So my friend and I were driving along at 60 mph and right in front of us, was this fly, buzzing around our face. Now of course we were traveling at 60 mph because we were attached to the car, but the fly was not.
How is it possible for him to not be attached to anything, buzzing in our faces and flying in circles, but yet he is flying at 60 mph SOMEHOW.
Why isn't he smashed up against the back window?
2007-10-23 08:36:20 · 10 answers · asked by angelhaiku 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The vehicle speed is equalized when you reach a cruising speed - ie the car and it's contents are traveling at 60mph. The fly is a member of the environment that is traveling at that speed. His actions are relative to the vehicle. if it was an open window vehicle - the wind speed would eject the bug and anything else not bolted down out of the vehicle - or at least all over the place! - The fly is being carried at the same speed you were and everything else inside the car - if you rapidly accelerate or decelerate - the fly would move - subtly with the g-force - but not enough to be noticed as he is, well, flying! You on the other hand will feel the full force of acceleration or deceleration as you are a static item within the car. Try this - next time you are riding in a car - bring a tennis ball. When the vehicle accelerates hard - lightly toss the ball in the air - it will move away from the force of acceleration (and likewise toward the deceleration) but - if you achieve a sustained speed - then toss the ball in the air - it will go relatively straight up and back down as it is part of the environment traveling at a stable speed - just like the fly - if you toss the ball and the driver jams on the brakes - the ball will move forward as the 'environment' (car) has changed speed and the ball - once airborne - is no longer stable. Yikes, eh?
2007-10-23 08:49:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The fly has a momentum in the forward direction, just like everything else in the car.
When you took off from rest, the fly was probably sitting on the seat somewhere. As you accelerated up to 60, the pressure from the seat accelerated the fly up to 60 as well. (During that acceleration, the fly _would_ have felt pushed back into the seat, just like you do.)
The air inside your car is trapped, so _it_ is also being accelerated to 60.
When you've reached 60 mph, and the fly hops off the seat, the fly and the air both already have a forward momentum which continues to carry the fly forward along with everything else that's in the car.
Now, if the fly is in the air (not on the seat) during the time you're _accelerating_ up to 60, then you _will_see the fly start to fall back toward the back window. However, even then, the air pressure on the fly's wings is the dominant force, so he'd probably be able to compensate before he collided with the back of the car.
2007-10-23 08:50:39 · answer #2 · answered by RickB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is possible because he is exempt from the speed velocity being inside the car. The surrounding space in being carried at 60 MPH so the fly simply has to fight gravity.
Think of a similar example of a fish in a bowl of water. He is not swimming at 60 MPH because the water is already traveling at that speed.
2007-10-23 08:56:27 · answer #3 · answered by whuggie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because although the fly is not attached to anything, it is still travelling at 60 mph. The air it is flying in is also doing 60 mph
Think if it as if you are on a train, doing 100 mph. If you jump up. do you
a. stay relative to the point you jumped up?
or
b. does the train go racing away from you?
answer is A.
because you are also travelling at 100 mph.
2007-10-23 08:47:32 · answer #4 · answered by Petero 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the air in your car is moving with the car at 60mph - if you put the top down on a convertible or opened all your windows, the fly would probably blow out...
2007-10-23 08:46:05 · answer #5 · answered by Steve E 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
BAhahahahaha no yet I truly have stumped my toe, bent right down to look at it and observed that I ripped my toenail off, then proceded to take a seat down on the floor and bypass out from each and all the blood.... i'm hoping your toenails are nevertheless in tact haha
2016-12-15 07:31:29 · answer #6 · answered by colmenero 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol thats kinda like the thing mythbusters did where they had a bunch of birds in the back of a closed truck and they wanted to see if the truck weighed less while the birds were flying because they werent putting any pressure on it needless to say it weighed the same but i was interesting i have no idea about the answer to ur question but i liked it
2007-10-23 08:46:41 · answer #7 · answered by jas 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all about relativity -
relative to his immediate surroundings (the car) he is not moving at 60mph
however, relative to an outside observer, he is moving at 60 mph.
If you were to accelerate the vehicle, the fly would have to accelerate with you. Otherwise, it would get thrown to the back of the vehicle.
2007-10-23 08:51:36 · answer #8 · answered by sharky.mark 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The fly is inside the car, there is no wind to mash him to the back window.
If you had a ''convertible''then the fly would not be in the car.
2007-10-23 08:49:14 · answer #9 · answered by skunk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
'cause the air in the car was moving with you.
2007-10-23 08:56:27 · answer #10 · answered by Edward 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