Are the A-Team A-Okay?
Keywords:
Film, Physics, Mechanics, Terminal velocity, Drag, The A-TeamAbstract
This paper will look at the scene in the movie The A-Team when a tank parachutes its way to the ground with the team inside. The terminal velocity of the tank, with three parachutes and then one parachute will be calculated as per the film. The terminal velocity of the tank with three parachutes was found to reach 20.3 ms-1, and 35.1 ms-1 with only one of the parachutes. The probability of survival at these speeds was then explored, based on the amount of G-force that a person can experience before becoming fatal. The terminal velocities that were calculated were found to be 2.1 and 3.6 times larger than the fatal velocity of an impact, for three and one parachutes respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that The A-Team would not have survived the fall, as is shown in the movie.
References
The A-Team (2010) Directed by Joe Carnahan [Film]. USA: 20th Century Fox.
TheGraveMind (2011) You can't fly a tank fool!. Theback40k.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://theback40k.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/you-cant-fly-tank-fool.html [Accessed 14th March 2018].
Woodford, C. (2018). How parachutes work | The science of air resistance. Explain that Stuff. Available at: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-parachutes-work.html [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Benson, T. (1999). Velocity During Recovery. Grc.nasa.gov. Available at: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/rktvrecv.html [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Grc.nasa.gov. (2015). Air Properties Definitions. Grc.nasa.gov. Available at: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/airprop.html [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Military-today.com. (2018). M8 Buford Light Tank | Military-Today.com. Available at: http://www.military-today.com/tanks/m8_buford.htm [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Roland, J. & Bubnis, D. (2018) Average Weight for Men: By Age, Height, and More. Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/average-weight-for-men [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Mills Manufacturing (2018). G-11 Cargo Parachute | Mills Manufacturing Military Parachutes. Available at: http://www.millsmanufacturing.com/products/g-11-parachute/ [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Reed, K. (2003). Re: In a vacuum, can an ant survive a fall that would kill a human?. Madsci.org. Available at: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2003-11/1068660102.Bp.r.html [Accessed 13th March 2018].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0).
