Dropping a PEN from a Sky Scraper! (tested in slow motion)

Testing the Penny thrown from the Empire State Building myth AND the follow up, dropping a pen too This was fun to test! Drop pennies all day, but keep those pens on the ground!

#pennyempirestatebuilding #pennydrop #pendrop #empirestatebuilding #slowmotion

[joshuahancock]

I did some quick maths on this out of curiosity. A .22 short fires a bullet with about 95 joules of kinetic energy. Assuming a 15 gram pen going 80 m/s (about 180 mph), that gives a kinetic energy of 48 joules, about half that of the .22 short. Now .22 short is a pretty weak bullet… BUT ITS STILL A BULLET. On top of that, the pen has a very fine point that would allow it to exert an enormous pressure on contact. So yeah, if the pen can reach into the 150-200 mph range, it’s basically a super weak bullet. Freaky.

[az_exit]

Problem is, there's never a pen when you really need one.

[Instantur]

I am now going to live in constant fear of pens falling from tall buildings

[christopherdaniel]

Don't forget the prevalence of modern "tactical pens" which weight considerably more.
Some even have a carbide glass-breaker point at the base.

If it's designed to be a defensive tool,
you really don't want it to fall from a skycraper!

[shaneshepherd]

Terminal velocity should be a factor. Especially from dropping it, not forcing it with all that pressure behind it.

[Itsabuzzworld]

Wow! That’s crazy that a plastic pen can do that much damage! And, the math is hurting my brain…

[IMRROcom]

Look up the "Lazy Dog Bomb" and "Flechette" some of them are as small as a finger bone.... Then on the opposite side see if you can reproduce "Rods From God" from "Project Thor"

[minerharry]

Center of gravity probably has less effect than the fact that the cap is wider and the ridge between body and cap creates drag, meaning the center of pressure (drag) is above the center of mass. Great video!

[ProfessionalByNoMeans]

How u don't get more views is beyond me. You make awesome videos!!!! Please don't stop.

[JoelCreates]

That worked far too well for my personal comfort, great video

[petersmythe]

My guess is that your 60% point down pen is still flailing wildly on the way down and that it probably doesn't go over about 50 mph. Look at the difference between the depth in the dummy and the depth in the ground. Pens do not act like flechettes unless you shoot them out of a cannon.

[vincentrobinette]

The pen in the tube test isn't valid, because the tube diameter is smaller than the length of the pen. The tube was serving as a guide, which helped keep the pen at the vertical. The drone drop test would be much more valid. The real test would be dropping the pen from a calibrated altitude, and measure the elapsed time from release to impact with the ground. That would give a more accurate idea of the terminal velocity of the pen. Typically, it would fall, heavy end first, considering the similar taper at both ends. This pen seems to be balanced right in the middle, so it does tend to tumble, hence the huge drop zone field. That lateral movement comes at the expense of terminal velocity. A pen will NOT follow the properties of something like a dart board dart. Obviously, a dart has fletching on the light end, and a heavy weight on the pin end. It will fall straight down, and it would go fast. Tossing something like that off a skyscraper would be way too dangerous for me to even suggest!

[MegaNandoXZ]

Mythbusters did the "penny drop" test many years, and the myth has been totally busted. Nice and enjoyable video!

[loosingparts]

That pen never gonna hit that speed. Comparing gravity to leaf blower is more than a little off. I’d be shocked if it went faster than the penny. Certainly not gonna penetrate a skull.

[real_pivot]

now my fking brain tells me to always look up if there's something gonna fall onto my head when going outside bruh

anxiety

[TylerBellMakes]

Wow dude! That's a shocking result with the pen! Nice work.

[mrmatt]

Interesting video. Ps: the sabot didnt separate from the pen and thus its weight would have caused the pen to have somewhat more energy. KE = ½mv2 where m is mass and v is velocity.

[billbaker]

That was really interesting. Wonder what is the practical maximum velocity of an air-driven pen?

[DrRawrs]

The quality of these videos is amazing and far exceededs the view count, I can't wait to be looking a 1m next to your channel name man please keep it up

[Iley_]

I mean. Objects that are not that heavy can be lightly stopped by air when falling.

If it wasn't because of this, rain would probably hurt real bad.