# Can an ant die from falling and hitting the ground? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719 "2012-01-07T10:18:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/21 "2012-01-08T22:40:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One should also mention that extremely lucky humans have been known to occasionally survive impacts at terminal velocity, so any absolute hard limit to survivability must be somewhere larger than human-sized. I don’t think anyone has survived a solid hit at terminal velocity. They either hit the side of a hill, were slowed by branches, landed in soft ground, etc. A person falling on a flat stretch of grass is definitely deadzo. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/22 "2012-01-09T01:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think anyone has survived a solid hit at terminal velocity. They either hit the side of a hill, were slowed by branches, landed in soft ground, etc. A person falling on a flat stretch of grass is definitely deadzo. I’ll grant that you need fortuitous circumstances of some sort or another (hillside, snow, etc.), but most of the discussion (including the OP) doesn’t specify conditions, so the limit should arguably be taken to be assuming optimal conditions. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/23 "2012-01-09T02:52:38Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > From the link, it looks like this was empirical evidence gathered from what hopefully were accidents. I was wondering what sort of graduate from Evil University signs up for these sorts of experiments! 🙂 > [@OpalCat](#): > > Thank you for posting that. The rest of my day was going to have a dark cloud if I hadn’t read that. I too, was worried to distraction that so called, ‘Scientists’ were hucking housecats, cape buffaloes, and octopi off of balconies in the name of science. The need for such research is obvious; it just bothered me that they might be doing so without strict controls in place. ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/24 "2012-01-09T06:30:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It depends on the subject’s mass, cross-sectional area, and to a lesser extent, shape. Many, many humans have survived falls at terminal velocity – when their mass is added to that of an open parachute. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/25 "2012-01-09T09:03:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The terminal velocity of a 1lb bag of feathers is different from the terminal velocity of a 1lb bag of lead shot. Wouldn’t that depend on the shape and material of the bag? Surely a fairly rigid bag made of an airtight material would have the same terminal velocity no matter what it was filled with to bring the total weight to 1 lb. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/26 "2012-01-09T09:27:46Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Wouldn’t that depend on the shape and material of the bag? Surely a fairly rigid bag made of an airtight material would have the same terminal velocity no matter what it was filled with to bring the total weight to 1 lb. I’m with **psychonaut** … one pound is _ **one pound** _, right? I understand that friction from air resistance will have an effect on speed, if the sizes/shapes are different. But I think if those factors (size and shape) are equivalent, shouldn’t the speed (velocity) be, also? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/27 "2012-01-09T10:02:24Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > From the link, it looks like this was empirical evidence gathered from what hopefully were accidents. I was wondering what sort of graduate from Evil University signs up for these sorts of experiments! 🙂 Currently for my doctorate, I’m writing a thesis on whether the flesh of babies, puppies or kittens tastes better when fried in olive oil. ---
**Author:** ![TenderLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TenderLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TenderLeaf)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/28 "2012-01-09T13:33:16Z")
Let us know your results:p ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/29 "2012-01-09T13:39:35Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > I’m with **psychonaut** … one pound is _ **one pound** _, right? I understand that friction from air resistance will have an effect on speed, if the sizes/shapes are different. But I think if those factors (size and shape) are equivalent, shouldn’t the speed (velocity) be, also? 😕 But there’s no way the two would be the same size and shape, as buckshot is denser than feathers, and anything called a bag changes shape somewhat based on its contents. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/30 "2012-01-09T15:05:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But there’s no way the two would be the same size and shape, as buckshot is denser than feathers, and anything called a bag changes shape somewhat based on its contents. Exactly. Try stuffing a pound of feathers into the same size bag as a pound of lead shot. It’s not going to work. (And even if you use a bigger bag in both cases, the “emptier” one containing the lead will behave differently in freefall than a full one. As for animals and falls, my wife (20 years ago or so) observed empirically, and I should add accidentally, that a gerbil will not survive a fall from the shoulder of a child onto a tiled kitchen floor. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/31 "2012-01-09T15:15:36Z")
Hmm, I thought I remembered posting that before. See [earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=569013&highlight=gerbil) (along with other data points suggesting gerbils can and do survive falls from shoulder height). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/32 "2012-01-09T15:33:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But there’s no way the two would be the same size and shape Sure they would. Take two thick leather bags which each weigh a pound less a gram. Put one gram of lead shot in one and one gram of feathers in the other. Now you have, as the original poster of this scenario specified, a one-pound bag of lead shot and a one-pound bag of feathers. I very much doubt that the one gram of lead shot is going to deform the leather sufficiently to make any measurable difference in its bag’s terminal velocity _vis-à-vis_ the feather bag. Even if the original poster really meant to specify bags _filled_ with one pound of lead shot and feathers, respectively, then my argument still applies provided you use bags which are thick and heavy enough. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/33 "2012-01-09T16:57:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ll grant that you need fortuitous circumstances of some sort or another (hillside, snow, etc.), but most of the discussion (including the OP) doesn’t specify conditions, so the limit should arguably be taken to be assuming optimal conditions. I disagree. Under optimal conditions any animal is going to survive a fall at terminal velocity. It makes more sense to assume a normal definition of ground, without unusual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/34 "2012-01-09T18:06:06Z")
True, but you’re going to need to be a lot more optimum than a snowy hillside (something which does, after all, occur fairly often naturally) to accommodate an elephant. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719/35 "2012-01-09T20:52:30Z")
There’s [this](http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2011/06/cat-base-jumps-off-12-story-building-lands-on-feet.html) cat, who survived a 12-story fall. (FYI, the youtube links for the search terms I used are confusingly disturbing). > [@Colophon](#): > > As for animals and falls, my wife (20 years ago or so) observed empirically, and I should add accidentally, that a gerbil will not survive a fall from the shoulder of a child > onto a tiled kitchen floor. ☹ I actually heard the noise in my mind while reading that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ant-die-from-falling-and-hitting-the-ground/608719.md?page=1)