Everyone has heard that if you drop a penny off the Empire State Building, it will kill the person it hits. Is there any truth to this?
On the surface, it makes sense because the Empire State Building is so high off the ground that the distance itself should be able to make the penny travel fast enough to be deadly. Now take into consideration the weight. The new pennies way about 2.5 grams, which is relatively light.
The lightness of the penny prevents it from reaching the necessary speed to kill someone according to How Stuff Works. They also say the penny tumbles when it falls, which negates it from “slicing” through the air like a bullet for example.
The combination of the lightness and the way it falls through the air prevents the penny from being deadly when dropped from a tall building like the Empire State Building.
Now I’m not condoning throwing anything off a building no matter how light it is, but this seems like just another myth your mom and dad told you to keep you from making them look bad in public.
Sources:
http://www.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_a_US_penny_weigh
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/threw-penny-off-the-empire-state-building.htm
I always thought this was true but now that I think about it, it’s somewhat hard to believe. I don’t think something so light could kill someone no matter how fast it may be going. This was a very interesting post though and it made me extremely curious. Here’s an article that talks some more about this idea – http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3131332
That’s so funny! I always thought this was a fact too but I guess it really is something our parents say to make sure we act okay in public. I wonder if any other coin being dropped off the Empire State Building would have a different impact. A quarter is heavier so maybe that would be able to really hurt someone. That would be something really interesting to study. http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/threw-penny-off-the-empire-state-building.htm
I found this really interesting! All this time I have thought dropping a penny from a high building could kill someone! People always make jokes about doing it and now I know the truth! Not that I have ever had the urge to do it, but now I know if it happens accidentally it won’t kill someone. I found a really funny youtube video about it all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxvMLoKRWg