A penny dropped from the Empire State Building can kill someone
| A penny dropped from the Empire State Building can kill someone | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "A penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building would fall fast enough to kill a person on the sidewalk." | |
| Domain | Science & Space |
| Tactic | Pseudoscience / Junk Science |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 20th century |
| Origin | Urban legend repeated in schools and on tours of New York |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-30 |
| Further reading: books on Science & Space | |
Schoolchildren often hear that a penny dropped from a skyscraper would hit with the force of a bullet.
Physics says otherwise. A penny is light and flat, and air resistance stops it from speeding up very much.
What the evidence shows
- Terminal velocity. Physicist Louis Bloomfield of the University of Virginia found that a falling penny reaches a top speed of roughly 40 to 80 kilometers (25 to 50 miles) per hour, because it flutters and air resistance balances gravity.
- Tests. Experiments, including on MythBusters in 2003, showed a penny at that speed would sting but would not cause serious injury.
- Wind. Updrafts around tall buildings often blow small objects back onto lower ledges.
Why it matters
Children should still not drop things from heights, since heavier or pointed objects can be dangerous. The penny legend is a good lesson in air resistance.
Sources
- Scientific American, "Is a penny dropped from the Empire State Building really deadly?"
- Louis A. Bloomfield, How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life, Wiley.
- Discovery Channel, MythBusters, "Penny Drop," 2003.