Talk:David Purley

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Purley survived a deceleration rate 173 to 0 km/h in 660 mm in a crash during pre-qualifying for the 1977 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This is equal to 179.8 g. He suffered 29 fractures, 3 dislocations and 6 heart-stoppages. (Guinness World Records.) Do we have a reference for this?

Erm, reread what you posted.203.218.86.162 02:35, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

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"which is believed to be the greatest acceleration ever experienced by a human" -- does this only includes humans who survived? It would be a lot more remarkable if no one had ever undergone such acceleration even including those who have died in the process.

The only non-Wiki reference I've found on this is at http://www.asag.sk/bio/purley.htm, wherein it's claimed "Purley was subjected to the highest G-forces ever survived by a human being - 179.8G - when the car went from 108mph to zero in just over half a meter." While not conclusive or something that's thus far been corroborated, it clearly says "survived". Further, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster is known to be an instance where humans experienced (and died from) a higher g impact: "The crew cabin impacted the ocean surface at roughly 207 miles per hour (333 km/hour), causing deceleration of over 200 g, far beyond the structural limits of the crew compartment or crew survivability levels." (http://history.nasa.gov/kerwin.html). As such, I'm changing this entry. --Thorprime 17:17, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Calculation of deceleration rate

The Guinness Book of Records figure is inaccurate. Deceleration from 173 kph to 0 kph in 660 mm is equivalent to (48 m/s)^2/(2 x 0.66) m/s^2 = 1746 m/s^2 = (1746/9.81) g = 178 g. Robma 12:37, 14 December 2006 (UTC)