Eli5 how can insects survive a slap from humans, a creature that’s gigantic compared to them

Question

Eli5 how can insects survive a slap from humans, a creature that’s gigantic compared to them

In: 4969

Answer 1

Time.

You don’t break something when moving it because you’re applying a force through time. You’re accelerating slowly. That’s what happens when you slap an insect, you move it aside quite suddenly but not instantly. You’re giving it too much time.

If you slap it against a wall, it goes from 0 to 100 to 0 in one millisecond. That’s how you kill an insect. Or anything, really.