Can a man survive to a fall from 200m in water, why?

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I have watched videos that say that if your parashute doesn’t open, it’s more recommended to fall in soil or a tree, than water. Why???

In: Physics

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s the standard idea which is that you could certainly drown in that water, but there’s also a thing called surface tension. Soil is softer and trees have branches and whatnot to soften and slow your fall (just don’t aim for the trunk) but water has surface tension. Essentially, you have to break the surface before you can actually get into the water itself, and that can be quite difficult if you’re moving too fast. Surface tension can make water just as hard as concrete if you hit it at sufficient speed.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Water doesn’t compress or absorb the impact as well as other materials. We often experience water as this fun thing to jump into and swim around easily.

However, add a little speed as you try to manuever into and around it… and quickly realize water won’t simply glide around you anymore.

You can test this out by slapping the water with your hand and seeing how stronger slaps leads to a bruised hand. We also see this at the lake as people wind surf and ski behind boats. The water doesn’t let them simply sink down, but rather glide across the top as if it was snow or something more solid. We can further explore examples from people diving, and note how high divers land and what happens when it’s incorrectly done.

Here’s another look at the problem with landing in water.

[Live Science: How Did Teen Survive Fall From Golden Gate Bridge?](https://www.livescience.com/33221-teen-survives-fall-from-golden-gate-bridge.html)

Factors that help

* Age – Young Teens and Kids
* Physical – Being very healthy and active
* Impact – Relaxed Body with good positioning
* Recovery – Swim up for air, rescued quickly
* Luck – Less than 2% survive high falls

Ultimately, the reason for landing in the dirt or almost anywhere but water is a few simple things.

1. Won’t drown after landing
2. Absorbs some of the fall
3. Emergency services can find you, and help quickly

Anonymous 0 Comments

Part of the reason is what happens after you stop. Even if the water is a little better, if you’re severely injured and can’t move, and you’re in water, you could drown. If the same were to happen after hitting the ground or a tree, you can potentially survive until somebody finds you.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Whichever you land on/in is going to hurt more than anything else you’ve experienced and you’re going to need immediate medical attention. If you land in water you’ll probably be too hurt to swim so you’ll drown while hitting land makes it easier for people to reach you.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Think about when you slap water really hard in a swimming pool, the water becomes “hard” and you will hurt your hand. Same goes for falling at 200km/h , you will land as if the water was concrete.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Have you ever belly flopped into a pool, or large surface of water?
That stings right, that’s because the water has surface tension, and it hates to be broken apart when something hits it at high speeds.
Imagine doing a belly flop 199 meters higher than you just did, it would pulverize most bones in your body, and rupture a bunch of organs, not a good idea