Halloween has just passed, and as a horror film fanatic, I watched the classic Halloween (the original, of course, with Jamie Lee Curtis). At the end of the movie (WARNING: spoiler alert!), Mike Myers falls out the window after being shot multiple times in the chest. Every time I watch that part, I ask how in the world he could have survived? Well, I am going to use to use ol' faithful energy conservation to prove whether or not Mike Myers could have actually survived.

Mike Myers fell out of a second story window, which the height would be about 12 ft, which is about 3.6576 m. Using conservation of energy, i can find the final velocity of Mike Myers.

P= K

mgh= .5mv²

2gh=v²

v²= 2(9.8)(3.6576)

v²= 71.689

v= 8.47 m/s

The average human body can survive a fall with a velocity of 143 m/s. Obviously, Mike Myers had no problem surviving that fall, especially sicne he was just falling on nice soft grass. And, according to my horror film buddy, Mike Myers has no concept of pain, so the pain from the bullets never registered to him. Assuming that the doctor has had no prior experience with guns, he could have missed any vital organs, allowing Mike Myers to escape.

Thanks to physics, the mystery is solved on how Mike Myers survived. Turns out he's not superhuman, just lucky that the doctor can't aim. For those who haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It's enjoyable and not scary. Go Energy!