Theoretically, if 2 people were free falling and one was on top of the other could one save the other

Yes. However the work generated by the person on bottom will be negligible compared to the force of gravity and will not slow him down by a meaningful amount.

Think about trying to fly by jumping into the air. The only difference is that here you are using your arms on someone else instead of your feet on yourself.

Same gravity = same results.


I hope this helps.

Also you have to do work on them to slow them down. Damage is done by a large force, so a large time derivative of momentum. If you can slowly slow someone down, that distributes the force over a longer time for the same change in kinetic energy. That's why air bags are effective.

Nope, 40mph is still 40 mph and no human can throw/push another one hard enough to achieve a negative 40(non terminal velocity) speed.

Theoretically that could be possible. But at 40 mph the energy required to slow the other person down just before impact would be much more than could be summoned by either person.

No, but the one on the bottom would be more damaged from the fall than the one on top.