Why Are Cats Better Than Us At Falling?
Classical Mechanics
Level
1
The lion in the picture above landed unharmed after jumping 30 feet out of a tree. Lions (and other cats) can do this without harming themselves, while people can't, because
__
.
They have better musculature than people
All three of the other options
They have a lower terminal velocity
They have four legs
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6 solutions
The answer is all three. Lions and other cats are able to traverse long distances in free fall without much harm. Felines have a righting mechanism, by which they can orient themselves in midair such that their paws are down. This allows them to use their natural advantages to survive. First, they have four legs, so the shock of impact can be absorbed by twice as many appendages as for people. Thereby the force that needs to be exerted by each appendage is half that as for people. Second, their musculature is simply better than humans, which allows more force to safely be exerted by their paws and in turn slows down their body in a shorter amount of time.
Finally, the ability of cats to right themselves allows them to “spread out” a bit in mid-air. This increases the force of air resistance on their bodies and gives them a lower terminal velocity. With a lower terminal velocity there is less momentum to remove from the cat’s body when it hits the ground. Hence the force required to stop the cat is lessened.
Moral of the story: cats don’t have nine lives, but they have biological advantages to keeping their one life intact.