Would you jump or burn?

[Militant]

in anything similar to the 9/11 situation, as boyiee pointed out, you die from the smoke inhalation before you burn.

Right, but I'm talking like that snuff video that was posted on here somewhere not too long ago, of the 2 dudes in mexico or whatever getting doused with gasoline.

[miokomioko]

I have a huge fear of heights, and I'd imagine by the time I'd have any ounce of courage to jump it would probably be too late anyway.

That's what creeps me out the most about this... all those photographs of people just standing there, half hanging out of the busted-out windows one million stories above ground. I bet more than a few of those people had height fears themselves. It also makes me wonder if some of the people who "jumped" might have been unintentionally pushed out by a mass of panicking people trying to get to the windows for air.

[Resulted]

for the troll jump- we need mythbusters to test that, I'd like to see it.

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...-elevator.html

IF AN ELEVATOR SUDDENLY FALLS, CAN YOU SURVIVE BY JUMPING AT THE LAST MINUTE?

elevator suddenly falls

Finding: BUSTED
Explanation: In 1945, an airplane collided with the Empire State Building, sending elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver on a 75-story plummet to the ground. Miraculously, Oliver made it out of the deadly ride alive, earning her the Guinness World Record for longest elevator fall survived. MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage wanted to know whether Oliver could've possibly saved herself by jumping immediately before the elevator hit the ground.

The MythBusters located an abandoned elevator and picked Buster the test dummy to take the plunge. Since dummies aren't exactly light on their feet, they positioned Buster on a spring-loaded cartridge that would allow him to "jump" at the right time. When the MythBusters cut the safety and counterweight cables on the elevator, the unbridled car dropped 92 feet at 51 miles (82 kilometers) per hour.

But even though Buster sprang off the floor at the right moment, he still hit the ground at a fatal speed and busted the myth.

According to the laws of physics, both the elevator car and Buster dropped at the same breakneck speed. In order to overcome that velocity and survive the impact, Buster would've had to have jumped up faster than the elevator was racing down.

Turns out Oliver didn't save herself by jumping, either. A pocket of air at the bottom of the Empire State Building's elevator shaft probably cushioned the car's landing.

[Boyiee]

in anything similar to the 9/11 situation, as boyiee pointed out, you die from the smoke inhalation before you burn.

And as I tried to make clear, smoke inhalation can be excruciating. In fact drowning and suffocating are too, although it doesn't last that long.

[Gredival]

For that troll-physics thing, you would need to jump while holding onto something with a significant amount of mass in order for your jump to not just accelerate the object downward... right?

Yes, a larger heavier object would make it easier to "jump" from it and not just move it down faster by extending your legs. Jumping on the ground works so well because the ground completely resists the downward pressure so it helps you springboard up. Jumping in midair like this, some pressure will be redirected to basically kicking the object down. The less mass the object you are riding on has, the less resistance you get, so the more you will kick the object vs. jump.

But the main issue is grip/contact. Separate objects tend to drift apart in free fall because they accelerate independently and heavier objects will fall faster. So you have to hold onto whatever it is, and the second you let go you will start to drift apart unless it's exactly the same weight/drag as you. That is primarily what would make it really difficult to truly jump in the sense of fully pushing off something.

And again the impossibility part comes in because you need to jump high enough/hard enough to offset your fall speed. If you're going down at 60mph, you basically need to jump up at 60mph so that at your peak you acquire a total velocity of 0 and you reset your fall speed. Well you don't need to TOTALLY offset your fall speed, just get it to survivable levels. But I highly doubt anyone can generate that much lift in a compromised jump.

[Jefe]

for the troll jump- we need mythbusters to test that, I'd like to see it.

What? Sir. Isaac already did that. The only forces acting on a free falling object are g and air drag, which is negligible since a person falling from that altitude is pretty much dead. So a person free falling is accelerating @ a rate of 9.8 m/s^2, that means you move about 10 metres per second: 1 sec. = 10 m/s, 2 sec. = 20 m/s, and so on. Hopping off the rooftop/platform/elevator just before it hits the ground ain't gonna save anybody's ass, unless it's a short fall or somehow you have a jet pack and or red bull to overcome g.

[archibaldcrane]

Separate objects tend to drift apart in free fall because they accelerate independently and heavier objects will fall faster.

