Is it true that if you drop a penny off the Empire state building and hits someone's head, can it kill them?

Question

Is it true that if you drop a penny off the Empire state building and hits someone's head, can it kill them???

ok if there were no winds...

Answer 1

No. I'll tell you why. All objects no matter what their mass will all fall at the same speed of about 32 ft/sec squared. The Empire State building is about 1200 ft high so it can be calculated that a penny if dropped will accelerate to about 279 ft/s (190 mph) when it hit the ground IN A VACUUM! That's the most important piece to this question. Because we obviously live in an atmosphere there would be extensive drag on the penny and it would actually stop accelerating (reach a terminal velocity). I don't know exactly what type of drag a penny would have but most objects reach a terminal velocity within a few seconds. So my guess the penny would only be traveling about 25-30mph. It's mass is about 2.5 grams. A 2.5g object traveling at a speed of 25-30 mph would feel like a light tap on the head. If your question were true than anyone that got caught in a pebble size hail storm would be killed. Even a piece of hail falling from thousands of feet only sting slightly.

Answer 2

The empire state building is 381 metres high. This is more than enough time for a penny to reach terminal velocity. If the the penny were to then hit someone on the head it would more than certainly kill them from the impact. More to the point, why would you have a penny in the USA?

Answer 3

The show "Myth Busters" had an episode on this myth. I believe that it would have to land just perfectly on the penny's side, in order to do any damage. So, the likelihood of a penny being dropped off the empire state building, would not kill someone if it were to land on their head.

Answer 4

No. Not only will air resistance negate the force the penny will acquire, but all falling objects reach a maximum speed at some point, and the penny would hit this before gaining the speed necessary to kill someone on impact.

Answer 5

If you take a coin and find a tall stair case (like the ones at MIT) and toss the cone with a spin, it will curve like a baseball, normally never getting beyond about 3 stories down before hooking under onto the lower floor. If by working hard you spin it backward, it will curve away and reach a rather low terminal velocity. If you just drop it flat, it will flutter and then start to spin. If you toss it out vertically, spinning so it is on edge, it starts to fall more quickly, but is unstable and sails off in a flat arc like a frisby and start spinning.

Answer 6

No, they figured this out on myth busters. They said that it could cause a significant fracture or bruise on the human head but that because it is so small and because a human would push back at the penny with equal and opposite force, it could not kill a human being.

Answer 7

I don't think it can. A penny is a penny. It doesn't weigh much even if dropped from the highest point. So in my opinion it can't kill anyone.

Answer 8

Doubtful. Were there no air resistance, yes, but there is quite a lot, and the terminal velocity of a penny is not likely high enough to cause serious injury.

Answer 9

No it's not true. The terminal velocity of a penny is not fast enough to seriously injure a person.

Mythbusters also tested this month several years ago and busted it.

Answer 10

I was told that same thing, only I was standing on the the roof of the world trade centre, back in 1978. So I think It's
TRUE, so don't do it.