Just read a story of a woman throwing her baby from a burning building to people below, which got me thinking: If the woman jumped with the babe in arms, and was falling at say 40 mph, but threw the baby upwards in the air the split second before she hit the ground (say 3 feet from the ground), would the babe hit the ground at whatever speed it takes to fall from 3 feet?
Yes, just like if you're ever in a jumbo jet that's plummeting to the earth, simply open the exit door, wait until just before it's about to hit the ground and forward roll to safety. This also works in plunging lifts. Simply jump just before it hits the bottom.
The baby would probably hit the ground at 39.9 mph, so I think it would be ok, but it also depends whether the mother catches it again on the ground.
I was going to say that the baby would need to come to a falling speed of zero for that to happen.. like you only see in cartoons. Then i found this.. Common sense really but if you can match forward and backward momentum it should equal zero and the object would indeed "stand still" I guess the same applies when falling? If so you would still need to throw the baby at 40 mph while falling at the same speed yourself. I dont think anyone is capable of throwing a baby at that speed.. so i'd say BUSTED!
Wouldn’t the act of throwing the baby result in an equal force in the opposite direction? In other words speeding you up by the same amount that you send the baby in the other direction, so they don’t actually go anywhere? I have a vague memory of a similar problem at school involving a van full of canaries. If they all sat down at once they’d be too heavy for the suspension, so if they all flew around in the back of the van would it be ok? The ultimate answer was no, because by flying they would exert a downward force on the van equal to their weight anyway.
