How come, if we drop an ant from a very high place, it doesnt break legs or die?

Question

But if we fall from a very high place, we'd break legs and probably die too....how come ants dont eventhough they've been dropped from twice as high a place than us?

Answer 1

The larger an object is, the heavier it gets as a function of its surface area.

Take a small cube of one unit length. Its surface is 6 unit square, and its volume is 1 unit cube.

Now, let's take a cube that is 2 by 2 by 2. Its volume is 8. Each surface is 2 by 2, and there are 6 of them, so surface area is 24.

So, the small cube as a volume/surface ratio of 1/6, while the bigger one has 8/24, or 1/3.

The air resistance of a falling object is a function of its area, and the force of gravity that is overcoming said air resistance is a function of the mass, therefore of the volume (assuming similar density, which is about right for every living organism already).
So, an insect will survive the fall because it will never fall as fast as you.

Also, the resistance of a bone is a function of its cross section, again this is related to the surface area. But the weight it has to carry is a function of the mass. Therefore, smaller creature are proportionally stronger and less fragile than bigger ones. A strong human being can lift more that his own weight, and on two legs (and chimps are stringer still for about the same weight as humans). An ant can carry several times its own weight. But take an elephant, and it cannot carry a load as heavy as his body. Whales cannot even carry their own weight, that is why they need to remain in water.

Answer 2

physics. Terminal velocity (the maximum speed at which an object can fall... I'm not a physicist, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity ) for an ant is reached at about 6 inches (I think that was it), so no matter how far you drop one from it will never fall at a faster rate than it would at 6 inches. I actually watched some random Japanese show on Spike TV where they tested that out, dropping an ant onto a white sheet from like, 40 feet...

Answer 3

The maximum speed the human body reaches in free fall is about 180km/hour, that of an ant is much, much smaller.

As well I do like the answer that the ant has no bones to break :-)

Answer 4

body weight is minute compared to us. Velocicty and will drop much slower than us results Human will die ants will just breeze down and land on their feet.
For example:
Paper plane+apple
which one do you think will land first? Reason is weight the heavier the faster the item will drop okay

Answer 5

I KNO! ahha i have done that, and gosh, they never friggen DIE! i know i'm very bad, but i keep playing in sand, making an isl, putting water around it, and whaching ants play the role of the movie LOST
i'm a very dark person at heart, but i don't want to be =(

Answer 6

Ants don't have bones!!! plus we are a lot heavier so we will fall faster thus causing a lot more damage than an ant!!

Answer 7

structural scaling.......the strength of the legs (simulated as a column) as a ratio of the body weight (simulated as a cube) goes up as the dimension of the entire structure goes down. That is, as the critter gets smaller, the strength of its legs comapred to the strength it has to support goes up.

I teach this very problem/phenomenon in microengineering classes.

Answer 8

Their weight and air resistance plays a large factor.

Answer 9

velocity+ body weight+gravity= a right old mess

Answer 10

coz it hasnt got ne bones !!!!!! thts y she doesnt break her legs!