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Sun 16 Jan, 2011 04:57 pm
I have heard a cat cant die from any for as their terminal velocity is not high enough to kill them, is this true?
I live fourth floor and have my cat ready, i need a definitive answer! lol joke (3rd floor)
@tommot2002,
Why don't you try first and see how you get on.
Don't forget to flap your arms.
Bon Voyage.
Maybe if you encase it in styrofoam it wouldn't plunge so much as float.
@tommot2002,
not sure about planes, but my mothers cat fell out of her third story window and was unharmed
@tommot2002,
I once read that statistically speaking, more cats are harmed from mid-level falls than higher level falls. The theory is that cats relax as they fall and are more likely to survive from being relaxed than during the initial few moments when they are struggling to orient themselves and are tense.
@rosborne979,
I've definitely read that opinion too rosborne, came from one of Dr Karl Kruzelniski (Australian science populist) books. Hunting....
Ah ha!
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf084/sf084b07.htm
Quote:"Why is it safer for a cat to fall from a 32-storey building than from a seven-storey building?
.....
"Just ask scientific and medical reporter Karl Kruszelnicki, whose theory is based on a study of 150 cats that plummeted from windows at different heights.
"Falling from 32 storeys, a cat had more time to work out a plan of action, because once it reached terminal velocity and stopped accelerating, it started to relax, he said in Sydney yesterday.
"Once the moggie reached top speed of 100 kmh and realised it was not speeding up any more, it spreadeagled its limbs in the perfect position for maximum wind resistance.
"'Once it reaches the ground, the cat just kisses the ground on all four paws simultaneously and the shock is absorbed,' Dr. Kruszelnicki told his bemused audience at the University of New South Wales during a talk organized by the Alumni Association.
"Of the 150 cats that fell from highrise buildings in New York over a five-month period, 10 per cent died, with the chances of survival rising with the distance of the fall."
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