# Can you calculate how physically strong the terminator is based on how far he throws people **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321 "2019-10-05T19:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/1 "2019-10-05T19:27:01Z")
There have been discussions about how physically strong a T-800 terminator is, mostly based on him holding a door open in T3. But in T2, he picks up a grown man and throws them about 10 feet with one arm. He does it twice. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L7LsZZk62M0/maxresdefault.jpg "The Terminator - Fat Boy - Harley-Davidson motorcycle") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7LsZZk62M0) Can that info be used to roughly gauge how physically strong a terminator is? I would assume a man could do that with 10-25 pounds (lift it off the ground and throw it with one arm about 10 feet in the air in an arc). Since those people were 200 pounds, would that make a terminator 8-20x stronger than a human? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/2 "2019-10-05T20:57:21Z")
Not in a world where a shotgun blast sends someone flying across the room, you can’t. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/3 "2019-10-05T21:04:51Z")
OP: You underestimate the skill of serious athletes. For example look at the Caber toss, > [@](#): > > The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a “caber” (/ˈkeɪbə/). It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland the caber is usually made from a Larch tree and is typically 19 feet 6 inches (5.94 m) tall and weighs 12.5 stone ( **175 lb** ; 79 kg). The term “caber” derives from the Gaelic word cabar, which refers to a wooden beam… > > The primary objective is to toss the caber so that it turns end over end, falling away from the tosser. Ideally it should fall directly away from the tosser in the “12 o’clock” position. The distance thrown is unimportant. > > The tosser balances the caber upright, tapered end downwards, against his or her shoulder and neck, the caber being supported by stewards or fellow-competitors while being placed into position. The tosser then crouches, sliding their interlocked hands down the caber and under the rounded base, and lifts it in their cupped hands. > > While standing, the tosser must balance the caber upright; this is not easy with the heavier end at the top, and less-experienced tossers may be unable to stop the caber falling to one side after lifting it. The tosser then walks or runs a few paces forward to gain momentum, and flips the tapered end upwards so that the large end hits the ground first, and, if well tossed, the caber falls directly away from the tosser. > **[Caber toss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caber_toss)** > > The caber toss (Scottish Gaelic: tilgeil a' chabair) is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (/ˈkeɪbər/). It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland, the caber is usually made from a larch tree, and it can be between 16–20 feet (5–6 metres) tall and weigh 90–150 pounds (40–70 kilograms). The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word cabar, which refers to a wooden beam. > The person tossing the caber is ... Watch a video: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IkK-HdHd2pc/maxresdefault.jpg "Highland Games Caber Toss Championship 2014") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK-HdHd2pc) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/4 "2019-10-05T21:55:12Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > OP: You underestimate the skill of serious athletes. For example look at the Caber toss, > > [Caber toss - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caber_toss) > > Watch a video: > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK-HdHd2pc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK-HdHd2pc) What the hell? That isn’t even remotely meaningful to the question. Your own quote about caber tossing describes the athlete getting help getting ready, using two hands and that the distance thrown doesn’t matter. Did you just get back from the Highland Games or something? ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/5 "2019-10-06T16:27:51Z")
Interesting question - but I don’t think it’s answerable because what we don’t know is what _percentage_ of his total strength the terminator used to toss the person. An Olympic shot-putter can throw the ball +20m with 100% of their strength, but they can also casually toss it any distance less than that with an appropriate lower % of full strength. You’re assuming he’s using 100% of his strength - is there anything to validate that assumption? He might have been able to toss the guy 40m if he used full power. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/6 "2019-10-06T17:31:38Z")
