# Would you die from 11 meters drop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270 "2020-02-21T00:38:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/61 "2020-02-22T17:24:20Z")
The rule of thumb for construction workers is that they are supposed to be afraid of only the first couple of stories. After the first 30 feet it doesn’t matter how far you fall. So yes, 11 meters is enough to not care any more. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/62 "2020-02-22T19:06:46Z")
I read somewhere that if you die in a fall while working construction you get paid for the whole day no matter when it happens, or rather your estate gets paid. Might be urban legend or maybe it’s in some union contracts ---
**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:** [February 22, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/63 "2020-02-22T20:23:30Z")
But if a premature blast goes off and you’re launched a mile in the air, will your pay be docked for the time you were up in the sky? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/64 "2020-02-22T21:28:04Z")
It’s not how fast you go, it’s how fast you stop that matters. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/65 "2020-02-22T23:47:10Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Not for all the money in the world My wife is an IRON MAN (full distance) x5 finisher, and pretty tough. She and a girl friend snuck into a college pool (when a bit younger) and they climbed up to the 10 meter board. Very, very hard step to make. And that was only ~ 33 feet. That could fuck you up. I can’t imagine 172 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/66 "2020-02-23T02:17:18Z")
The math is interesting and everything, and am surprised others are giving it far better odds at survival than I would. The only figure I need is the 36 feet, and the other two factors, head first onto concrete. If he truly came straight down head first, arms not stretched out, but to his sides, and not veering at any angle, it just doesn’t seem survivable to me at all. Seems like it would break their neck instantly. A [standard drop for hanging of 4-6 feet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) breaks the neck. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/67 "2020-02-23T02:21:36Z")
> [@Razncain](#): > > The math is interesting and everything, and am surprised others are giving it far better odds at survival than I would. The only figure I need is the 36 feet, and the other two factors, head first onto concrete. If he truly came straight down head first, arms not stretched out, but to his sides, and not veering at any angle, it just doesn’t seem survivable to me at all. Seems like it would break their neck instantly. > > A [standard drop for hanging of 4-6 feet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) breaks the neck. People routinely survive broken necks though. I’d be more concerned about having my brain splattered all over the concrete floor…! ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/68 "2020-02-23T02:45:36Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > It’s not how fast you go, it’s how fast you stop that matters. Within the last few days (maybe in a YouTube video), I heard the old anecdote about the guy who jumped off the Empire State Building and said as he passed the 80th floor: “So far, so good!” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/69 "2020-02-23T02:50:19Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > My wife is an IRON MAN (full distance) x5 finisher, and pretty tough. > > She and a girl friend snuck into a college pool (when a bit younger) and they climbed up to the 10 meter board. Very, very hard step to make. And that was only ~ 33 feet. That could fuck you up. I can’t imagine 172 feet. I’ve stepped off a 10 meter diving board. It’s a completely unfamiliar situation, that doesn’t match your mental map of the world. That is, from the top, it looked like the diving pool was so small I might miss it. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/70 "2020-02-23T03:18:50Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > A question for you is what class is this, what grade/school level is it, and how bad do you need this class? I’m someone else but my WAG-self sees a writing assignment: Create a story / report / essay / news bulletin about some falling schlub. For extra credit, describe the trajectories (if any) of flying eyeballs, teeth, grey matter, etc. I vaguely recall that a free-lance writer obtained owed money by grasping ankles and dangling his publisher from a high window. How far up would suffice to persuade the publisher to pay? > [@outlierrn](#): > > It’s not how fast you go, it’s how fast you stop that matters. For a nice quibble, Emma didn’t specify that the concrete had cured. If it’s freshly poured, still soggy and soft, the dropped schlub might have a chance of paralysis instead of death. If he doesn’t drown. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/71 "2020-02-23T03:32:15Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > If it’s freshly poured, still soggy and soft, the dropped schlub might have a chance of paralysis instead of death. An optimist. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/72 "2020-02-23T03:32:20Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > … There’s a nice trick that simplifies this analysis. Instead of going through the machinations to calculate kinetic energy and then impact force, you can compute the ratio of the accelerating distance (11 meters) and the stopping distance (5mm in the first case). If you accelerate at 1G over 11 meters, then stopping from that velocity in 5mm will result in (11/0.005=) 2200G. Now you can use f=ma: a 5-kg head decelerated at 2200G will produce 108,000 Newtons of force. The force would never get this high because the unhelmeted skull will shatter into pieces. You better bring a mop. … And that is the skull, not the squidgy brain which is having to decelerate in much the same distance. Even if the cranium remained intact it would be like throwing a wedding cake in a box at a wall and hoping it will still look nice at the reception. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/73 "2020-02-23T04:10:53Z")
