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Myth-busters discover what actually happens when you hit someone with a coin from a skyscraper

Home> News

Published 21:15 31 Oct 2022 GMT

Myth-busters discover what actually happens when you hit someone with a coin from a skyscraper

Two myth-busters have revealed whether or not it's actually dangerous to drop a penny from a skyscraper.

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

Two myth-busters have revealed how dangerous it really is to drop a penny from a skyscraper.

Among the many other things I was told not to do as a kid, dropping anything off the side of a bus or tall building was one of the warnings which made my fingers itch in temptation whenever I got close to the edge of a building.

But can a dropped coin really kill someone if pinged off the edge of a building such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben or Empire State Building?

Fear not, because YouTube appears to have got to the bottom of it.

YouTuber Veritasium teamed up with 'original MythBuster' Adam Savage to figure out whether throwing a penny from a skyscraper actually has the capacity to kill someone.

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Having visited the Empire State building and seen mounds of pennies on the ledges below the observation deck, Savage wanted to figure out if people are right to disregard the rumour of pennies being deadly when dropped from such a height, or if by flipping one off the top of the building, you are actually risking a life.

And what better way to find out than putting yourself in the line of fire to test the validity of the theory?

YouTuber Veritasium teamed up with 'original myth-buster' Adam Savage.
Veritasium/ YouTube

According to the myth-busters, a typical coin weighs around 2.5 grams 'which is half to a quarter of the weight of a bullet' (5-10 grams).

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"If you ignore air resistance, a penny dropped from the Empire State building, which is 443 metres to the very top, would accelerate to over 300km/h by the time it hits the ground.

"That's around half as fast as a typical bullet," Veritasium explains.

Veritasium and Savage wanted to test whether a coin being dropped from the Empire State Building could actually be fatal, as rumours say.
Lucky-photographer/ Alamy Stock Photo

Sending Savage up in a helicopter to reach the height required, Veritasium decided to be the one to stay on the ground and get rained upon by coins.

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Thankfully, he was allowed to wear a hard hat and a pair of goggles.

While most of us would be overjoyed if money started raining on us from the sky, Veritasium admitted he ended up getting nervous upon walking out underneath the helicopter, realizing the pair hadn't quite anticipated the 'huge downdraft' caused by the helicopter's wings and subsequently how fast and hard the coins may hit him.

"They feel like tiny little bullets. I feel like I'm going to be bruised after this," he said.

Veritasium resolved the coins felt like 'tiny little bullets' but he didn't think he'd suffer from any more than a bit of bruising.
Veritasium/ YouTube

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The duo then decided to chuck the whole rest of the bucket of coins down, with Veritasium lying on the ground, his whole body pretty much unprotected and as exposed as it could be. Cue some Top Gun: Maverick style music.

As if he'd just been for a quick paint-balling session with his friends, overall, Veritasium noted the coins 'hurt a little' but 'not a lot'.

"It certainly wasn't fatal," he resolved.

Despite this, it's still one you shouldn't ever try at home or the next time you're visiting a skyscraper, so make sure you leave it to the professionals.

Featured Image Credit: Veritasium / YouTube

Topics: YouTube, US News, World News, Viral, Social Media

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

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