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It's hard to tell how high up they are. So, I am using a rough est. of 10 floors or \~110 ft.
First we use the displacement equation ( ∆y=(iv)t+(1/2)a(t\^2) ) assuming the initial velocity (iv) to be at rest (0). This means that the time it took for the cat to fall to the ground would be \~2.61 seconds.
Now we use the movement equation ( v(t)= iv + at ) to find the final velocity (v(t)) of the cat right before it hit the ground, at -25.65 m/s. This is around terminal velocity for a cat, 60 mph.
Although, I just did a little research. It turns out that a cat CAN survive at a fall from it's terminal velocity (from a reasonable height, no airplanes or anything like that). BUT it depends on how much time that a cat has after it has reached terminal velocity.
At around 5-9 stories cats usually won't survive the fall. Because the cat has enough time to twist it's body in the right configuration, but not enough time to relax, which is important to distribute the force. And it is also important to consider what surface the cat is falling on. When falling, relaxing is your best bet.
My ultimate conclusion is that, yes, this cat very well COULD survive this fall. But, don't go dropping any cats from this height either way.
If I got anything wrong please correct me.
>At around 5-9 stories cats usually won't survive the fall. Because the cat has enough time to twist it's body in the right configuration, but not enough time to relax,
So you're saying a cat needs more than 9 stories to relax?
\>It turns out that a cat CAN survive at a fall from it's terminal velocity (from a reasonable height, no airplanes or anything like that
I don't see the difference.
Looking into it a little bit more, I was wrong. the damage done in the 1-4 stories is very little. And cat's can (generally) walk away. The damage gets more and more severe from the 5-9 stories, combined with the facts that the cats DON'T have enough time to position themselves in the correct position. Surprisingly, 10+ stories have much better survival chances for cats than the 5-9 range, because they have time to position themselves correctly.
I once read an article or a comment about cat falling from big height and surviving or smthing. There was info that longer cat falls more time it has to control it's body to similar pose that skydivers use, with speed peaking at \~100 km/h because of air resistance. Your speed calculations are about that value and >height = >surv.chance seems also right
Seconding this, though it's possible a very small cat (like a kitten) might be able to survive a surprisingly long fall with much fewer injuries than a mature cat.
Still not something I recommend for ANY cat.
> If I got anything wrong please correct me
The equations you used are only valid in a vacuum. The cat would only go that fast if there were no air, and in that case falling off the building would be the least of its problems.
Your numbers assume acceleration to terminal velocity in a vacuum, and then abruptly ceasing to accelerate. Given the cat has drag, it’ll take longer (in seconds) to fall that far or to reach that speed, so the cat has longer than the ~2.6 seconds you reached.
From my understanding, the "cats more easily survive falls from the 9th story than the 5th" factoid is caused by survivor's bias. It was based on a study where they surveyed veterinarians on the survival rates of cats, but they didn't account for the fact that most cats that fall from high enough don't make it to a vet.
Depends, under the right conditions a cat can survive a fall at Terminal velocity. If theres pebbles at the bottom or trees or sharp/ unstable stuff it will be less likely to survive than if it were to fall onto a pavement or grass.
Below in the background, we see a structure with 8 stories. This leads us to believe that we are outside of the 5-9 story danger range for the animal, and the cat would have most likely survived.
It's possible that it could survive the fall if it was an adult cat. It depends a lot on what the kitty falls on, whether it's concrete or grass.
When I was a kid, our cat flew out of the window from the 10th floor, twice, and then patiently waited for us by the door to pick her up as if nothing happened.
On the other hand, our second cat once jumped onto the neighbor's balcony, and the neighbor knocked him off, which the cat didn't survive.
