Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 25/02/2016 16:50:01
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Maarten Pieterse asked the Naked Scientists:
What happen to a person in a container if the container falls a 100 metre e.g. the miners which were trapped in a container in the Lilly Mine and fell some distance?
What do you think?
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1, Why is this in the wrong section?
2, They fall down and smash onto the floor when it stops. Splat.
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It all depends how they fall.
If the container is held by a crane and the cable fails then as Tim says "splat".
If the container is a lift in a shaft, most have safety brakes which lock against the sides of the shaft and slow the fall to a no-splat speed.
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It's not the fall that kills you- the ground does that.
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Absolutely,..........
We've all heard the public safety add which says: "It's speed that kills."
I view things much differently myself............
"It's not speed that kills, it's the sudden and abrupt stop that causes all the damage."
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I had a graphical computer adventure once in which, if one fell off a high walkway and went splat, it would declare you had "suffered severe deceleration trauma..."
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I had a graphical computer adventure once in which, if one fell off a high walkway and went splat, it would declare you had "suffered severe deceleration trauma..."
Stricktly speaking it should have preceeded that with "you are suffering a severe acceleration trauma".
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It all depends upon the environment that the fall is taking place in. Air resistance due to air pressure could be a factor. Any friction applied to the falling container is another factor. In extreme environments tidal forces may also play a part.