Surviving an elevator accident

[Sponger15SB]

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no. they tested this on myth busters.

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amazing that people actually could believe this to be true that they actually had to test it on a TV show.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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I am assuming the whole in an object of motion that when it meets resistance you will continue going...If you jump I am certain you will still be driven to the bottom of the elevator so hard with the "centrifrugal force" <--- I know thats not it, but its the same concept of being in a car and hitting something. You will still be going forward from that whatever it is.

I'm no rocket scientist but I'm sure Patrick can provide better terms. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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I don't care to go into details on any of this except to say that you completely misunderstand centrifugal force.

Also, this elevator jumping thing won't work.

[jakethebake]

I had training on jumping from a moving vehicle/train a long time ago. We were trained to jump forward at a run. Obviously when you hit the ground, you couldn't be running as fast as you had been travelling in the vehicle. But you could reduce the difference enough to land safely.

[mmbt0ne]

You're going down pretty damn fast. What makes you think that you can create enough force in your legs to change your direction?

Also, the elevator is going to collapse when it hits, so all you'll be doing is jumping into what will crush down on you.

[KowCiller]

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was this question even serious?


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I'll admit it was semi serious. Obviously I didn't honestly think a person could survive by doing it, but I wasn't sure the precise reason why...I've never taken a physics class or anything, so I wanted to know why it wasn't possible.

KoW

[felson]

Yeah, this might work, if you could jump fast enough to equal the speed of the elevator falling down, which you can't. If you could, it would mean that you are roughly able to jump to a 10 story height or whatever height corresponds to the elevator's terminal velocity.

Even if you were that strong, the upward acceleration of that kind of jump is about equal to the downward acceleration of the crash. Regardless of your lower-body strength, your ankles are toast, and probably the rest of you too.

[MelchyBeau]

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I am assuming the whole in an object of motion that when it meets resistance you will continue going...If you jump I am certain you will still be driven to the bottom of the elevator so hard with the "centrifrugal force" <--- I know thats not it, but its the same concept of being in a car and hitting something. You will still be going forward from that whatever it is.


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centrifugal force is due to rotation. you aren't going to feel it in a car wreck or an elevator, unless it is spinning for some reason.

Melch

[Voltron87]

Jumping will not help you survive at all. It won't even help a little bit if the elevator is in a true freefall, as the force exerted by your legs will not be pushed back on, as the elevator floor cannot exert it. Its the "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction law", etc.

Imagine you are in an ice rink. The ice is covered in an oil slick, there is no friction. There is a block of ice (unattached to the floor) in the middle. If you push against it, you will not be able to push yourself backwards assuming there is no friction between the two surfaces. Analagous.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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centrifugal force is due to rotation.

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It's also not a real force. The only real force involved in these kinds of events is centripetal force. Here is a good explanation - read the post by Hyperreality.

[M2d]

I think you will actually move. the center of mass (btw you and the ice block) will stay the same, but you'll both move away from each other.

in the elevator thing, your jump will move you away from the elevator car, but, relative to the ground, you're screwed.