No shockwave to speak of. The top speed the body will reach in a minimum drag configuration (head down, limbs tucked in) is about 250mph. Nice splat, no shockwave.

In a maximum drag configuration (belly down, limbs spread eagled), the person will reach 120mph, give or take. Maybe some splat, but again, no shockwave.

Most objects have a terminal velocity (top falling speed in the atmosphere without power assist) of 300mph or less. Only planes or aerodynamic shapes get faster without power assist, and it's possible to go faster in the higher, thinner atmosphere (where falling humans have brushed mach 1 in, IIRC, the USAF "Man High" project).

Incidentally, assuming no drag, it would take a 637m fall to reach that 250mph top (normal) human speed, or about 2100ft. With drag, somewhat longer, perhaps closer to a kilometer/3000ft.

blech, that post alone is worth the "Things You Don't Want to Hear While On a Run..."

Question is... can you macguyver those items together in the given time span to help slow your fall down? hehehe...

I think the main question now is instead of shockwave (which has been proven won't happen) of how large of a splatter you'll make on the ground below....

Sorry, but i think that Mr. Newton proved that just because something is heavier does not mean that it falls any faster. Go get a hammer and a soda can and drop them at the same time and see which hits the ground first.

'Twas Galileo that showed things fall at equal rate independent of mass (excluding air resistance).

Newton explained it, but Galileo was first to demonstrate it.

thanks, I always get them mixed up.

Actually, that theory only works in a drag-free environment. On the moon, free of air, a hammer and feather fall at the same rate.

On Earth, thick with air, a hammer and feather fall at very different rates.

Likewise, a titanium-BL troll would probably fall faster than a human, owing to much greater mass, reduced by somewhat greater surface area.

Tandem parachutists (like Bush Sr. recently) have to deploy drag chutes to keep their fall rate to 120mph. With twice the rate and only slightly greater frontal area, they can reach 200mph and higher without that small chute slowing them down.

Given that terminal velocity is proportional to the square root of (weight/surface area), and that area increases by the square and weight by the cube (assuming constant density), them a troll will be have a terminal velocity about 41% higher than a human (root 2... Troll about twice the height therefore 4 times the area and 8 times the mass... 8/4 = 2).

Thios will double the KE velocity compnent (root 2 squared...) and be 8 times the mass component, for a total KE 16 times greater... so 1lb of TNT....

Most of the energy will still go into pulping the body rather than creating a shockwave... but I'd like to be about 4 times further away from the impact to avoid the splatter.

Oh yes, bear in mind when equating energies to x amount of TNT that the TNT releases its energy in thousands or ten-thousandths of a second, whereas a body impact will release the energy over hundredths of a second (so a good 10-100 times less peak energy output)

BTW and just for giggles, the 100kJ for the human impact would raise the temperature of the water content in the body (assuming 70% water) by a mere 0.5C, even if *all* the energy just went into heating up the mess. For the troll (assuming similar ratio of water content) it would rise 1C (16 times the energy, 8 times the mass of water, thus twice the temperature increase).

Most of the energy will be dissipated by various elastic collisions within the body as it decelerates, breaking bones, heating up the body (a tiny bit), heating up the ground (even less) denting the sidewalk, splattering blood and other mushy bits around within a few feet of the impact, making a sickening 'crump' noise, and finally producing a shockwave that would be no stronger (in all likelyhood) than a single sturdy waft from a large old-fasioned ladies fan.

You might feel a brief gust of air if you are within a few feet, but there will not be windows across the street shattering or car alarms going off (unless the body landed on the car in question... which would crumple and absorb more energy so even less shockwave then...)

Why would that be odd?

~J

Oh, I don't know....

"Sarah, I'm telling you the guy would go splat. I don't care what you say.... oh yeah, Bob, pass me the popcorn."

- theartthief

No. The physical definition of "shock wave" is the phenomenon caused by a body moving through a medium faster than sound can travel through it. At the leading edge of said object, molecules build up upon each other, creating a compressional wave of large amplitude. The "sound barrier". That pressure is eventually released, which is the cause of what is most commonly known as "sonic boom".

What you're thinking of is pure CGI magic. Concrete and glass are not that flexible, even in slow motion. It will just shatter.

Not at all.. As a GM nothing is funnier then a free fall from a high window!!! As far as damage goes, its still : power= 1/2 meters fallen, and the letter is based on teh power number per the collision chart?

Pity.
Okay...
What combination of cyber would best enable you to survive said fall with a minimum of injury (obviously there's going to be some, but, eh, thems the breaks).

Oh, by the way, replace the drone with a dwarf with his legs tucked under his armpits and a troll with a beefed up cyber leg, much more fun (and cliched).

That will still create a sudden stop on your hand, if it doesn't snap first. About the only thing that avoids sudden stop is a parachute.

If it works correctly. Chutes can have "hard openings" sometimes.

When I took my skydiving lessons many moons ago, one of my questions was "Did you ever know a skydiver to piss themselves in fear on their first jump?"

The answer was to the effect of, "No, but I knew a skydiver with 1200-odd jumps under his belt who had a hard opening and chose the wrong moment to fart. He had some cleaning and scraping to do when he landed."

Sounds good to me.