# Would a mouse live if dropped from the Empire State Building? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949 "2002-03-25T03:49:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/21 "2002-03-25T20:23:34Z")
What is this disturbing obsession the_hoi polloi_ have with dropping things off tall buildings? First pennies in **Cecil’s** column, then mice. I blame it on the Bossa Nova. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/22 "2002-03-25T21:14:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*What is this disturbing obsession the_hoi polloi\* have with dropping things off tall buildings? > > First pennies in **Cecil’s** column, then mice. > > I blame it on the Bossa Nova. 😃 \*\* Blame Galileo. He wasn’t trying to prove anything about gravity when dropping all those metal balls. He was just out of interesting stuff to throw. It was actually an experiment involving a Priest’s calico that led to Galileo’s excommunication. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/23 "2002-03-25T22:44:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doug Bowe \* > \*\*Okay, then I’ll hedge my bet. > > It’s not a windy day. > Let’s say the mouse only makes it to the 86th floor Observation Deck. > Now apply the old rule of acceleration (I think it’s 33 feet per second per second). Only if the Empire State Building existed in a vacuum. The air resistence met by the mouse on the way down would slow the acceleration until the force of gravity is equal to the force of the air resistence, and from then on the mouse would fall at a constant (terminal) velocity. I have no idea how to calculate the terminal velocity of a mouse, though. ---
**Author:** ![ModernRonin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@ModernRonin2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernRonin2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/24 "2002-03-25T23:01:45Z")
I’m doing something wrong. I plugged the numbers in for a 20g mouse ([url=http://www.informatics.jax.org/mgihome/other/mouse\_facts3.shtml]) and came back with 556.81 m/s! That’s like, rifle bullet velocity. Now that’s one fast mouse! Howzabout a 20g mouse whose bottom surface is approximated by an ellipse that’s 1x2 in (2.5 x 5 cm)? I can’t remember the formula for the surface area of an ellipse… -Ben ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/25 "2002-03-25T23:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FriendRob \* > \*\*… assuming a spherical mouse (gosh, I’ve always wanted to say that!) where D = diameter of mouse = 4 cm, say?.. > > …m = mass of mouse… hm… Nonny, how much do you weigh? Say 100g = 0.1 kg… > > … Did I do something wrong? \*\* This mouse has a density of right around 3 g/cm[sup]3[/sup]. There is no way that that is correct. My guess would be that a mouse has a density around .75 g/cm[sup]3[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/26 "2002-03-25T23:18:39Z")
The mouse would be ok if it landed on a… …mouse pad. [sub]sorry[/sub]🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/27 "2002-03-25T23:45:26Z")
From [The University of Chicago Magazine](http://www2.uchicago.edu/alumni/alumni.mag/9612/9612LaBarbera2.html): > [@](#): > > Indeed, sufficiently small animals cannot be hurt in a fall from any height: A monkey is too big, a squirrel is on the edge, but a mouse is completely safe. And from a discussion here: > [@](#): > > **Stoke’s great Law of Drag** > If > _r_ = the radius of a sphere in cm > _d1_ = the density of the sphere in g/cm3 > _d2_ = the density of the fluid in g/cm3 > _g_ = the local gravitational acceleration in cm/S2 > _c_ = the Viscosity of the fluid in Poise > _v_ = the terminal velocity in cm/S > Then > _v = 2r2g(d1-d2)/9c_ > > This velocity is the terminal or ultimate velocity the sphere will attain falling through the liquid or gas in question. Thus approximating a mouse and man’s body as a sphere, and assuming that we have a radius 5 times that of a mouse - the terminal velocity of a man (about 100 mi/hr - _I was taught when skydiving that terminal velocity for a human in spread-eagle position is 120 mph - Ringo_) would be 25 times that of a mouse! I’ve given up on finding a source for the density of a ouse. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/28 "2002-03-25T23:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ModernRonin2 \* > \*\*We’ll have to make some pretty crazy assumptions (like, “the mouse is approximately spherical” 😃 \*\* Why not make it more than an assumption? We have already decided it’s OK to throw them in the air to watch their twirling tails, then hurl them full force at a brick wall; it seems only logical that we proceed by compressing them into spheres. ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/29 "2002-03-25T23:56:20Z")
Surely the question is silly because it depends if the mouse lands on it’s head or it’s arse. Also, because it’s small doesnt mean it’s terminal velocity will be less. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/30 "2002-03-26T00:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Niobium Knight \* > \*\*Surely the question is silly because it depends if the mouse lands on it’s head or it’s arse. Also, because it’s small doesnt mean it’s terminal velocity will be less. \*\* Actually, yes it does, if other things such as the density and shape of the mouse and the way it falls are held constant - smaller objects of similar shape and density present more surface area in relation to their mass or volume. Consider a cube 1 foot on the side - 6 sq ft surface area, 1 cubic foot volume. 2 feet on the side, 24 sq feet surface area, 8 cubic feet volume - the surface area to volume ratio has gone down from 6/1 to 3/1. If the cube is of a uniform substance, ratio of surface area to weight will be affected similarly. Similar decreases in ratio will hold for any 3d shape as the size is increased. IIRC, when I used to be a grad assistant teaching introductory math courses, we had a “math for the biological sciences” course that used a companion text which asserted this factoid. I believe it said the Eiffel Tower, not the Empire State Building, though. After poking around a bit, I find that the text in question was apparently “Mathematics for the Biological Sciences” by Batschelet, long since out of print, and probably outdated in its motivating examples. This particular example aside, it was noteworthy that the text had a section on various ramifications of the “cube / square” law and its relatives. A worthwile thing to try to get people to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/31 "2002-03-26T00:38:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FriendRob \* > \*\*I’ve seen a squirrel fall out of a 30-ft tree, but I didn’t see if it survived. My friend had a squirrel land at her feet after falling out of a tree, and it got up and scampered off. Mice are a lot smaller and so have even smaller terminal velocity, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could survive such a fall. Above the height it takes to reach terminal velocity, the height of the fall doesn’t matter at all, so well or skyscraper, the mouse is fine. \*\* although your conclusion may be right, there are a couple of questionable points: Squirrels spend most of their time in the tops of trees, mice don’t; thus one might reasonably expect squirrels to be better adapted to survive a considerable fall than mice (maybe stronger leg bones etc) and although a squirrel’s body is larger, they have an enormous fluffy tail and flaps of stretchy skin that that they can extend by spreading out their legs; the whole ensemble forms quite an effective parachute, having a marked effect on terminal velocity - a mouse has no such adaptations. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949/32 "2002-03-26T00:48:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DocCathode \* > \*\* It was actually an experiment involving a Priest’s calico that led to Galileo’s excommunication. \*\* I saw this film in Junior High School. **" Galileo Meets Calicola "**. It had quite an impact. —pan-- 😃 Cartooniverse [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-mouse-live-if-dropped-from-the-empire-state-building/99949.md?page=1)