I started wondering after reading the bottom part of the first answer here
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am6EuVGKzzy.qtbmH5E6xPzsy6IX?qid=20070520224622AACukLL&show=7#profile-info-YiGCSOF7aa
2007-05-20 19:25:32 · 8 answers · asked by Raien 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
before i give my comment, i want to give an advice..
please don't make a real experiment!
cats can survive long fall. but if it is more than its capabilities, it may have serious injury or even death..
this is because cats are so athletic that it can cushion its impact as soon as it lands by using its 4 legs. they do this by bending it like an absorber when landing.
it is true that cats can survive more from long fall rather than short fall. this is because it has enough time to position its body and estimate the velocity that it travels (sound really complicated when we are just talking about cats)..
it is possible for cats to jump from Taipei 101 and survive, only if it uses a parachute..
after a long fall (from Taipei 101) its velocity maybe toooo much for it to clear out when it lands..
2007-05-21 01:13:35 · answer #1 · answered by kish 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
After a certain height the cat will reach terminal velocity, so going higher won;t make any difference beyond that point. The terminal velocity for a cat is less that a human, and even humans have (rarely) survived parachute failures. But it would be risky, and at best the cat is likely to be seriously injured..
I think it would be more interesting to see what would happen to you if you were tossed you into an active volcano.
2007-05-21 04:28:58 · answer #2 · answered by tinkertailorcandlestickmaker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, a cat is more likely to die it it falls a short rather than a loarge distance. This is because it reaches terminal velocity, so its impact beyond a certain height is entirely independent of the height from which it falls. However, the time it has to rotate its body to land safely is not. If it falls a short distance it may fall badly and break its back.
2007-05-21 04:23:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cats can survive long free falls...
When the cat is dropped, it will curl its body. So its centre of mass will shift outside its body. According to law of conservation of angular momentum, the cat will begin to rotate. So some of its its kinetic energy will get converted to Rotational Kinetic Energy thereby reducing its linear speed. So cats can survive long falls...
2007-05-21 04:59:22 · answer #4 · answered by Purav Master 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A cat can survive any fall, it's the landing that hurts! My can hurt himself from a 10 foot fall. I doubt they would survive a 100mph crash.
2007-05-21 11:36:14 · answer #5 · answered by knashha 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No,they can only do that from so high,but,then they can't land on there feet if too high,so,then probably die.
2007-05-21 04:39:40 · answer #6 · answered by Life goes on... 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. But it would die after landing.
2007-05-21 04:20:48 · answer #7 · answered by blind_chameleon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont think it would live
2007-05-21 03:27:40 · answer #8 · answered by taymos13 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