And it landed on someone's head, which one would kill that person?
2007-05-09 06:56:21 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
none of them could achieve more than their terminal velocity , the speed they would achieve through wind resistance would be VERY low, because the coins would 'tumble'.
If you wanted to kill someone that way, the best objects would be a pen or bowling ball.
The pen would go very fast (low wind resistance) and would concentrate the force of impact at a very narrow point.
The bowling ball would also kill someone because of its mass relative to wind resistance.
You can find an object's 'terminal velocity' by suspending the object on a string. Hang this out the window of your car and start driving. When the object is at a 45 degree angle look at your speedometer and that is the objects maximum rate of fall or it's terminal velocity.
if you imagine how each coin/pen/bowling ball would respond to this kind of experiment you will understand my answer.
2007-05-09 07:07:43 · answer #1 · answered by Hootie J 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
well, F=ma, where a=9.8m/s^2... the quarter is the most massive and therefore would strike the head with the greatest force assuming air resistance is approximately the same for the four objects (all have the same shape and somewhat close surface areas in the scheme of possible surface areas). I do know that a bullet shot straight up will come back down at a non-lethal velocity and it weighs somewhere in the range of a coin and is significantly less air resistant than the coin's shape. (A bullet shot at an angle is a very different story.) So, it might hurt to get hit by a falling coin, but I seriously doubt it could be lethal.
2007-05-09 07:20:20 · answer #2 · answered by ryanvnsn 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
None of these would kill that person. Unless that person and the Sears Tower were in a vacuum. Air resistance prevents the coins from getting up to a lethal speed.
2007-05-09 07:04:57 · answer #3 · answered by PoppaJ 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
none would kill, maybe bruise badly, due to air resistance there's something called terminal velocity, which is the fastest an object can free fall. Due to this the terminal velocity of each coin is not fast enough to kill!
2007-05-09 07:09:13 · answer #4 · answered by siiimonnn 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Not only is air resistance a factor.
How the coin is aligned when it hits the person is also a factor. Does the coin hit the person with it's maximum surface area or does it hit the person edge on?
The area over which the energy of momentum is distributed is also a factor.
.
2007-05-09 07:28:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
The penny would only accelerate until it hits its terminal velocity. The mythbusters did a show about this one and it's enough to sting, but it won't even break the skin.
2007-05-09 07:08:09 · answer #6 · answered by dismuhghettoname 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
They all fall at the acceleration rate (gravity), so given the distance fallen, they would all kill the person.
2007-05-09 07:04:09 · answer #7 · answered by LadyInRed 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
yes.. but there is no way on the top of the sears tower outside.. its inside and its all glass.
2007-05-09 07:04:52 · answer #8 · answered by answergiver 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
no, it reaches terminal velocity, which is not fast enough to kill anyone.
2007-05-09 07:04:16 · answer #9 · answered by jon_mac_usa_007 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