I want to know why is it that realitive to the size, a fall from a hieght of about 9 feet would kill them, also same thing for ants, when I see them and flick them against a wall, or something they get back up. Yet when a person jumps out of a plane, realitive to our size, without a perasute we die, or if by some mircle there badly injured.
And fon't tell me its because the exsoskelton, because we would still die even if we wore a suit of armor
2006-08-25 04:51:47 · 12 answers · asked by Derrick 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Didn't any of you notice I said "Realitive" to their size, and our size, we would die from those hieghts, so say if I knock a insect from a nine feet surface, as to knocking a human off the the sears tower, thats Realitive to size.
And we would have upgust, controling out decent as well, in fact more due to our larger surface area. So we can rule out wind coniditions
2006-08-25 05:06:28 · update #1
Wow I dont think any of you no what your talking about. Realtiive and Porpotion, is whats aking this question, humans r what compared to a fly?, 100,000,000,000x larger, so the hieght that is realitive to our size would have to be 100,000,000,000x higher then the hieght the insect fell, thus evening the conditions out, we both would be effect by wind, the only differents is flies r normally killed indoors, where the changein wind conditions is on caused by movement, but outside faling from a plane , the human will feel the effect of the push a pull, infact he was expecting this, he's pratice in a wind tunnel, to control decent, but he dies
2006-08-25 05:17:37 · update #2
The bigger you are, the harder you fall might have something to do with it.
2006-08-25 04:54:59 · answer #1 · answered by Emi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It has to do with inertia. Consider this:
If you are in a parking lot and a gust of wind blows a shopping cart into your leg, would it hurt a whole lot? Not really. Minor nuisance at most. What if a car was traveling at that same speed and smacked into you? That would undoubtedly hurt much more. Why? Because the car weighs considerably more than the shopping cart.
2006-08-25 11:57:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something 10 times shorter than you would have muscles one tenth your diameter, meaning it would have one hundredth the area. Since muscle strength is proportional to the cross sectional area of the muscle, a mini-you would then be 100 times weaker. BUT the mass of the mini-you is proportional to its volume. Since it would be one tenth your length, width, and height; its mass would be one thousandth your mass. One hundredth your strength supporting one thousandth your mass means for its size, the mini-you would look pretty tough. A bug is smaller still, so it’s no wonder they can shake off a smack from the hand.
2006-08-25 14:58:47 · answer #3 · answered by Eric G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Strength to weight ratio: The strength of a structure (beam, leg, arm, wing) increases in proportion to its cross sectional area, while its mass (and therefore weight) increases in proportion to its volume. Volume is proportional to length cubed, while area is proportional to lenth squared. So as an object (such as an organism's body) increases in size (height or length), its structural strength relative to its weight decreases in proportion. Double your height, and your strength to weight is cut in half, if your shape is kept constant.
Think of it this way: neglecting air resistance, both you and the ant can fall about the same absolute distance -- several feet -- without suffering severe injury.
2006-08-25 12:06:22 · answer #4 · answered by Mark V 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are so light, relative to thier surface area, that air resistance prevents them from accelerating as quickly as a denser object would.
Ah, remembered the term. They have less momentum than a heavier, denser object would.
2006-08-25 11:59:25 · answer #5 · answered by Skeff 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was going to ask the same question. I alwys knock spiders off my back porch, and wonder how insects survive big falls.
2006-08-25 11:56:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Insects are space aliens and don't succumb to the same physical laws as native earth creatures.
2006-08-25 11:57:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The weight to area ratio comes to mind. They are not as fragile as humans is another. They are tough little critters!
2006-08-25 11:57:08 · answer #8 · answered by True Blue 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are saved by air resistance...if they were falling through vaccum, it would kill the insects
2006-08-25 11:58:17 · answer #9 · answered by Saber 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we were their size, we would be the consistency of runny jelly.
2006-08-25 11:54:38 · answer #10 · answered by JeffE 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