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The Physics Behind Falling Cats: How They Survive High Falls

This article explores the remarkable ability of cats to survive falls from great heights, typically over seven stories, outperforming humans and even other cats falling shorter distances. It delves into the physics that explain this phenomenon, including factors like mass, acceleration time, and terminal velocity. Cats reach their terminal velocity faster, allowing them to adjust their body posture for better impact absorption. Drawing from veterinary records and natural history, we uncover why these feline survivors are better adapted to high falls.

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The Physics Behind Falling Cats: How They Survive High Falls

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  1. Falling Cats: using physics to resolve an apparent biological paradox http://www.flickr.com/photos/nebarnix/322854875/Some rights reserved: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

  2. Cats who fall >7 stories survive… • Better than humans who fall the same distance; and • Better than cats falling <7 stories! WHY? Diamond, J. 1989. How cats survive falls from New York skyscrapers. Natural History 98:20-26 Data are based on veterinary records of accidental falls - not deliberate defenestration of felines.

  3. Explanation = physics: • How hard you hit depends on how fast you are going…which depends on • (a) your mass, and g; • (b) how long you have been accelerating and • (c) your maximum possible falling speed (a.k.a. terminal velocity). • terminal velocity is lower for cats; they reach it sooner; and once they do, they adjust their behavior.

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