Whats the terminal velocity of an elephant?

17,715 Views | 101 Replies | Last: 12 yr ago by Predmid
TomDoss2011
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This is the kind of intelligent conversation the makers of Operation Dumbo Drop were hoping to stimulate when they made that wonderful movie
Ulrich
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You should have seen me and my friends watching Mission Impossible 3. We had to pause the movie while we went to get our notebooks and TI89s.

If you were wondering, at least two of the stunts would instantly kill a person in real life. Tom Cruise should be dead.

[This message has been edited by aero ag 2010 (edited 10/10/2010 2:19p).]
eric76
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quote:
remember E = mc² is the formula for the maximum energy of any object if you believe that the speed of light is the upper limit of velocity.
Technically, if m is the rest mass of the object and p is its momentum, then it is

E² = m²c⁴ + p²c²
Ag_EE
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The science is solved.
MouthBQ98
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The only really relevant thing here is drag, however complex the calculation for it is. Both masses are subject to the same acceleration, not accounting for drag coefficient. Whichever object has a lower coefficient reaches a higher terminal velocity.
Tex_Ag2014
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everyone posting on this thread







[This message has been edited by Tex_Ag2014 (edited 12/16/2013 3:00p).]
Ryan34
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I don't know about all this science stuff, but I do know that African elephants fall faster than European elephants.
Cromagnum
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What if a they were both strapped to a treadmill while they are falling ?
swimmerbabe11
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If you fall down a bottomless pit, you die of starvation
Dr. Faustus
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quote:
If you fall down a bottomless pit, you die of starvation


But is the pit in a vacuum, or does it have an atmosphere?
Atreides Ornithopter
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maybe it was a really light elephant with a large surface area. A fatter elephant would have increase the terminal velocity and the human never would have caught him.


So the main lesson from this thread is, don't eat all the peanuts.


Oh and remember gravitational acceleration is only a constant between 2 objects (of equal or different mass) when they are both at the same distance from the center of the other object. Meaning little g does change the closer or farther you get from the center of the earth.

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Yeah because European elephants are fatter and thus the humans jumping out of planes to save them couldn't catch them in time.


[This message has been edited by Brennus (edited 12/16/2013 3:36p).]
eric76
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quote:
I don't know about all this science stuff, but I do know that African elephants fall faster than European elephants.
Aren't the European elephants extinct?
Ag_EE
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Laden or unladen?
chipotle
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Ulrich
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I think everyone in this thread, including me, managed to be wrong at least once. eric, if you're still around, I should have been more polite. Sorry.
Ridge14
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chipotle
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quote:
If you fall down a bottomless pit, you die of starvation


you die hitting the sides
Tex_Ag2014
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quote:
If you fall down a bottomless pit, you die of starvation


you die hitting the sides



Actually, it would be of dehydration.
Or a bullet to the noggin.
or autoerotic asphyxiation
chipotle
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however, if you don't hit the sides of the pit because you're not flailing around in shear panic then the air pressure crushes you
Ryan34
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quote:

autoerotic asphyxiation

Giggity
Tex_Ag2014
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say you created a strong magnet... would that make everything better?

Also, how do magnets work?
DE4D
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What if the elephant was covered in velcro?
Predmid
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My brain hurts from you people trying to explain physics.
Goose
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Hypothetical for the group: If you had a trunk like an elephant would you fellate yourself?
Dr. Faustus
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quote:
I don't know about all this science stuff, but I do know that African elephants fall faster than European elephants.
quote:
Aren't the European elephants extinct?



Dr. Grant thought the same thing about dinosaurs.
swimmerbabe11
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No appreciation for Teen Girl Squad.
eric76
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quote:
Hypothetical for the group: If you had a trunk like an elephant would you fellate yourself?
By sticking in your nose?
Predmid
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Terminal Velocity: when drag=gravitational force

Gravity Force = M*a

Drag Force = 0.5*rho*(V^2)*Cd*A

Set equal to each other & solve for V

Vt=SqRt((2*M*g)/(rho*Cd*A)

So, for a standard elephant in a crate,

Mass of an elephant is about 5,500 kg, plus lets assume 100 kg for the crate.

g=9.81 m/s^2

rho is fluid density, so let's asume 20 degrees C at 1 atmosphere (101.325 kilopascals), or 1.204 kg/m^3

A is tangental surface area of the object, an elephant is roughly 4.5 x 2.5 meters, so add an extra 0.5 meters on each side, and you get 19.25 m^2 surface area.

The elephant in a crate is roughly a cube, so Cd can be assumed to be 1.05.


Plug into previous equation and the terminal velocity of this elephant in a crate is 67.18 m/s.
mhayden
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quote:
So you are saying that if you simultaneously drop a bowling ball and a feather from the top of a building, they will hit the ground at the same time?


I'm convinced this was just a reference to Growing Pains.
eric76
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oldschool87
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The airplane took off, end of thread!
Drawkcab
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I got half way through the second page before I realized this thread is 3 years old. *******s.
Drawkcab
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quote:
If you fall down a bottomless pit, you die of starvation

Not if I catch up to an elephant and eat that puppy raw.
Predmid
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quote:


I got half way through the second page before I realized this thread is 3 years old. *******s.



SON OF A.
 
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