Not that we drop cats for experimental purposes, but in the course of life the average person has witnessed the phenomena. Did you ever wonder at the physics of why free falling cats land on their feet? Probably not, but then you can read this blog for the every-now-and-again post of things scientific.Greg Gbur, a professor at University of North Caroline, Chapel Hill offers answers to this and other cat-related questions of scientific history, in his book Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics. Over the centuries, scientists offered four distinct hypotheses to explain the phenomenon. There is the original “tuck and turn” model, in which the cat pulls in one set of paws so it can rotate different sections of its body. Nineteenth century physicist James Clerk Maxwell offered a “falling figure skater” explanation, whereby the cat tweaks its angular momentum by pulling in or extending its paws as needed. Then there is the “bend and twist”  in which the cat bends at the waist to counter-rotate the two segments of its body. Finally, there is the “propeller tail,” in which the cat can reverse its body’s rotation by rotating its tail in one direction like a propeller. A cat most likely employs some aspects of all these as it falls, according to Gbur.

The 19th century physicist Maxwell apparently experimented with falling cats and discovered that even as low as 2 feet of the ground a cat will land on its feet. Don’t try this at home. Also, you have to wonder how many cats he dropped until he discovered the 2 foot phenomena.

Chronophotograph (circa 1893) made on moving film consisting of twelve frames showing a cat falling, taken by Etienne-Jules Marey (1830-1904).

Gbur offers that the “bend and twist” model is the core dynamic with the extension/pulling in of paws to offer “in flight” corrections and the tail counter rotating as another means of final adjustment.

So….now you know…. and please do not try this at home!