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The Christian Post

A woman lifted a car to save her dad, according to reports in an amazing and daring rescue. L. K. is reported to have lifted the 1.5 ton car [BMW 525i] off of her father in an amazing incident that doctors are now saying saved his life.

I'm skeptical of this claim because it seems exaggerate, so I wonder: can a woman lift a 1.5 ton car?

Oddthinking
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Carlo Alterego
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  • adrenaline and desperation can do amazing things, also she might not have lifted the entire 1.5 ton (also what ton, metric, imperial,...) – ratchet freak Jan 03 '13 at 00:39
  • Hello @ratchet, I'm not expert, but you could assume that the BMW 525i has a mass (I.S.) equal to 1,500.00 kg **circa**, but I have no way to measure "adrenaline and desperarion", though! – Carlo Alterego Jan 03 '13 at 00:51
  • I'm with ratchet... You don't need to lift all the weight, but merely use the leverage to lift some portion of the car. – MCM Jan 03 '13 at 00:54
  • There was __a similar question:__ [Can a mother raise the strength to lift a car off her child?](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/5004/can-a-mother-raise-the-strength-to-lift-a-car-off-her-child), which was later closed as __a duplicate of:__ [Do you feel pain in a life-threatening situation?](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3010/do-you-feel-pain-in-a-life-threatening-situation). _(My answer to the first question was moved to the second one, but I don't think it fits well because it doesn't address the 'pain' issue)_ – Oliver_C Jan 03 '13 at 09:35
  • @MCM, yes, but you have to admit that, if any leverage exists, that woman has lift at least 750 kg (I.S.), though. – Carlo Alterego Jan 03 '13 at 22:19
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    Recent relevant news report: [‘Hero’ daughter lifts SUV off trapped dad](http://www.wheels.ca/news/superhero-daughter-lifts-jeep-off-injured-dad/). The vehicle in question lifted was a Jeep Liberty, with a curb weight of 1,591 - 1,956. – Brian M. Hunt Jul 14 '13 at 15:38

1 Answers1

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The question sounds like the woman is alleged to have lifted a 1.5 ton weight into the air, like a weight-lifter.

Her claim is much more mundane - that she was able to shove the weight in a way that relieved the pressure from her father, and enabled him to be rescued.

thanks to the unevenness of the car due to the tire having been removed, Lauren was able to shove it hard enough to tip the car off her father and drag him out of harm's way

A shove against the car, tipped unevenly like a four-legged table with a short leg, was enough to relieve the pressure. She pulled her 210-pound, unconscious father from beneath the BMW.

(Wikipeda confirms that a BMW 525i E34 has a curb-weight of 1.5 tonnes, although it may vary by model and by what was in the car.)

Oddthinking
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    Also, unlike a rigid object, a car has built-in "suspension" aka springs. – ChrisW Jan 03 '13 at 10:05
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    It's entirely possible to lift a car partially off the ground - lifting from the front or rear frame, the car acts as a lever, with the tires as the fulcrum. Since most of the weight is in the front of the car, lifting from the back shouldn't be require lifting more than 300 pounds (my guesstimate), which is completely obtainable for humans. It also helps that the girl in the article is an athlete. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft May 22 '13 at 23:18
  • @BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft By my estimation, the total force required to lift the rear wheels off the ground would be ~770 lbs, assuming the combined weight of the engine and transmission is 1,000 lbs with a centroid located 19" forward of the front wheel. – Doresoom May 22 '14 at 19:23