** Click here for the Best of Answer Me This! 2008 – Part I **
Jack from Leeds is even more useful at answering questions than we are. A few weeks ago he dealt with correct pizza-ordering etiquette; today, he tackles the shitting-off-the-Eiffel-Tower issue from Episode 79:
Helen said that the falling turd would quite seriously injure someone below.
It wouldn’t.
I’m sure you have heard of the myth where dropping a coin of the empire state building would cause a crack in the pavement.
It wouldn’t.
Let us assume we are using a standard 10p coin. This weighs in at a hefty 6.5 grams. Using a quick calculation (which I can’t be bothered to do now, but I have done in the past), we can calculate the terminal velocity of the object, which we assume the coin reaches on the way down. This isn’t nearly fast enough to even break the skin on the skull. You may receive a sharp knock, and someone with a low pain threshold might bruise, but it certainly wouldn’t be fatal.
Now, a turd is nice and squishy, and thus the impact on the head would take longer, and, as I’m sure a couple of university graduates like you two know, this reduces the force of the impact. So, it would cause incredibly little pain, if any at all!
Falling crap ≠ Pain on head.
It’s wonderfully reassuring to know that one can walk around the bottom of the Eiffel Tower without fearing death from turd-inflicted head injury. However, Dame Caution would still advise taking an umbrella.
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December 28, 2008 at 12:18 am |
“However, Dame Caution would still advise taking an umbrella.”
Not a Mod umbrella with a target on top, I might add.
….(learnt THAT lesson the hard way).