I'm guessing some widely distributed high school physics text
was talking about terminal velocity. Originally posted October
4, 2010. What is the Terminal Velocity of a Cat? I don't know,
let's ask a physicist. From the University of Alaska, Fairbanks:
Terminal VelocityTerminal velocity, a rather chilling term,
describes the velocity at which drag force from the air becomes
equal to the force from the weight of an object, and thus the
object no longer accelerates and consequently velocity remains
constant. The greater an object's cross-sectional area and the
less its mass, the lower the terminal velocity and the sooner
it's reached. A cat reaches its terminal velocity of 60 mph
within 5 stories of freefall. For comparison, a person's
terminal velocity is 120 mph. Once a cat reaches its terminal
velocity, it then begins to slow down. This is because the cat
relaxes, changing its position from back arched, head down, and
legs pulled tightly underneath its body, to resemble a spread
eagle cat. This increases its