physics question #3208

Jordan Green, a 11 year old male from Toronto asks on February 1, 2006,

Q:

Today a girl in my class asked the question "Can you save yourself from an elevator falling 10 floors by jumping at the last second?" But that was mistake. Instead of telling us he told us to do reseach (not that I don't like it). So thats the question I have.Can you save yourself from an elevator falling 10 floors by jumping at the last second?
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the answer

Barry Shell answered on February 9, 2006, A:

This question has been answered in numerous other places online. A couple of good ones are The Straight Dope and Robert Mason's excellent page of answers. The short answer: it won't help. If anything it would make the 30 meter fall feel like a 26 meter fall if you time the jump perfectly. Not that much help.

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