[thedoc (OP)]

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?

[Tim the Plumber]

1, Why is this in the wrong section?

2, They fall down and smash onto the floor when it stops. Splat.

[Colin2B]

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.

[Bored chemist]

It's not the fall that kills you- the ground does that.

[Ethos_]

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."

[chris]

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..."

[Colin2B]

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".

[jeffreyH]

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.