# Could a falling pumpkin kill you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260 "2008-11-11T22:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/21 "2008-11-12T07:45:49Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > I’ve got a baseball in one hand, and a water balloon in the other. Then what are you typing with? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/22 "2008-11-12T08:15:59Z")
Sounds like a project for Mythbusters. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/23 "2008-11-12T08:37:29Z")
I’m sure it comes down to a question of variables: How big is the pumpkin? How big is the drop? How is it dropped? e.g. are we dealing with straight 32 ft./sec/sec or is it being hurled in a way to increase it’s velocity. We’ll leave out any aerodynamics/wind resistance questions for now because I don’t have the math. How does it impact the poor sod beneath it? A glancing blow will do different(leaving more/less out of this for now) damage than a straight hit. All I know is that I wouldn’t want to be the guy on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/24 "2008-11-12T09:09:31Z")
Never sleep under a pumpkin tree:) ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/25 "2008-11-12T09:43:22Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Sounds like a project for Mythbusters. Just don’t kill Kari—I worship the ground she walks on. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/26 "2008-11-12T09:57:18Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > ETA: But, yes, a falling [pumpkin](http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:lHsOqPO2W6kzzM:http://www.igpga.org/mcmullen1124.JPG) could easily kill somebody. Heck, a ROLLING pumpkin might kill you in that case. ---
**Author:** ![jakeofalltrades1964](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@jakeofalltrades1964](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeofalltrades1964)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/27 "2008-11-12T10:26:18Z")
I bet a frozen pumpkin would do a LOT more damage than a thawed one. Why not test the hypothesis with something expendable…? The F=ma does not take into account the squishiness factor. On the side of caution, even a rotting month old pumpkin MIGHT cause just enough force to send the unlucky target to oblivion… Better to test it on something really expendable… ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/28 "2008-11-12T10:35:42Z")
> [@jakeofalltrades1964](#): > > I bet a frozen pumpkin would do a LOT more damage than a thawed one. Why not test the hypothesis with something expendable…? The F=ma does not take into account the squishiness factor. On the side of caution, even a rotting month old pumpkin MIGHT cause just enough force to send the unlucky target to oblivion… Better to test it on something really expendable… Good luck hitting a reasonably-sized target from fifty floors up, though. We’re gonna need something BIG and expendable. I nominate Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/29 "2008-11-12T10:49:05Z")
From fifty floors up a small pumpkin can kill you. A small one will be a couple pounds at least. The regular size people use for jack o lanterns will be from 10 to 30 pounds. The larger ones people use regularly 30 to 100 pounds. After that they’re just to big to move around unless you are willing to go to extreme efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/30 "2008-11-12T15:19:06Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > Then what are you typing with? :dubious: Wouldn’t you like to know? 😉 And how do you think I rang the doorbell? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/31 "2008-11-12T15:30:52Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > Never sleep under a pumpkin tree:) Beat me to it. I was about to say that the distance a pumpkin would fall from the vine would probably not allow it to gather much speed… ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/32 "2008-11-12T15:37:04Z")
> [@jakeofalltrades1964](#): > > I bet a frozen pumpkin would do a LOT more damage than a thawed one. Why not test the hypothesis with something expendable…? T **he F=ma does not take into account the squishiness factor.** On the side of caution, even a rotting month old pumpkin MIGHT cause just enough force to send the unlucky target to oblivion… Better to test it on something really expendable… Yes, it does. Remember that while F=ma holds true for the acceleration, it holds true for the _deceleration_as well. A more rigid object is going to take less time to decelerate, therefore dv/dt will be higher, giving a higher F. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/33 "2008-11-12T15:55:40Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > You’re kidding, right? Go knock on some fresh pumpkins (not ones that have been carved out and let to sit for a week–of course _those_ are soft; they’re half rotten!) and tell me they’re not hard. Not kidding, just very, very wrong, in retrospect. Unvolunteer me, unless the experiment gets modified to “Will a falling pumpkin stop zombie attacks?” ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/34 "2008-11-12T16:36:19Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Beat me to it. I was about to say that the distance a pumpkin would fall from the vine would probably not allow it to gather much speed… You’d be surprised. We had some friends who had a pumpkin plant gone wild that decided to climb a fence. Eventually it had a small pumpkin growing halfway up the fence. They built a small table to hold it up there. Alas, poor workmanship conspired with the elements and the table failed, and the pumpkin fell and rolled down the street to a smashing death two curves down. (And every time I wrote the word “pumpkin” I spelled it “pumpking”) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/35 "2008-11-12T16:41:01Z")
Just wanted to add my minimal experience re: water balloons. Many a year back we were shooting water balloons a considerable distance into a crowd - at least 50 yards across a field, in my memory it seems much further) using a huge rubber tubing slingshot. 1 guy held each end of the tubing (I was one of them, and I really had to make my arms rigid and brace myself) and the 3d guy pulled back the sling. I’m not sure if the balloons were underfilled or what, but when we succeeded in hitting a guy in his bare chest on the 3d or so shot, it glanced off and left one HELL of a welt! Not one of my prouder moments, and yes, alcohol and other substances were involved - why do you ask! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/36 "2008-11-13T13:42:55Z")
This is why the Great Pumpkin _rises_ out of the Pumpkin Patch instead of driving a sleigh like… _Wait an effing minute_. Does Santa wear a seatbelt? If he fell out of the sleigh a whole city could be wiped out. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/37 "2008-11-13T14:53:56Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > Unvolunteer me, unless the experiment gets modified to “Will a falling pumpkin stop zombie attacks?” Well, that is an important question. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/38 "2008-11-13T15:52:45Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > Unvolunteer me, unless the experiment gets modified to “Will a falling pumpkin stop zombie attacks?” > [@Q.E.D](#): > > Well, that is an important question. Only if your aim is good enough to decapitate the zombie. But if you stuffed the pumpkin full of brains of already-dead-non-zombies, the extra mass would increase the force of impact. And if you miss, well, one would hope the zombies would at least pause long enough to gather up and devour the bits of brain that are now all over the place. Or do the brains have to still be living for the zombies to be interested in them? ---
**Author:** ![shallora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@shallora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shallora)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/39 "2008-11-13T16:52:14Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > If I were to hypothetically toss a pumpkin off the roof of a 50 story building, would it kill or seriously hurt anyone it fell on? My wife seems to think it would, but I think it would squish up and break apart enough upon impact to make a hell of a mess, but not leave any serious injury. Has a falling pumpkin ever killed anyone? Has anyone survived a pumpkin falling from a significant height? Figure said pumpkin weighs 15 lbs. 50 stories is sufficient for said pumpkin to reach terminal velocity Returning to F=ma, Death by falling pumpkin! BTW, 15 lbs of pumpkins or 15 lbs of feathers or 15 lbs of water, each dropped seperately from 50 stories … each are all sufficient to kill you, assuming the 15 lb mass of “whatever” was packed hard enough together (density). Newton we hardly knew ye! ---
**Author:** ![goodie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@goodie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodie)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260/40 "2008-11-13T17:38:03Z")
What if the pumpkin was in pie form when you dropped it on someone from 50 stories? No pie plate, just the pie. How many to injure? How many to kill? (Need answer by Thanksgiving.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-falling-pumpkin-kill-you/472260.md?page=3)