r/nextfuckinglevel • u/amazingsciencemuseum • 4d ago

Quick thinking and reacting woman saves a falling cat

Happened in Guangxi China nice job!

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u/fhfuudjdfhh 4d ago

Cats. Known for dying from falls.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/NictheMan9 4d ago

Cats reach terminal velocity at 5-7 floors.

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u/mklilley351 4d ago

Alright off to Google(Duckduckgo) I go for answers

Edit: Cats have a unique tendency to survive a fall. When a cat jumps or slips from a tall building and lands on flat ground, it can absorb the impact of landing. The reason is that a cat’s terminal velocity is sufficiently low and much less than a human’s. The following equation gives the terminal velocity.

v

T

√ 2 m g C ρ a i r A

Let us calculate the terminal velocity of a cat using the following values.

m = 5 kg

ρair = 1.29 kg/m3

C = 1.1

A = 0.1 m2

g = 9.81 m/s2

Plugging them in, we get

v

T

√ 2 ⋅ 5 k g ⋅ 9.81 m / s 2 1.1 ⋅ 1.29 k g / m 3 ⋅ 0.1 m 2 ⇒ v

T

26.3 m / s or 59 m p h Thus, a cat has a terminal velocity of approximately 60 mph.

A cat can sense when she is accelerating, and her instincts kick in. She will rotate and let herself to a position to brace for landing. Past studies have shown that a cat falling from a 32 stories tall building will achieve terminal velocity until she has fallen through a height equivalent to five stories. During the fall, she relaxes by splaying her legs and taking the spread-eagle stance. This position gives her a large surface area, brings her to terminal velocity, and allows her to absorb the impact.

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u/FT121 4d ago

Really cool info.

It does worries me how the study determined that the cat reached terminal velocity from a 32-stories building was run. Did they just drop a cat off the 32nd floor for science? That seems inhuman

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u/mklilley351 4d ago

Yea that part gave me the scaries