Myth

It stands to reason that any object dropped from a great height will be travelling so fast when it hits the ground that anybody who should be so unlucky to get in the way will be killed.

Reality

Whilst falling objects do accelerate due to gravity, there is always an upper limit. This upper limit is caused the 'terminal velocity' and the terminal velocity for a cent coin or penny is likely to be in the 40 - 60mph range. Which in itself sounds very fast. But consider the actual weight of a penny or cent coin. Not very heavy at all. So the impact of such an object, even at 60mph is very unlikely to give anybody underneath more than a bad cut or more likely a bruise. The peanut is even more likely to have little impact (if you pardon the pun) because updrafts on the side of the building are likely to be so strong as to make the peanut travel upwards, not down.

I heard this myth years ago from an Uncle and he speculated that the nut in question might be a heavy industrial type, rather than the salted variety. A nut from a bolt from a major construction could indeed by several hundren grams in weight and would indeed prove fatal to anyone underneath.

Tags: Falling penny, kill