WEBVTT - Can the Wind Knock You Off Your Feet?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum. Here in early March of

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<v Speaker 1>a four year old Ohio girl named Madison Gardner had

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<v Speaker 1>just turned home with her mother, Brittany, from a shopping trip.

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<v Speaker 1>As her mom was unloading the car, Madison walked up

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<v Speaker 1>the front stoop to enter the house. She grabbed the

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<v Speaker 1>door handle, turned the knob, and then suddenly went for

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<v Speaker 1>a ride. Like the tornado that swept Dorothy and Toto

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<v Speaker 1>to Oz, a gale blew Madison's front door open, turning

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<v Speaker 1>it into a sale with a tiny tot hanging on

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<v Speaker 1>for dear life. Don't worry, Madison wasn't hurt, but the

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<v Speaker 1>episode proves that yes, the wind can blow a person

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<v Speaker 1>off their feet, and it's happened other times too. Also

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<v Speaker 1>in March, organizers of the Cape Town cycle Tour, which

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<v Speaker 1>drew thirty five thousand riders, had to cancel the event

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<v Speaker 1>when winds topped sixty miles per hour. That's kilometers per hour,

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<v Speaker 1>knocking riders off their bike. But how let's start with

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<v Speaker 1>the basics. The wind is always blowing. It can be

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<v Speaker 1>as calm as a warm summer breeze or as destructive

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<v Speaker 1>as a gust, and the strongest hurricane wind blows because

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<v Speaker 1>of pressure differences in the atmosphere, The Sun hits parts

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<v Speaker 1>of the planet at different angles, warming Earth's atmosphere unevenly.

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<v Speaker 1>As a result, some places are warmer than others. Because

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<v Speaker 1>of this uneven temperature, the gases in the atmosphere start

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<v Speaker 1>to shift and dance. Where the air temperature is hotter,

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<v Speaker 1>air molecules expand and move upward, creating pockets of low

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<v Speaker 1>air pressure. On the other hand, cold air temperatures press

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<v Speaker 1>air molecules together, causing them to sink, creating areas of

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<v Speaker 1>high air pressure. When molecules flow from high pressure areas

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<v Speaker 1>to low pressure areas, hang onto your hat, or, as

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<v Speaker 1>Madison abruptly learned, the door handle. The wind can blow,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes violently. Meteorologists use the Beaufort wind scale to measure

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<v Speaker 1>the force of wind. The scale starts at zero, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a calm breeze, and ends at twelve, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a hurricane force wind of more than sixty four miles

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<v Speaker 1>per hour about a hundred and three kilometers per hour. Still,

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<v Speaker 1>at what point can wind move a person? We spoke

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<v Speaker 1>of Kate Parker, a meteorologist at the Weather Channel, and

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<v Speaker 1>she explained that it depends on a lot of things.

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<v Speaker 1>The formula has to take into consideration a few variables,

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<v Speaker 1>including the velocity of the wind, the effect of gravity,

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<v Speaker 1>which is of course the force of attraction between a

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<v Speaker 1>person and the earth, static friction which is the force

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<v Speaker 1>that keeps a person anchored to the ground, and drag

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<v Speaker 1>from the wind, which is the opposing force of static friction.

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<v Speaker 1>Parker added, you'd also have to take into account the

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<v Speaker 1>density of the air. Is it super moist or heavy,

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<v Speaker 1>is it dry? Is it lighter? A person's mass and

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<v Speaker 1>center of gravity also need to be factored in. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>little Madison didn't have much mass, so the wind easily

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<v Speaker 1>took her for a ride. The wind would have had

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<v Speaker 1>to blow much harder to lift an adult off their feet,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if they braced themselves, say in a steady crouch.

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<v Speaker 1>Parker said, if you're a larger person or a heavier person,

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<v Speaker 1>it would take a lot more force to knock you

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<v Speaker 1>off your feet. For a person who weighs a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>pounds round forty five kilos, it would take a wind

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<v Speaker 1>speed of forty to forty five miles an hour or

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<v Speaker 1>tropical storm force to move them. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Jesscelin Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other curious topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio.

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