Why can a cat live if it fall with terminal velocity and it is so hard when it's moving near terminal velocity, but in accelerated motion? I know the net force is equal zero. How can I explain to high school students?
Micaias,
I confess, I am not sure what you mean.
What do you mean by 'accelerated motion'?
Note, the power-law dependence of bone cross-section and weight means that smaller animals can generally tolerate far higher accelerations than larger ones.
If I experience acceleration at 20g, possibly fatal trauma occurs. A flea, by contrast, can probably tolerate that without noticing it.
In case you mean to ask the effects of impact on an animal falling at terminal velocity (which still experiences the acceleration due to gravity) vs. the impact if an additional force is being exerted in the downward direction, then it is obvious that the reaction force on the animal upon impact will be higher in the latter case, which lowers its probability of surviving the impact.
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