Last January, a fully intact iPhone was discovered on the side of an Alaska Airlines plane after its door exploded and it fell 16,000 feet. We mentioned at the time that it was incredible that the iPhone 14 Pro Max survived such a dramatic fall.
Joanna Stern from The Wall Street JournalHowever, he was determined to get more answers.
As a reminder, the iPhone 14 Pro Max that fell from 16,000 feet during an Alaska Airlines flight was covered in a case and landed on the grass.
Joanna conducted a series of drop tests using an iPhone 14 and a Samsung Galaxy S23 Results vary between different tests, but the original test involved dropping both phones without a cover from a height of 90 meters onto a grassy area.
Joana as a result of falling from a height of 90 meters on the grass? Apart from some dirt and grass deposits, both phones “suffered no real damage”.
Joanna sets out to find an explanation and talks to several experts to get a science lesson. Why can an iPhone survive a fall from an airplane but not from a bathroom counter?
“It doesn’t matter if you drop the phone 300 feet or from space,” says Mark Robert, a former NASA mechanical engineer turned YouTuber. “The same result would be due to something called terminal velocity.”
I contacted Brett Allen, associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. He explained that due to the mass, size and shape of the smartphone, the speed of the smartphone will increase until it reaches 60 miles per hour. At this point, air resistance prevents going faster.
He assured me that for all these devices with or without the box, 300 feet of air is enough to reach their terminal velocity.
There is one more physical concept that needs to be taken into account: reduction, often referred to as “collision with something”. Robert and Allen explain that grass cushions the impact of a falling object, allowing for slower decay. Asphalt – or hard surfaces like bathroom tiles – cause a much more abrupt drop.
You can watch Joanna’s full video below. It’s one of the best! Check out his full post The Wall Street Journal website.
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