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No, a penny falling from the Empire State Building cannot kill a pedestrian. It is unlikely to even penetrate the skin of a pedestrian.
When an object falls to earth it gains speed. It eventually gains so much speed that it doesn't accelerate anymore, this is called Terminal Velocity.
If a human were to jump off a plane he would accelerate to his terminal velocity. If you take the mass of an average grown human, his terminal velocity would be about 100 something miles per hour. But the mass of a penny is only about 1 gram, so its terminal velocity would only be about 56mph. That means that the penny would accelerate to this speed and then it won't accelerate any more and it will maintain this current speed.
You also have to take into consideration that on a building as high as the Empire State Building wind rushes up the sides so your measly little penny would simply be blown away.
In the slim chance that it would hit a pedestrian, it would more than likely sting but he would be able to walk away and live another day. It is unlikely that the penny would even penetrate the skin of the human.
Even though the urban legend might not be true, it's really not recommended that you try it out yourself. The Empire State Building authorities have always insisted that nobody has ever dropped such an item from the top of the building, although this cannot be confirmed.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoUrban myths to the contrary, no. Objects falling through AIR reach a maximum speed that is limited by air resistance, A penny will tumble, and reach a max speed that, when combined with it's weight, is too low to kill a person.
Calculations at the link show that a penny may strike with a speed of about 60 mph (23 mph if it falls flat, 75 mph if it falls on edge). Overall this produces an impact force of about 1 ft/lb (like pound of butter falling 1 foot and hitting your head). Messy (if the butter is soft) but not deadly.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoNo - the penny simply doesn't have enough mass to be lethal. It will achieve terminal velocity in it's fall (125 MPH) and hitting someone on top of the head at that speed will make them yell, no question. But kill? No.
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoNo, a dropped coin from the empire state building will not a person on the ground if the coin hits him.
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a penny dropped from the top of the empire state building takes 9.2 seconds to reach the street what is the height of the building?
The height of the building at the 102nd floor is 381 metres. The penny is irrelevant.
A penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building takes 9.2 seconds to reach the street What is the height of the building?
The height of the building at the 102nd floor is 381 metres. The penny is irrelevant.
If you drop a penny from the top of the Empire State Building how far into the cement will it go?
The air resistance would slow it down so much that it probably wouldn't even leave a mark on the sidewalk. The popular myth that a penny dropped from the Empire State Building could kill someone is just that: a myth. See the Related Question below for more details.
Is it possible to crack the sidewalk by dropping a penny from the top of the Empire State Building?
no
How fast will a penny go if it is thrown off the Empire State Building?
It could reach up to 100 mph, with a regular penny.
If you drop a penny off the top of the Empire State Building will it go through the center of the earth?
No. The air resistance would slow it down so much that it probably wouldn't even leave a mark on the sidewalk. The popular myth that a penny dropped from the Empire State Building could kill someone is just that: a myth. See the Related Question below for more details.
Does a penny break concrete when dropped from the tallest building in the world?
Its possible but it probably won't happen.......
What can a do with 85 pounds?
it depends what your using all that fore, either fun or evil. have some fun and drop a penny off the empire state building lmfao!!
What would happen if you dropped a penny off the Empire State Building and it made it to the ground?
If you drop a penny off the Empire State Building, it falls at its own terminal velocity after falling about 200+ metres (that's a guess but it's around 200). A penny's terminal velocity is roughly half of a falling person's terminal velocity. A falling skydiver will reach a maximum of around 130mph, so a penny will fall at approximately 65mph.
If you throw a penny off the empire states building how long will it take to hit the ground?
Acceleration from gravity is 9.8 m/s2 or 32.2 ft/s2. The Empire State Building is 381 meters/1,250 feet tall. So if we throw a penny off the Empire State Building, its speed would increase by 9.8m/32.2ft every second. We will count every second's increasing speed. 9.8m for the first second. 32.2ft for the first second. We keep adding 9.8m to the speed for every second that passes. We keep adding 32.2ft to the speed for every second that passes. On the eighth second, the penny will have passed 352.8m or 1157.5ft. The current speed for the ball is 78.4 m/s or 257.2 ft/s. We increase that by half of 9.8 m/s or half of 32.2 ft/s (4.9 m/s and 16.1 ft/s). The speed of the penny will now be 83.3 m/s or 273.3 ft/s. There is 28.2m or 92.5ft. This value divided by the current speed is 0.34. This will be the seconds left before impact on the ground. 8 + 0.34 = 8.34 It will take a penny 8.34 seconds to hit the ground when dropped from the Empire State Building. Terminal Velocity would slow it down much before it reached that point.
If you drop a pennie of the top of the Empire State Building can it go right through someones body?
yes because of gravity it causes the penny to reach maxemon velocity and crush any thing in its way.
What building do you find on the back of a penny?
The building on the back of a US penny is the Lincoln Memorial.
