Are the A-Team A-Okay?

Matthew PERKINS

Abstract


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.


Keywords


Film; Physics; Mechanics; Terminal velocity; Drag; The A-Team

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References


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