibly could, because you are travelling at the same speed as the elevator, all objects fall at the same speed don't they. So if you could time your jump exactly before the elevator hit the bottom you could possibly survive.