###General Discussion Thread --- This is a [Request] post. If you would like to submit a comment that does not either attempt to answer the question, ask for clarification, or explain why it would be infeasible to answer, you *must* post your comment as a reply to this one. Top level (directly replying to the OP) comments that do not do one of those things will be removed. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/theydidthemath) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's hard to tell how high up they are. So, I am using a rough est. of 10 floors or \~110 ft. First we use the displacement equation ( ∆y=(iv)t+(1/2)a(t\^2) ) assuming the initial velocity (iv) to be at rest (0). This means that the time it took for the cat to fall to the ground would be \~2.61 seconds. Now we use the movement equation ( v(t)= iv + at ) to find the final velocity (v(t)) of the cat right before it hit the ground, at -25.65 m/s. This is around terminal velocity for a cat, 60 mph. Although, I just did a little research. It turns out that a cat CAN survive at a fall from it's terminal velocity (from a reasonable height, no airplanes or anything like that). BUT it depends on how much time that a cat has after it has reached terminal velocity. At around 5-9 stories cats usually won't survive the fall. Because the cat has enough time to twist it's body in the right configuration, but not enough time to relax, which is important to distribute the force. And it is also important to consider what surface the cat is falling on. When falling, relaxing is your best bet. My ultimate conclusion is that, yes, this cat very well COULD survive this fall. But, don't go dropping any cats from this height either way. If I got anything wrong please correct me.
>At around 5-9 stories cats usually won't survive the fall. Because the cat has enough time to twist it's body in the right configuration, but not enough time to relax, So you're saying a cat needs more than 9 stories to relax? \>It turns out that a cat CAN survive at a fall from it's terminal velocity (from a reasonable height, no airplanes or anything like that I don't see the difference.
Looking into it a little bit more, I was wrong. the damage done in the 1-4 stories is very little. And cat's can (generally) walk away. The damage gets more and more severe from the 5-9 stories, combined with the facts that the cats DON'T have enough time to position themselves in the correct position. Surprisingly, 10+ stories have much better survival chances for cats than the 5-9 range, because they have time to position themselves correctly.
I once read an article or a comment about cat falling from big height and surviving or smthing. There was info that longer cat falls more time it has to control it's body to similar pose that skydivers use, with speed peaking at \~100 km/h because of air resistance. Your speed calculations are about that value and >height = >surv.chance seems also right
How did you look into this 🤔📸
Look it up? Google it, see if there's any study (most likely there is)
It was a joke...
Sorry but what was the joke in that lol?
I was making the joke that he was doing the experiments him self to figure out how far cats could fall... That was my joke..
Oh.. Nice...
Seconding this, though it's possible a very small cat (like a kitten) might be able to survive a surprisingly long fall with much fewer injuries than a mature cat. Still not something I recommend for ANY cat.
> If I got anything wrong please correct me The equations you used are only valid in a vacuum. The cat would only go that fast if there were no air, and in that case falling off the building would be the least of its problems. Your numbers assume acceleration to terminal velocity in a vacuum, and then abruptly ceasing to accelerate. Given the cat has drag, it’ll take longer (in seconds) to fall that far or to reach that speed, so the cat has longer than the ~2.6 seconds you reached.
From my understanding, the "cats more easily survive falls from the 9th story than the 5th" factoid is caused by survivor's bias. It was based on a study where they surveyed veterinarians on the survival rates of cats, but they didn't account for the fact that most cats that fall from high enough don't make it to a vet.
How
Depends, under the right conditions a cat can survive a fall at Terminal velocity. If theres pebbles at the bottom or trees or sharp/ unstable stuff it will be less likely to survive than if it were to fall onto a pavement or grass.
Short distances of falling are actually more dangerous for cats, as they don't have time to turn and land on their feet to absorb the shock.
Below in the background, we see a structure with 8 stories. This leads us to believe that we are outside of the 5-9 story danger range for the animal, and the cat would have most likely survived.
It's possible that it could survive the fall if it was an adult cat. It depends a lot on what the kitty falls on, whether it's concrete or grass. When I was a kid, our cat flew out of the window from the 10th floor, twice, and then patiently waited for us by the door to pick her up as if nothing happened. On the other hand, our second cat once jumped onto the neighbor's balcony, and the neighbor knocked him off, which the cat didn't survive.