Elevators fall freely, can you live if you jump up?

Will the jump before landing when the elevator falls will help you survive? The answer is.

Imagine: you take the elevator, but the ladder stops, and somehow the cable is broken and falls free.

This is a very familiar scene in Hollywood's action and horror movies. But this brief question: can you survive if you jump at the right time to hit the ground?

Your survivability depends on the height of the ladder.

Doing a little math is understood right away. Before touching the ground, the ladder is falling at speed x, and you jump at the speed y and the opposite direction. You jump up and have to fall again so the speed when you touch your ground will be "x - y".

Here, "y" is not an overly variable variable, since one's jumping speed is limited. But "x" is different, it depends on how high the ladder starts to fall, and that is also the deciding factor for whether your jump is effective or not.

Live dead depends on the altitude!

Optimistically, suppose you have an NBA athlete's jump (American basketball tournament), which means you jump about 70cm high. So here is your ability to survive depending on the height of the ladder .

1. 3m (2-storey house) : Jumping at the right time, you will land like falling from a height of 80cm, and there is nothing dangerous. The problem is that you only have about 0.8 seconds to act.
2. 9m (4-storey house) : Free fall from 9m then the big rate is that you will die. But if you jump at the right time, your landing speed is just like a fall from a distance of 4.7m, and you have changed the state from "dead" to "injured". A few bones can be broken, but still alive, and only 1.2s to act.
3. 15m (6-storey house) : Jump in time, it will be equivalent to a fall from a height of 9m. The big possibility is that you will die, but the status also changes from "definitely dead" to "may die". And the time for you to act is 1.7s.
4. 21m (8-storey house) : Your grounding speed is equivalent to a free fall from about 14m. Whether you dance or not almost certainly you will die, and you only have about 2 seconds to prepare.

Should we dance?

Jumping is difficult, because gravity tends to pull the floor away from you.

In theory, a jump in time when the elevator falls actually increases the survivability. However, in reality, it is extremely difficult to do it.

Slow 1s, you touch the ground; 1s early, you can plug the head into the elevator ceiling, or the jumping speed is greatly reduced and make the jump less effective. Even jumping up is difficult, because gravity tends to pull the floor away from you. If you want to dance, you have to cling to the headrest to keep your feet on the floor.

But should we dance? This fact is still quite controversial even with the scientific world.

Some argue that when the elevator falls, lie down on the floor to disperse the larger force, spreading the whole body. However, others disagree, saying that also means you are leaving room for the force to affect the brain. If that is the case, it would be better to accept the risk of jumping up so that the legs are more resistant.

Do not worry

The free-fall elevator accidents are now very rare. Simply because modern ladders have a lot of backup options, such as more cables, or use electromagnetic brakes. In general, the ability to play action movies yourself is very low, so be assured.