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| Q: | If you dropped an ant of the empire state building, would it die due to the impact, or would air dispacement bring it to the ground safely?
-Sean (age 28)
Bedford |
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| A: | The force of gravity on an ant is really tiny. If there were no air, an
ant (and everything else) would accelerate at 9.81 meters per second
per second. The resistive force due to air drag increases with the
speed and opposes the motion. Eventually, an object goes fast enough so
the drag force is equal and opposite to the gravitational force, and
the object no longer accelerates. We say it has reached "terminal
velocity".
The terminal velocity for an ant in air is quite small -- no more
than two meters per second, I guess (having dropped a number of ants
from about a meter myself). Ants are also amazingly durable -- they
have very hard exoskeletons. I think the ant will have no trouble
surviving that fall!
Some ants even have wings and can fly!
Tom
(republished on 07/30/06) |
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