Is there, actually, _any_ reliable evidence of _anyone_ surviving an 11 m drop, to a concrete floor, landing on their head? (If it’s not on Youtube, it didn’t happen!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/74 "2020-02-24T05:05:37Z")
There was this today: > **[A FedEx driver jumped off a bridge to avoid an oncoming truck and fell 75...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/23/us/fedex-driver-75-foot-fall-trnd/index.html)** > > Jeremiah Cribb was only trying to fit a good deed into his overnight driving shift. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/75 "2020-02-25T00:40:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But if a premature blast goes off and you’re launched a mile in the air, will your pay be docked for the time you were up in the sky? Only if the foreman is Jim McCann. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/76 "2020-02-25T05:25:45Z")
> [@Emma33559637](#): > > I need to know this for my homework and I cant really fond it anywhere so can you die from landing head first from a 36 foot drop onto concrete. 36 foot drop HEAD FIRST onto concrete? It is almost impossible to _not_ die from that. You would hit the ground at about 50 feet per second. 14,69m/s. 32,8 mph. The concrete would hit your skull about 17 times harder than a heavyweight boxer’s knockout punch. A not-head-first landing would likely be survivable, but you are likely to wish you had died. Several broken bones are likely. A really skilled Parkour should be able to land without permanent injury, but will still have a lot of bruises. For your homework you would need to show where these numbers come from. Try this link for kinematics calculations, it not only gives the answer but also shows the line of thought needed to get there. > **[Kinematic Equation Calculator](https://www.mathcelebrity.com/kinematic.php?d=%2B11&a=%2B9.8&t=&vi=0&vf=&pl=Calculate)** > > Kinematic Equation Calculator ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/77 "2020-02-25T09:36:09Z")
Depends what sort of meter. My electric meter is only 10 or so centimetres across, so 11 of them,even stacked up, a metre or thereabouts - not too dangerous. Water meter is even smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f14d63/32.png) [@Paul\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_C)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/78 "2020-02-25T20:50:03Z")
It depends and depends again. A fall doesn’t have to be deadly under 50 feet but 5 feet could be just as well. What you fall onto and what position you’re in matter a great deal more. For example if you fell on grass it could be dry hard ground underneath causing more injuries. If the ground was damp and loamy you could have less injury. If you fell into some bushes with thick foliage and flexible branches it could soften your fall. Hard, solid branches could impale through soft tissue causing lots of damage. If you were talking about landing on concrete I’d say your chances of survival were much lower if you were an overweight adult due to greater rate of velocity. A child tends to fare better as the speed of the fall is decreased as is impact. Head injury is much more likely for children. Landing partially on your right side legs out in a seated position, arms below the chest slightly bent would give the greatest chance of survival. You would break your pelvis, femurs, tibia, ribs, radius, ulna, humerus and possibly fracture your skull. The idea is to sacrifice your arms and legs and preserve the head and upper torso. I think your chance of survival are slightly greater although you might wish you were dead. Instant death is less likely but you could die from internal bleeding within 30 minutes. Every minute that you’re left untreated increases your chance of dying from injuries. So, in effect your chance of dying is greater than 60% if untreated for hours. Your chance of immediate survival are greater unless you receive a massive chest, lower brain stem or spinal cord injury which could kill you instantly. That’s a lot of factors to weigh. I’d put your overall survival at 50% although you are slightly more likely to survive the fall in the short term…Are you planning on pushing someone off of something that’s 11 metres or jumping it yourself? I suggest doing neither myself but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/79 "2020-02-25T20:59:14Z")
What grade did you get on your homework, **Emma**? ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270/80 "2020-02-25T21:01:30Z")
As others have pointed out, it’s almost as though many if not most commenters are answering the title, not the post. Emphases mine. > [@Emma33559637](#): > > I need to know this for my homework and I cant really fond it anywhere so can you die from _ **landing head first** _ from a 36 foot drop _ **onto concrete** _. And again yes, you almost certainly will die from **landing head first** from a 36 foot drop **onto concrete**. I’m not even sure how or why this would be cited. Same as something like “Would you die if you were teleported to the middle of the Sun?” I mean, yes, you will? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-die-from-11-meters-drop/848270.md?page=5)