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Old 9th Mar 2014, 22:59
  #1048 (permalink)  
mseyfang
 
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On the freefall time, the 3+ minute estimate is a bit off.

s=ut + 0.5at^2, assuming an initial vertical velocity of 0, and initial height s=8000m (I can't be bothered to convert 35,000' to m), t would be around 40s.
It's been awhile since I took physics, but I came up with 46 seconds doing the conversion. Problem is, that particular equation does not take into account air resistance and terminal velocity (around 60 m/s). I'd say 3 minutes is probably closer the real answer. I found an equation that does take air resistance into account, but I don't feel like doing calculus today.
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