Is throwing Water Balloons from a 7th Floor mid-rise dangerous?

Question

I live in an apartment building and witnessed a child (unattended I might add) randomly throwing water balloons off his balcony on the 7th floor. I want to know how dangerous is this? I would image the weight of the water within the balloons times by the speed of travel could cause it to be a dangerous projectile. I'm wondering if it should it hit anything other than the concrete ground could it cause serious harm?

Answer 1

yes, with the right impact they could break someones neck, in my glorious youth we used to dump 5 gallon buckets of water (not the bucket, just the water) from about 30 feet onto our helpless victims.  the force of the impact was surprising, people were knocked flat.  I also know of some pranksters who launched water balloons from a homemade slingshot in a van at people on the street, one person was crippled with a broken back.  talk to the owners of the building if the parents are irresponsible

Answer 2

um, yea.

Answer 3

I'd say it's probablly not that dangerous. You should suggest to him that he add some pennies to each balloon.

Answer 4

it would not likely cause any harm...at most it is traveling about 21 m/s and if it an average size balloon with a mass of 1 kg, then it will apply a much smaller force to a person than you would think.  Because the balloon is not as rigid as a hardball, it will impact the person over a longer time, lessening the force felt by the person.  

It is annoying at the most.

Answer 5

The biggest danger is that the child could fall out the window.  The balloons aren't likely to injure anyone, but they'll sting, get people wet and make them mad, and some may run up the stairs to retaliate.  The kid may be more likely to be thrown out the window than to fall out.  Hard to say.

Answer 6

It would hurt pretty darn good!

I would say it would be close to 50 to 60 mph from that height!  I bet it would feel much like getting hit with a baseball or a golf ball!  And it more than likely would hit you on the head!