180

4 8

839

180

5 7

1005

185

4 7

848

185

5 5

1002

190

45

839

190

5 3

998

195

4 4

844

195

5 2

1008

200 & over

4 2

833

200 & over

5 0

1000

The American Military manual specifies broadly similar drops to the above.
The graph below shows how long it takes to drop a given distance.

How hanging causes death.
Short drop and simple suspension hanging.
Short drop/suspension hanging accounts for a majority of all executions worldwide as well as a large number of suicides.
Iran is the leading user of this method and uses a coiled noose with the knot placed at or towards the back of the neck.Hanging with little or no drop typically causes death by a combination of the tightening noose occluding the carotid arteries and jugular veins causing cerebral hypoxia (ischemia), i.e. a severely reduced flow of oxygenated blood to and from the brain and asphyxia due to the weight of the person's body forcing the base of the tongue upwards against the back of the mouth, blocking the airway and thus preventing breathing.It may also constrict the trachea (air passage), however this requires some 33 pounds per square inch of pressure to compress. Compression of the carotid arteries may also cause rapid heart stoppage due to carotid/Vagal reflex, this requiring just 11 pounds per square inch of pressure, whereas compression of the jugular veins only requires some 4.5 pounds per square inch of pressure. The vertebrae protect the vertebral and spinal arteries which also supply blood to the brain. However, these arteries go outside the fourth vertebrae instead of inside it, which subjects them to blockage if the pressure on the neck is high enough (usually about 40-50 pounds per square inch of pressure).Consciousness can be lost in as little as 8-10 seconds or persist for as much as a minute.Flashes of light and blackness together with feelings of weakness and powerlessness have been reported by those who have survived (suicidal) hanging.It is thought that brain death will occur in around six minutes and the heart will stop beating within 10-15 minutes.
Where the jugular veins are occluded before the carotid arteries, the face will typically become engorged and livid as the brain is filled with blood which cannot get back out. There will be the classic signs of petechiae - little blood marks on the face and in the eyes from burst blood capillaries due to excessive blood pressure in the head. The tongue may protrude due to the pressure of the noose on the base of it. Where death has occurred through carotid/Vagal reflex, the face will typically be pale and bluish in colour and not show petechiae. In all cases there will normally be an inverted V mark where the knot of the noose was situated and the head will be forced over away from the knot.

When a person is hanged they may exhibit signs of physical struggling for some time after suspension, 1-3 minutes being normal. This is often followed by a quiescent phase before what can be described as the convulsive phase which it is thought occurs after consciousness has been lost.There may be spasmodic and uncoordinated rippling movements of the limbs which occur for some time and which are usually attributed to nervous and muscular reflexes caused by the build up of carbon dioxide in the blood stream. Heaving of the chest is also reported.You can read accounts of executions in the 18th/19th centuries where the person was said to be greatly convulsedThe legs were drawn up and their chests heaved but this does not necessarily indicate consciousness in the second phase.Equally it was often reported that the prisoner died "almost without a struggle and they would be seen to writhe in pain for just a few seconds, if at all, before going limp. There exist many reports and pictures of actual short drop hangings which seem to show that the person died quickly and fairly peacefully, while others indicate a slow and possibly agonising death by asphyxiation.