eli5 According to Newton’s Laws of physics, if a big enough person were to bumrush someone falling from a high place and ram them into a wall, could it save their life?

Question

I think it’s a pretty straight forward question, but to further explain it a bit, if someone’s falling from like a 10 story building, and they were hit perfectly from the side, and slammed into a solid wall, could the two additional forces cause enough of a difference in their decent to save their life?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Huh? No. The slam would mean they’re going *faster*, not slower.

If you’re asking “could you use friction to slow a fall” – well, yes, that’s essentially what you’re doing if you grab a handhold.