Most people have heard of the myth that a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill someone.
Mythbusters tested myth to verify whether or not this is a valid claim. They used a gun that fired a penny at 64.4 MPH, the speed at which a penny would fall from the top of the Empire State Building. They fired the penny at a ballistics dummy, and it caused very little damage. They then proceeded to fire the gun at a human. While it hurt somewhat, it definitely wasn’t enough force to kill, or even seriously injure a human.
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/drop-penny-off-empire-state-building-2015-12
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Eleanora Fitzpatrick
January 25, 2021
I forgot to add that I was unsure of what the outcome of this search would be. I have heard this myth many times and crazier things have happened. This likely affected the bias that I had going into the search.
JD Mangum
January 26, 2021
I really liked how you did this myth because it pops up everywhere i wasn’t sure if it was true or not. i also like how you explained how they tested it to show what it would actually do.
xburritosx
January 26, 2021
I really liked reading this! I’ve actually heard this myth quite a few times, but I didn’t know that it was a myth until just now. I also liked how you described the experiment they conducted.