Killer Litter

from an engineering perspective

Arjun Kumar
A0184303M
A Question….

Anywhere close to
deadly?
Force on Impact
Flower pot from eight storey HDB
 mass = 2 kg
∆𝑝
𝐹=
𝑡
24 m 𝑣 = 2𝑔ℎ
= 21.6 𝑚𝑠 −1
𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣 = 43.2 𝑘𝑔 𝑚𝑠 −1
 𝑝 = 43.2 𝑘𝑔 𝑚𝑠 −1

𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑝 Assuming the skull and pot

𝑡= 𝑝=0
21.6 𝑚𝑠 −1 don't break!
 Females = 6 mm
Sadly for
Males = 4.6 mm

Average would be around 5 mm

 ∆𝑝
5𝑚𝑚 𝐹=
𝑡= = 0.00025 𝑠 𝑡
21.6 𝑚𝑠 −1 43.2
= N
0.00025

= 173,200 𝑁
𝟏𝟕𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝑵!
=

x3 Asian Elephants
Some Perspective…..

3x
Some factors that we did not account….

Height

Air drag Nature of object Velocity change

during impact
 How much of a factor is
Height?
𝑣= 2𝑔ℎ𝑛
𝑣α ℎ
Average height of a Singaporean is 1.65 m
ℎ𝑛 22.35
=
24 m ℎ 24
X 15
ℎ𝑛 = 0.93ℎ

𝑣𝑛 = 0.93𝑣
𝑣𝑛 = 0.96𝑣
 Drag Force?

𝐹𝑑 𝛼 𝐴 𝐹𝑑 𝛼 𝜌 𝐹𝑑 𝛼 𝑣 2

𝐹𝑑 𝛼 𝜌𝐴𝑣 2

1 2
𝐹𝑑 = 𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴𝑣
2
What’s the drag coefficient?
2𝐹𝑑
𝐶𝑑 =
𝜌𝐴𝑣 2
Drag coefficient comparison ( 𝐶𝑑 )

1.0
0.24
0.072

136 km/h , 38 m/s 250 km/h , 70 m/s 390 km/h , 110 m/s
Terminal Velocity

1
𝐹𝑑 = 𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴𝑣 2
2
𝐹𝑑 = 𝑚𝑔

1
𝑚𝑔 = 𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴𝑣 2
2
2𝑚𝑔
𝐹𝑑 𝑚𝑔 𝑣=
𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴
Some quick maths…
2𝑚𝑔
𝑣=
𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴

11.5 m 2 𝑥 2 𝑥 9.8
𝑣=
2 𝑥 1.23 𝑥 𝜋(0.15)2

−1
𝑣 = 15 𝑚𝑠
Takes around 1.5s, 11.5 m

𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣 = 30 𝑚𝑠 −1
Adding the factor of velocity change…

Assuming change in velocity

during impact is linear. ∆𝑝
15 𝐹=
𝑉𝑎𝑣𝑔 = = 7.5 𝑚𝑠 −1 𝑡
2 30
= N
0.0007
5 𝑚𝑚
𝑡= −1
= 0.0007 𝑠 = 𝟒𝟐, 𝟖𝟓𝟕 𝑵
7.5 𝑚𝑠
75% decrease
Thanks to gravity!

army 5 tonner
One equation to solve them all….
𝑚𝑣
𝐹= 2
𝑡 𝑚
𝑚𝑣 𝐹 = 6372 𝑁
𝐹= 𝐶𝑑 𝐴
5𝑚𝑚
( 𝑣 )
2 2𝑚𝑔
2 𝑣=
2𝑚𝑣 𝐶𝑑 𝜌𝐴
𝐹=
5 𝑚𝑚
What
constitutes
killer litter
Flower pot
Bird Cage
Bamboo pole

It can be anything!
“Any litter can kill, don’t let your litter
become a missile.”
Sources
https://www.skyscraperdictionary.com/?project=killer-litter
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15481540
https://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/plant-pot-size-guide.html