Browse content similar to If You Threw a Coin Off a Skyscraper Would it Split Someone in Two?. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hi, everybody and welcome to Science Fiction, | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
the show where we take all your misconceptions about science... | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
And make them disappear completely. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:14 | |
Today's question, please, BUD E. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
HE COUGHS | 0:00:18 | 0:00:19 | |
Oh, hold on there, love. Coming down with a bit of a virus, I think. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
Today's question comes from Benny in Letterkenny. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:26 | |
Ah, Benny. Skyscrapers - that brings me back. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
Do you know Big Apple, 1956? | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
# Start spreading the news... # | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
-Professor! -Argh! | 0:00:40 | 0:00:41 | |
When an object is dropped from a high place, | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
as it falls, it gradually picks up speed. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
Dropping faster and faster and faster, | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
until, suddenly - crash, bang, wallop! | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
Splits the people below down the middle, in two. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
But, Professor, hello? | 0:00:52 | 0:00:53 | |
Have you completely forgotten about terminal velocity? | 0:00:53 | 0:00:57 | |
Term, Term... Who's she? | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
SHE SIGHS | 0:00:59 | 0:01:00 | |
As the coin falls, gravity pulls it downwards, | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
but the resistance of the air - also called drag - pushes it back up. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
This is turning into a bit of a drag. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:09 | |
The cancelling effect of these forces ensures the coin | 0:01:09 | 0:01:12 | |
does not reach a speed beyond its terminal velocity. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
So, although a coin dropping from a skyscraper might | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
give you a bad bump on the head... Ow! | 0:01:18 | 0:01:20 | |
It certainly couldn't build up enough speed to split you in two. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
So that's just a load of old science fiction. Ha! | 0:01:24 | 0:01:27 | |
# I want to be a part of it | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
# In Cork, in Cork... # | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
Could somebody call me a taxi, please? | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
# Shooby-dooby, doop-boop Boopy-doo, boo-boo... # | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 |