# Can a water balloon thrown from a building kill someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114 "2014-01-30T06:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/21 "2014-01-31T05:35:32Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Did the hardass Dean give you a chewing out and threaten to expel your fraternity from the dance-off? … and then the Dean was like, “You’re done.” ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/22 "2014-01-31T07:09:04Z")
> [@Me](#): > > At 93m/s the bullet will not be stopped. Ugh, unfortunate mix of numbers. The bullet is doing 922m/s, the balloon is doing 93m/s. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/23 "2014-01-31T07:25:40Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > UC Davis circa 1980? I lived on the third floor in Tercero at UC Davis in 1976, We rigged up a 2x4 slingshot on the balcony of the third floor and tossed water balloons the better part of a city block. We knocked the sliding glass door of the building across the way, but didn’t break it. I tossed a water balloon at the trams visiting the dorms on Picnic day. It ll hit some poor woman in the side of the head and I saw the recoil. Christ, I felt awful as I had never really thought about the mass of hardball sized water balloon. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/24 "2014-01-31T07:34:16Z")
The port-a-potti incident was not only an over-sized “balloon”, it was not a balloon in the sense of the toy balloon kids know - notice it stayed spherical, whereas a toy balloon would have flopped and deformed. I suspect this would be a strength-of-materials issue as much as it is a kinetic energy issue. A toy balloon will burst if handled incorrectly - which is a huge benefit for the target. Putting a liter of water in a cannon ball vs cling wrap, as it were - the issue is how soon the weight is going to run off the skull (let’s assume you can hit your target) - is it going to stay long enough to deliver 100% of its energy down the spine, or will it feel like a quick slap while providing an sloppy shower? I’m leading toward the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/25 "2014-01-31T08:11:16Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Only the new Enhanced Combat Helmet is rated to stop a rifle bullet, all the existing helmet designs are only good for stopping fragments. Not true. The older kevlar helmets were able to stop bullets from some angles. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/26 "2014-01-31T12:30:29Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > UC Davis circa 1980? MIT circa 1975. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/27 "2014-01-31T12:38:53Z")
These scenarios are all assuming that your target _isn’t_ the Wicked Witch of the West. If it is, lethal distance is much, much shorter. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/28 "2014-01-31T13:14:09Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > These scenarios are all assuming that your target _isn’t_ the Wicked Witch of the West. If it is, lethal distance is much, much shorter. Not to mention the Triffids (1963 movie version only), the ant-like aliens in Jack Chalker’s Well of Souls series, and Tim Benzedrino. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/29 "2014-01-31T15:13:18Z")
It’s sort of like getting hit by a paintball, right? I bet getting hit by a water balloon moving as fast as a paintball would cause injury. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/30 "2014-01-31T16:15:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not to mention the Triffids (1963 movie version only), the ant-like aliens in Jack Chalker’s Well of Souls series, and Tim Benzedrino. Or the aliens from Signs. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/31 "2014-01-31T17:45:31Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Or the aliens from Signs. You’d probably need a really big balloon for the Sandworms on Arrakis. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/32 "2014-01-31T17:52:26Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > You’d probably need a really big balloon for the Sandworms on Arrakis. …and then step back to avoid being drowned in the Water of Life. Whether you’re worthy or not. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/33 "2014-01-31T19:10:14Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > It’s sort of like getting hit by a paintball, right? I bet getting hit by a water balloon moving as fast as a paintball would cause injury. That’s a good comparison. The muzzle velocity of a paintball is ~90 m/s. A paintball at point blank range will often raise a welt and may break the skin. A water balloon probably has 50-100 times the mass of a paintball, and would do some serious damage at that speed. It certainly could break a bone or even kill someone if it hit them in the head. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/34 "2014-02-01T01:58:53Z")
But a paintball is far more rigid and has a smaller contact area. You can’t just extrapolate from that. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/35 "2014-02-01T02:50:18Z")
> [@andrea\_green](#): > > How can I learn about from what height (if any) could an average-size water balloon kill (or injure?) a person? What forces would need to be taken into consideration? If you hit them right over the heart immediately after the left ventricle contracts but before it has time to relax, it takes very little force. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/36 "2014-02-01T03:57:33Z")
> [@j666](#): > > If you hit them right over the heart immediately after the left ventricle contracts but before it has time to relax, it takes very little force. Which does remind me, back in my student days, the surgical rubber water bomb launchers were used on our equivalent of rag day. One year a woman was hit in the chest by one and had a significant cardiac episode. She didn’t die, but it wasn’t good. I think this subsequently caused the banning of these overgrown slingshots. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/37 "2014-02-01T04:02:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > When I was an undergrad, a group of guys on my floor in the dorm constructed a slingshot from the bole of a small tree and about 20 feet of surgical rubber tubing, with a washcloth at the midpoint for holding the load. They shot water balloons with it, and could throw them the length of a city block (without the balloon breaking upon launch). > > One day they launched it at a dorm window across the courtyard, a mere 20 feet or so away. Thwe balloon punched a perfectly round hole through the glass, kind of like the way cartoon characters going through glass sometimes leave a perfect outline of themselves instead of shattering it. > > That’s a pretty impressive concentration of force and momentum. I can’t help but think that a person on the receiving end of that would sustain an injury. If you hit them just right, maybe you could kill them. Another data point. When I was an undergrad they had “Warrior day” at college where we all fucked off for the day. Several of us got together about 60 feet of surgical rubber tubing and a dog food dish. Drilled some holes in the dish and strung three ten foot rubbers on each side. Had two guy hold the rubbers and one guy to walk backwards 20-30 feet, hold the dish just right and let fly. Some of the balloons broke on launch, but most didn’t. We had fights with several other teams, but due to our superior firepower (3 rubbers instead of two) and our superior balloon holder we could out range the other teams, we were shooting well over 100 yards. Anyway in the afternoon, they staged a raft race in the reflecting pond, about the size of a football field. We were set up on one side of the pond shooting at teams on the other side. Due to the short range, we were letting fly pretty much horizontally. We were shooting over the heads of the seated raft paddlers. Anyway I pulled back about 20 feet and let fly at our rivals on the other side. Right as I let go, a guy in a raft right next to our side of the pool stood up directly in front my speeding water balloon. He took it right on the side of the face. He was maybe 10 feet from the point the balloon left the dish. The balloon did not break, but it cleaned that guy right off the raft. 😃 Didn’t kill him, but he had one hell of a bruise. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/38 "2014-02-02T02:55:05Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > But a paintball is far more rigid and has a smaller contact area. You can’t just extrapolate from that. Are you saying smaller water balloons do more damage? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/39 "2014-02-02T14:55:00Z")
Rag day? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114/40 "2014-02-02T17:57:43Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Rag day? I had no idea what that was either. Apparently it’s related to this: > **[Rag (student society)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag_(student_society))** > > Rags are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Some are run as student societies whilst others sit with campaigns within their student unions. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in the Netherlands and the Commonwealth countries of South Africa and Singapore have a rag. In some universities rags are known as Charities Campaigns, Charity Appeals, Charity Committees (or Kommittees), Jool or Karnivals, but they... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-water-balloon-thrown-from-a-building-kill-someone/680114.md?page=3)