I got to thinking last night that theoretically, with enough hair, the air resistance would slow you down so that your terminal velocity would be low enough to land unharmed. How long would it need to be? How would one go about calculating this?

I assume you need some kind of drag coefficient and a density for hair to start with. Not sure where to find that information.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    2 days ago

    Long and thin may not necessarily have any more drag. It depends on shape, how the airflow follows the body.

    A long thin shape with an idealized nose will keep airflow smooth along it’s length, reducing drag.

    A shorter shape with the same nose will create low-pressure, turbulent areas just behind the nose, inducing more drag because the air doesn’t flow smoothly along the body.

    (I am not an engineer, these are presented simplistically, I’m sure more knowledgeable folks can explain it better).

        • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.netOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          2 days ago

          Typo, I meant hair. Basically, the surface will be much less smooth due to the hair’s motion. So there might be a lot more drag than like a rocket or something.