What is the Terminal Velocity of Cats?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the terminal velocity of cats, particularly in the context of their ability to survive falls from significant heights. Participants explore various anecdotes, scientific observations, and humorous takes on the topic, including the implications of falling from different heights.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share anecdotes about cats surviving falls from high places, suggesting that cats can survive due to their ability to relax and spread out during a fall.
  • One participant mentions a "death zone" for falls from middle heights, where cats may not have enough time to orient themselves properly before landing.
  • Another participant questions the reasoning behind the "death zone," arguing that cats can turn their feet down quickly and have been doing so for millions of years.
  • There is a humorous claim that cats survive falls because they have nine lives, implying a fantastical explanation rather than a scientific one.
  • One participant jokingly suggests that cats can use sound to stop their fall, referencing a humorous hypothesis about the noise made upon landing.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of anecdotal evidence and humorous speculation, with no clear consensus on the mechanisms behind cats' survival from falls. Disagreements arise regarding the validity of the "death zone" concept and the role of reflexes in survival.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on anecdotal evidence rather than empirical data, and there are unresolved assumptions regarding the physics of falling and the physiological responses of cats.

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so if I fall out of a tall building should I try to belly flop?
 
tribdog said:
so if I fall out of a tall building should I try to belly flop?

I think it means that you should relax.

Cool runnings.
 
my brother's cat jumped off a 10 story balcony once. he chalked it up for dead/missing till a few days later someone told him there was a orange cat in the bushes down there and it turns out the cat wasn't in too bad shape.

FYI if your on a plane and your cat is shredding the furniture, you can throw it out the back and pick it up after you land.
 
But not during take off and landing.
There was a study of cats falling out of high rise buildings, for falls from low floors they are unharmed and from high floors where they reach terminal velocity.
But there is a death zone for middle floors where they don't have time to turn feet down and spread out.
 
mgb_phys said:
But there is a death zone for middle floors where they don't have time to turn feet down

Doesn't make sense to me. Cat turns feet down in tenths of a second, during first meter or so of fall, that's what they routinely do for millions of years (and that's what they are experts at). I am not neglecting fact that there is a death zone, I just doubt the reason as listed.
 
They have to turn feet down and also relax. From low heights they don't have to be relaxed, from the death zone heights they don't have time to get over the moment of terror and relax and from the high heights they are able to relax and survive.
 
Cats can survive long falls, but I don't think it has anything to do with terminal velocity or their reflexes or anything like that.

I believe the scientific explanation is that the cat does actually die when they land, but since they have nine lives, they go on living with eight more lives left.
 
Cats use noise to completely stop their fall. The yooowwwl-SPLAT sound at the end of the fall is clear proof of this hypothesis.

Wait until MoonBear sees this thread. Uh oh.
 

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