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Position:Home>General - Arts & Humanities > Can a Penny Dropped From the empire state building Kill a Pedestrian?


Question:No. Air resistance will limit its speed to something that is no worse than annoying.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: No. Air resistance will limit its speed to something that is no worse than annoying.
Nope, the wind would just push it against the building before it hit the ground. They did it on mythbusters, once.
I have heard yes, but I am not sure if it is an old wives tell or not.
Not likely. But it's gonna hurt like heck!
The Myth Busters did an experiment like that on the Discovery Channel. They found that the penny's terminal velocity was too slow to kill a person. So no a penny could not kill someone if it were dropped from the Empire State building. I'm sure it would hurt but it would not kill them.
If it hits them, certainly. If it mearly drops and hits no one then the chances are extremely slim of it causing death to a pedestrian.
Yes, anything is possible. The penny could hit the pedestrian causing distraction like stumbling out into the street and getting run over by a speeding garbage truck whose driver was eating a jelly donut while switching stations on the radio and drinking coffee at the same time so he didn't see the pedestrian. Whew! What bad luck!
Myth busters 'busted' this myth on a show in October 2003.

They say "A penny’s total mass is not sufficient to perforate human skin - let alone penetrate concrete or asphalt - even when fired from a rifle."

You can find more here:
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode4
Yes. It depends where it hits him...