The Fatal Physics of Falling Objects

This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. Check out Adam Savage's video: https://youtu.be/h_zytOcMwys

A massive thanks to Adam Savage and the whole Tested Crew – especially Kristen Lomasney, Ryan Kiser, and Joey Fameli. Thank you so much for coming out to the desert with us, and for inviting us to your cave! Check out the video we made with them on their channel – https://youtu.be/h_zytOcMwys

Another huge thanks to iFly Ontario for letting us shoot in your amazing windtunnel. Special thanks to Diana Rios, Treasa Telle, Michelle Brumley for having us and Anthony and Torrell for being great instructors. iFly run STEM education trips, where you can experience terminal velocity first hand – https://www.iflyworld.com/programs/stem-field-trips/

Thanks to Inland Empire Film Services and the San Bernardino County Film Office for portions of the video shot in the County of San Bernardino.

The raindrop video is from Alistair McClymont’s gorgeous artwork “Raindrop” – ​​https://alistairmcclymont.com/artwork/raindrop/

Video of the raindrop breaking apart is from the coolest paper i’ve read in a while – Villermaux, E., & Bossa, B. (2009). Single-drop fragmentation determines size distribution of raindrops. Nature physics, 5(9), 697-702. – https://ve42.co/Villermaux



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References:
Altair. (2019). Digital Debunking: Could a Penny Dropped Off the Top of the Empire State Building Actually Kill You? - https://ve42.co/Altair2019


Braeunig, R.A. Atmosphere Properties. - https://ve42.co/AtmosProp


The Guardian. (2014). Brutal winter weather brings new challenge: ice falling from skyscrapers - https://ve42.co/WTCicicle


NASA. (2018). The Apollo 15 Hammer-Feather Drop - https://ve42.co/NASAmoondrop


Red Bull Stratos - https://ve42.co/RBStratos


Quealy, K., Sanger-KatzIn, M. (2015). In Other Countries, You’re as Likely to Be Killed by a Falling Object as by a Gun. New York Times. - https://ve42.co/NYTFallingObject


National Safety Council. (2022). Struck by Objects. - https://ve42.co/NSCStruck


Williams, A. (2019). What are your chances of being killed by hail in the US? - https://ve42.co/Williams2019


NewScientist. (2021). Can bullets fired upwards cause injuries when they return to earth? - https://ve42.co/CelebratoryGunFire

Chambers, J. (2020). Meet the Flechette – the Deadliest Weapon of World War I? - https://ve42.co/Flechette

Wikipedia. Lazy Dog (bomb). - https://ve42.co/LazyDog

Gläser, N., Kneubuehl, B. P., Zuber, S., Axmann, S., Ketterer, T., Thali, M. J., & Bolliger, S. A. (2011). Biomechanical examination of blunt trauma due to baseball bat blows to the head. Journal of Forensic Biomechanics, 2 - https://ve42.co/Glaser2011

Yoganandan, N., Pintar, F. A., SANCES JR, A. N. T. H. O. N. Y., Walsh, P. R., Ewing, C. L., Thomas, D. J., & Snyder, R. G. (1995). Biomechanics of skull fracture. Journal of neurotrauma, 12(4), 659-668.

New York Times. (2014). Falling Tape Measure Kills Man at Jersey City Construction Site - The New York Times - https://ve42.co/NYTTapeMeasure

IMDb. (2006). "MythBusters" Bullets Fired Up (TV Episode). - https://ve42.co/MBgunfire

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Special thanks to: Elliot MIller, Louis Lebbos, RayJ Johnson, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin, Jr., OnlineBookClub.org, Matthew Gonzalez, Eric Sexton, john kiehl, Nathan Lanza, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Dumky, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Michael Schneider, jim buckmaster, Juan Benet, Robert Blum, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi, Ron Neal

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Written by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, and Emily Zhang
Filmed by Derek Muller, Trenton Oliver, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang, Raquel Nuno and Eddie Lopez
Animation by Ivy Tello, Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, and Jakub Misiek
Edited by Trenton Oliver and Derek Muller
FPV Drone Pilots: Sammie Saing and Josh Ewalt
Slow Motion Camera: Shawn Sanders and Anthony Corrales
Helicopter Pilots: Rick Shuster and Cliff Fleming
Helicopter Safety Officer: Ryan Hosking
Production Assistants: Roman Bacvic and Eddie Lopez
Research Assistant: Katie Barnshaw
Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 and Getty Images
Music from Epidemic Sound
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang