Fixing Gravity

[Jeph]

What's with falling in DnD? They say it's 150' the first round, then 300 feet every round after that!

It's 190 feet the first round, increasing by another 190 feet every round! The downward pull of gravity is 32 feet/second/second, not 25 feet / second / second for 12 seconds and then nonexistant after that. Remember 8th grade physics? All in there.

 

[Piratecat]

Here is the correct falling speed.

Time Elapsed	Feet/ Sec		Total distance Fallen			

1 second		32		16	0.00 miles
2 seconds		48		64	0.01 miles
3 seconds		80		144	0.03 miles
4 seconds		112		256	0.05 miles
5 seconds		144		400	0.08 miles
6 seconds		176		576	0.11 miles
7 seconds		208		784	0.15 miles
8 seconds		240		1024	0.19 miles
9 seconds		272		1296	0.25 miles
10 seconds		293		1589	0.30 miles
11 seconds		293		1882	0.36 miles
12 seconds		293		2175	0.41 miles
13 seconds		293		2468	0.47 miles
14 seconds		293		2761	0.52 miles
15 seconds		293		3054	0.58 miles
16 seconds		293		3347	0.63 miles
17 seconds		293		3640	0.69 miles
18 seconds		293		3933	0.74 miles

Thus, in the real world, a person falls 576 feet in the first six seconds, 1599 feet in the second six seconds, and 1758 feet every six seconds thereafter.

 

[Anubis]

You sure about that? My encyclopedia says this:

D=16.08T^2, where D is the distance fallen and T is the number of seconds fallen. This would mean that you don't just fall 293 feet per second after reaching that, but rather you keep falling faster and faster.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Piratecat's formula accounts for air-resistance, I believe. The terminal velocity would vary a bit depending on the posture of the person falling. But not too much.

 

[CRGreathouse]

You sure about that? My encyclopedia says this:

D=16.08T^2, where D is the distance fallen and T is the number of seconds fallen. This would mean that you don't just fall 293 feet per second after reaching that, but rather you keep falling faster and faster.

This is true in the absence of air resistance.

 

[Kibo]

I see your encyclopedia neglected to factor in air resistance. But perhaps it had to do with the difference between the question you were looking to answer, and the question you found the answer to.

Your terminal velocity 25 miles up may well make you the fastest man alive by some standards. A piddly 2 miles, well that's not going to set any speed records.

 

[Kibo]

Piratecat's formula accounts for air-resistance, I believe. The terminal velocity would vary a bit depending on the posture of the person falling. But not too much.

I think a body falling in a random position is something like 180 mph, but when a skydiver is 'diving' they can hit 220 or more. That alone is a nice 20% difference, not bad. And that's not even the difference between the slowest and the fastest.

 

[da chicken]

What's with falling in DnD? They say it's 150' the first round, then 300 feet every round after that!

It's D&D. It is meant to be simple, not accurate.

 

[Ferret]

Here is the correct falling speed.

Time Elapsed	Feet/ Sec		Total distance Fallen			

1 second		32		16	0.00 miles
2 seconds		48		64	0.01 miles
3 seconds		80		144	0.03 miles
4 seconds		112		256	0.05 miles
5 seconds		144		400	0.08 miles
6 seconds		176		576	0.11 miles
7 seconds		208		784	0.15 miles
8 seconds		240		1024	0.19 miles
9 seconds		272		1296	0.25 miles
10 seconds		293		1589	0.30 miles
11 seconds		293		1882	0.36 miles
12 seconds		293		2175	0.41 miles
13 seconds		293		2468	0.47 miles
14 seconds		293		2761	0.52 miles
15 seconds		293		3054	0.58 miles
16 seconds		293		3347	0.63 miles
17 seconds		293		3640	0.69 miles
18 seconds		293		3933	0.74 miles

Thus, in the real world, a person falls 576 feet in the first six seconds, 1599 feet in the second six seconds, and 1758 feet every six seconds thereafter.

Does this have a falling radius

 

[Jeph]

I see that I was almost as off as Wizards. Well, my point was that falling in DnD is extremely unrealistic. I think that p-kitty has added a few layers of highlighter to that.

Wow. When PCs (not piratecats) fall off of cliffs, they sure do go slowly. Just think what would happen if any player that knew physics tried to extrapolate the distance down a chasm by dropping a rock and counting! They'd be off by miles!