Ants do not get hurt when they fall.why?

Answer 1

they dont get hurt after falling because their mass is very less.so they dont get hurt.
their mass is almost near to 0 gram.
momentum exerted by ant=momentum exerted by earth
mass1(velocity1)=mass2(velocity2)
0v=mv
0=mv
therefore momentum exerted by earth is nearly 0.
so they dont get hurt.

Answer 2

All objects get accelerated to the same velocity in a frictionless fall in the same time or for the same distance of fall, But this is not the case when there is friction. The force of friction unlike that of gravity which is roughly constant throughout the fall, the force due to friction goes on increasing with velocity of the object. A stage comes when this force becomes equal to Mg, where M is the mass of the falling body and g is constant for all bodies. So this happens in a short time for an ant because its mass is small. After this happens the velocity of the falling body/ant does not increase. This is called terminal velocity, no matter how long or from what distance the ant falls. Because the hurt received by an objects depends on the velocity with which it strikes a hard ground ant gets less hurt.

Answer 3

i assume you are meaning in comparison to humans, that is if i fall 10 times my body height i'll be pretty banged up, whereas if an ant falls 10 times its body length, it'll simply continue on with the days work.

There is no contradiction, although the comparisons cannot simply be scaled up linearly, the reason is that in the gravitational "field" things tend to accelerate, that's why it's not linear.

The avg mass of an ant is about 28mg --> 28X10^-6 kg
The avg length of an ant is about 0.5cm--> 5X10^-3 m

so if the ant is dropped 10X its body length the height is about 0.05m ( about 10 inches)

the Potential Energy of the ant just before we let it go is:

PE = mgh

which is approximately:

PE_ant = (28X10^-6 kg)*(10m/s^2)*(0.05m)
PE_ant = 14X10^-6 Joules

So when the ant hits the ground, the ant's body must absorb that 14μ Joules which turned in Kinetic Energy on the way down.

Now...

The avg mass of a human is about 65kg
The avg height of a human is about 1.75m

so if a human falls10X his/hers body length the height is about 17.5m ( about 60 feet)

the Potential Energy of the human is (approximately):

PE_human = (65kg)*(10m/s^2)(17.5m)

PE_human = 11,375 Joules

Similarly, when the human hits the ground, the human must absorb 11,375 Joules which turned in Kinetic Energy on the way down.

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As someone else pointed out above, and as you can see in the calculation above,the ants mass is so small, it is having a tremendous "impact" on the overall results.

Answer 4

Who says they don't get hurt? Who claims to know how an ant feels? Just because it doesn't immeadiately limp doesn't mean it might not be in shock.

But, if you're REALLY interested, look up some of the work by E.O. Wilson. He's the leading ant-expert in the world. Try to avoid the articles about his "controversies."

Answer 5

I believe ants are just basically too small enough to be able to notice the weight differences. So i guess it won't matter for them. Interesting question though.

Answer 6

because ants are very light.. the weight of their body is quite low compared to there strength and resiliency..

imagine yourself falling in outer space or somewhere that gravity is only 10% , the blow would be a lot less

Answer 7

Unless you're an ant you wouldn't know that. It's doubtful to suppose they don't get hurt when they fall.

Answer 8

Ants have exoskeletons,right? I think that's the case.

Answer 9

perhaps because they're light