if a fly is trapped inside a car....does it have to fly constantly forward or can it hover?

Answer 1

When the car drives at constant speed, the air in the car and the fly will move at the same speed, so it will be the same as if the car stood still.
If the car is accelerating the fly will have to fly forward, or it will end up in the backseat.
The same thing happens to you. When the car accelerates, you will be pressed back in your seat, and when the car breaks, you will be thrown forward. You can hold on to your seat, but the fly will have to use it's wing to stay in place.

Answer 2

The air inside the car is moving, too (provided you don't have the windows open!) so that fly can hover. No problem.

When you throw a ball up inside the car, it is different. The ball is not propelling itself through the air the way the fly does. The balk starts upward with one velocity and direction, if the car speeds up or slows down or changes direction while the ball is in the air, it comes down at a different point than you expected it to do!

But the fly is pushing against the air as it flies. It can hover. I hope this is clear enough.

Answer 3

Well that all comes down to the species of fly in question. Hoverflies and drone flies can hover anywhere, houseflies dont hover all that much. I think what you are asking is the same misconception about jumping in a free falling elevator. If you jump, you will not hit your head on the top of the elevator car, objects free fall.
If a fly was inside a car and flying around, they would fly at their own pace, regardless of how fast the car is going and in what direction. The only time the car has an effect on anybody (flies included) is when they are in contact with the vehicle's surface.

So, to answer your question, it will fly in its natural pattern regardless of what the car is doing.

I hope this answers your question!

Answer 4

As long as the air in the car is moving along with the car, the fly can hover. If you could open the front and rear windows so that the air does not move with the car, the fly wil need to fly to keep up

Answer 5

The car and everything in it, including the air, are all moving forward, so, no, it doesn't have to fly forward. It wouldn't be able to fly fast enough, anyway, but would splat against the back window.

Next time you are in a moving car, take something and toss it straight up in the air. Notice that it doesn't stay in place with respect to the road the moment it leaves your hand, but continues at the same rate it was going while the moving you was holding it.

This is called "inertia" -- things that are still remain still unless forced to move, moving things tend to continue their movement unless stopped.

Answer 6

No, the air is moving at the same speed as the car, and so the fly would just fly through the air like normal. A great book that talks about this and a bunch of other random stuff like it is "What Einstein Told his Barber." Check it out:)

Answer 7

It's movement is relative to the inside of the car: it would constantly hover. Just outside of the car, where it would be relative to...say ..the road beneath the car, it would have to fly forward at whatever speed the car is moving to maintain its place relative to the car.

Answer 8

the fly can hover or fly forward or to the rear of the vehicle. this is because the intrinsic speed of the fly is equal to the speed of the vehicle.

since there is no friction of the atmosphere inside the vehicle as there would be on the outside of the vehicle, the fly can stay relative in speed to the inside of the vehicle instead of being swept away.

-eagle

Answer 9

It's just the same for the fly as if it was in a stationary room. The fly, air inside the car and the car are all stationary relative to each other.

Answer 10

Oh my gosh... I have always wondered that! I'm pretty sure it would have to fly, unless of course it landed on a seat, or else the back of the bus would hit it. Because think, if you jumped in the air for a second you'd land a little further back on the bus... I don't know. It seems logical to me. Although my sister says differently...