On the other hand [here](https://youtu.be/qHS_ntIvY4M) is a human picking up and throwing another human with one hand. Distance isn’t overly clear but its probably 3-5 feet so that at least gives an order of magnitude adjustment to 2-3x a person. But the quest IPO n really is how hard they were both trying. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/7 "2019-10-07T04:06:40Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > On the other hand [here](https://youtu.be/qHS_ntIvY4M) is a human picking up and throwing another human with one hand. Distance isn’t overly clear but its probably 3-5 feet so that at least gives an order of magnitude adjustment to 2-3x a person. But the quest IPO n really is how hard they were both trying. Umm… I seriously doubt that was real. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/8 "2019-10-07T07:37:11Z")
I am tall, formerly strong, and was once a manual laborer. I could and did lift 80-100-lb weights like concrete sacks one-handed to a shoulder. I could and did, when pissed one way or another, toss such a sack up to 4-5 feet one-handed. Neither the sack nor I were much good afterward but yes, it happened, using about 110% of my strength. I suspect lifting and throwing X pounds of something requires more than twice the work / energy of tossing 2X pounds. Will a physiologist correct my error? And what of skeletal tensile strength? Would a Terminator twist his frame, tossing 200 lbs a dozen feet? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/9 "2019-10-07T12:45:30Z")
> **[Throw](https://xkcd.com/2198/)** > > this calculator implements the simple throwing distance estimation model from the how to throw things chapter of the book how to I used “You” and “George Washington” and I can’t do that. Thor can throw him 137 m, feel free to scale as appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/10 "2019-10-07T13:09:50Z")
How far he throws people only gives you an idea of the lower limit of his strength. Being a robot he throws people only as far as necessary, he might be capable of throwing them much further. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/11 "2019-10-07T16:08:22Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I suspect lifting and throwing X pounds of something requires more than twice the work / energy of tossing 2X pounds. Will a physiologist correct my error? And what of skeletal tensile strength? Would a Terminator twist his frame, tossing 200 lbs a dozen feet? No, mass doesn’t work that way. You are probably thinking of the coefficient of friction, which means it takes much more than twice the power to make a car go 200 mph than it does to make it go 100, but there’s no similar exponential calculation involved in throwing something based on its mass. > [@Oredigger77](#): > > On the other hand [here](https://youtu.be/qHS_ntIvY4M) is a human picking up and throwing another human with one hand. Distance isn’t overly clear but its probably 3-5 feet so that at least gives an order of magnitude adjustment to 2-3x a person. But the quest IPO n really is how hard they were both trying. Dolph Lundgren would be the first to tell you that he couldn’t actually lift a full-grown human by the throat using one extended arm. The unofficial record for a one-armed bicep curl is 135 pounds, and that does not involve lifting a struggling and unbalanced victim, and doesn’t present a grip issue. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-calculate-how-physically-strong-the-terminator-is-based-on-how-far-he-throws-people/841321/12 "2019-10-07T17:21:29Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > Interesting question - but I don’t think it’s answerable because what we don’t know is what _percentage_ of his total strength the terminator used to toss the person. > > An Olympic shot-putter can throw the ball +20m with 100% of their strength, but they can also casually toss it any distance less than that with an appropriate lower % of full strength. > > You’re assuming he’s using 100% of his strength - is there anything to validate that assumption? He might have been able to toss the guy 40m if he used full power. The Terminator is almost certainly not using his full strength, so it can’t be used to scale up and estimate. He uses a not very efficient form of shot put technique. That is, he throws the guy \*casually \*across the room or out the window. He doesn’t use the strength of his legs and back very much, which would be efficient. When you toss a wad of paper into the basket, you don’t bother using efficient technique because you don’t need to. Same here - so Terminator is much stronger than 8-20X a normal person. > [@Not Really All That Bright](#): > > Dolph Lundgren would be the first to tell you that he couldn’t actually lift a full-grown human by the throat using one extended arm. The unofficial record for a one-armed bicep curl is 135 pounds, and that does not involve lifting a struggling and unbalanced victim, and doesn’t present a grip issue. Plus he’s wearing a boxing glove, and grabs the guy by the throat. The grip force required to transfer enough force from the legs, back, and shoulder to toss Evil Russian Guy would almost certainly cause major damage to the trachea and other structures of the neck. Regards, Shodan