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by Fluffdragon on June 15th, 2006

Fluffdragon

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Why does cats alwys land on their feet?

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  • by Darkling on July 12th, 2007

    Darkling

    Not always. I've seen some attempts by my cats to jump up on things end up in a faceplant or an undignified rump landing. That said, cats have a method for landing on their feet if they have enough time before impact. They can get themselves turned around in mid-air and then spread out like a flying squirrel to slow their descent. Cats tend to survive their injuries if they fall from a height of at least seven stories and the furthest a cat is known to have fallen and lived was 46 stories!

    There are two reasons cats can survive such high falls. The first is that they are able to land on their feet. To do this, a cat must first get his head oriented properly. His tail whips around to provide balance and stability. His shoulders turn after the head and his spine twists to rotate the hips into place (click on the image to see this).

    When a cat falls, he feels himself picking up speed and bunches up in terror. This makes him MORE aerodynamic and he will fall faster until he reaches terminal velocity (the fastest he can go with gravity as the only acceleration against drag). Once he no longer feels himself accelerating, he will relax and spread his legs out. His loose skin acts a bit like a parachute to increase drag and reduce his terminal velocity to something that he is likely to survive.

    When he finally does reach the ground, he bends his knees to help absorb the impact. The most common injury for cats that managed to get themselves turned around is a broken jaw. This happens because bending their knees often causes their chin to hit the ground.

    Sources:
    http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_190.html
    http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=69163

    Image Source:
    http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/Images/ae411a.jpg

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