# Empire State Buliding experiment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382 "2009-04-17T04:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beccaspice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@beccaspice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beccaspice)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/1 "2009-04-17T04:19:18Z")
I dropped a quarter off the Empire State Building because I heard that too. (I wasn’t trying to kill anybody, I just didn’t believe it). There were no body bags, ambulances, or even a chip in the sidewalk when I got to the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/2 "2009-04-17T04:32:03Z")
You can’t drop a quarter (or anything) off the Empire State Building because it’s not straight along the sides. It tapers off to the top. If you dropped a coin, it would just fall to the 80th floor or whatever level is beneath you. You should have checked the 80th floor for body bags or ambulances, in that case. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/3 "2009-04-17T12:18:43Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope MEssage Boards, **beccaspice** , we’re glad to ahve you with us. For future ref, when you start a thread, it’s helpful to other readers if you provide a link to the column on which you are commenting. In this case, I presume: [Would a penny dropped from the Empire State Building kill someone on the ground? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/205/would-a-penny-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building-kill-someone-on-the-ground) No biggie, you’ll know for next time, and, as I say, welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/4 "2009-04-18T17:36:40Z")
Did you find the quarter? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/5 "2009-04-18T18:28:19Z")
> [@Tony](#): > > You can’t drop a quarter (or anything) off the Empire State Building because it’s not straight along the sides. It tapers off to the top. If you dropped a coin, it would just fall to the 80th floor or whatever level is beneath you. You should have checked the 80th floor for body bags or ambulances, in that case. The OP probably dropped it off the 86th floor as the 102nd floor is enclosed. Might have to chuck it as opposed to just dropping something. People have managed to jump off, so it’s doable I think. One guy made it off the 69th floor according to wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-state-buliding-experiment/493382/6 "2009-04-20T21:58:33Z")
Any large building, even in a faint zephyr, will have a wind near its surface. The ESB is so tall (the wind is usually stronger as you get farther from the ground) that a dropped coin would probably fall a block or more away, rather than falling straight down. The updraft on a sun-warmed limestone-shelled building such as the ESB would also counteract gravity in the falling of a light object like a coin.