Interesting, tell me more about how gravity works.

Spoiler: show

a marble will fall faster than a bowling ball

[hey]

tl;dr, if you're jumping from third story, and don't want to break any bones, bring a chair?

Even if it doesn't allow you to survive 60 story falls, still could potentially be a useful trick for survivable falls.

[archibaldcrane]

tl;dr, if you're jumping from third story, and don't want to break any bones, bring a chair?

no

[Qalbert]

wait people actual fall for troll physics?

[Gredival]

Interesting, tell me more about how gravity works.

Spoiler: show

a marble will fall faster than a bowling ball

Someone actually asked if the troll physics worked so I replied? It's not a good teaching technique to make implicit assumptions when you are unsure of the audience's mastery of the subject material.

[Ashmada]

Would that even work? lol

Successful troll is successful.

[Hyan]

Oh how I wish that'd be true.

[Ksandra]

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...-elevator.html

So what accounts for any difference between an elevator and a chair? Since people want to say it would work. Because buster wasn't holding the elevator? Because he was actually inside it? not sure if this is really busting the chair idea.

[Draylo]

Oh how I wish that'd be true.

ok

[miokomioko]

The chair makes absolutely no sense because it has such little mass that when you would go to jump "off" of it, you would be just kicking it downwards and not slowing yourself down any noticeable amount. The only way you could really affect your downward velocity is if you were traveling perfectly downwards (not flipping/tumbling) along with something massive like a large slab of concrete. At least that way you would have some affect on your fall (however tiny it may be)...

The ultimate problem is that the average human's jump velocity is not going to turn your body's terminal velocity (~120mph) into something any amount more survivable... on top of the fact that you'll be immediately landing on whatever you tried to use. lol @ at landing on a chair at 120mph.

[Kaylia]

Yes, a larger heavier object would make it easier to "jump" from it and not just move it down faster by extending your legs. Jumping on the ground works so well because the ground completely resists the downward pressure so it helps you springboard up. Jumping in midair like this, some pressure will be redirected to basically kicking the object down. The less mass the object you are riding on has, the less resistance you get, so the more you will kick the object vs. jump.

But the main issue is grip/contact. Separate objects tend to drift apart in free fall because they accelerate independently and heavier objects will fall faster. So you have to hold onto whatever it is, and the second you let go you will start to drift apart unless it's exactly the same weight/drag as you. That is primarily what would make it really difficult to truly jump in the sense of fully pushing off something.

And again the impossibility part comes in because you need to jump high enough/hard enough to offset your fall speed. If you're going down at 60mph, you basically need to jump up at 60mph so that at your peak you acquire a total velocity of 0 and you reset your fall speed. Well you don't need to TOTALLY offset your fall speed, just get it to survivable levels. But I highly doubt anyone can generate that much lift in a compromised jump.

Please, tell me you were trolling...

The chair makes absolutely no sense because it has such little mass that when you would go to jump "off" of it, you would be just kicking it downwards and not slowing yourself down any noticeable amount. The only way you could really affect your downward velocity is if you were traveling perfectly downwards (not flipping/tumbling) along with something massive like a large slab of concrete. At least that way you would have some affect on your fall (however tiny it may be)...

Jumping off the chair is going to slow down your fall no matter what. You could even stop the fall completely if you were giving the chair enough downward acceleration (in this case, it would require the same strength as it takes to jump up 80 floors). The only issue is that your body cannot produce such acceleration (our legs let us jump a few feet in optimal situation). And even if you were able of such feat, doing this wouldn't be better than hitting the ground at max speed (your body is still going to suffer an absurd G force when you stop your fall)

[hey]

the only issue is that your body cannot produce such strength, and even if you did, it wouldn't be better than hitting the ground at max speed (your body is still going to suffer an absurd G force when you stop your fall)

So what you are saying is to bring 3 chairs, then slow your fall down a bit on the first, get on the second, do the same, then jump off the third before you hit the ground?

Got it.

[Draylo]

Take everyone's clothes, tie them together and build a giant parachute.

[Fiddle Sticks]

Would that even work? lol

To some extent. I have used the method on ladders a couple times, no higher than a story and a half. I was always taught by my boss, if the ladders falls, ride it to the bottom and then jump. It worked for me twice.