A fly hovering inside a car that is moving 70miles/hour. Does it mean the bug is also flying at the same speed

Question

Trivia question : The fly is inside the moving car and is not on any surface but is on its wings (appears to be hovering). Does it mean as the car move forwards at 70 miles/hour, the fly is also moving at the same speed? If yes or no, why?

Answer 1

The fly is moving at 70 mph with respect to the earth and 0 mph with respect to the car.

Answer 2

The fly will continue to hover within the car because the air in the car is moving with the car. The fly's "hover" is determined by it's wings beating in the air of the car. When that air moves the hovering fly moves right along with it. Now - as the car accelerates the pressure gradient of the air inside the car changes. Until speed stabilizes the air pressure increases in the back of the car and decreases slightly in the front. This will cause the hovering fly to move slightly forward during acceleration and then return to original position at speed stabilization - assuming a perfectly hovering fly in otherwise still air. A helium balloon will do the same if you want to try it.

Answer 3

No. Well, it's kinda complicated. The fly can only fly up to a certain speed, and it is just flying inside a fast moving object. But it is moving at 70 mph, just like you would be moving 70 mph driving the car. But the fly is not moving 70 mph under it's own power, it is moving that fast because another force is acting upon it. Say if you started running inside a bus that was traveling 70 mph and somebody checked your speed with a radar gun or a speed checking instrument, it would clock you running at the same speed as you would be running outside the bus.

Answer 4

The answer is yes, relative to the ground, the fly is moving at 70 miles per hour. Take the car away, and the fly would be moving through the air at this speed (and it would experience a 70 mile per hour wind drag).

Relative to the car, however, the fly is not moving.

The earth is moving round the sun at about a billion miles per hour, but we don't feel it, because our speed relative to the earth is zero. if we are standing still.

Answer 5

Yes, it is. If you were sat in the car and threw a ball into the air, even though the ball is unsupported in the air it is still travelling at 70mph wrt (with respect to) the outside surroundings.

It's the same with the fly, assuming that it didn't just fly in through an open window as you were driving along

Answer 6

Relative to the space inside the car = zero miles per hour.

Relative to everything outside the car = 70 miles per hour.

Thank you, self-appointed Alex Trebec. We needed a trivia question.

Answer 7

Nope. As said earlier relatively to the car the fly is hovering.

Answer 8

It's all relative.
Everyone on earth is traveling at over 1000mph due to the earths rotation, faster still due to the earth going round the sun. We don't really know how fast the solar system is moving relative to anything else.
Good huh?

Answer 9

Relative to the car, no. Relative to the road, yes.

Answer 10

yes addition of velocities applies