Re: Can a cat survive a fall from the empire state building?

It's difficult to argue with data. At this site is an article which describes that, while 10% of cats falling from 2 to 6 stories die, only 5% of those falling from 7 to 32 stories die. Interesting that the data do not include falls greater than 32 stories, but I suspect that that is because apartment buildings in the New York area are not commonly higher than 32 (or so) stories. I could be wrong about that, but one thing is certain: The cat will not fall with a faster speed from the Empire State Building than from 32 stories, since the terminal velocity is reached after only a few stories. The key seems to be that the cat is able to increase its area if it has time to do so.

There are other sites on the Internet that discuss this phenomenon. I found many by using the Google search engine to search on "cat falling survive".

John Link, MadSci Physicist