I know it has to do something with mass, but i’m clueless.
In: 0
The Square-cube law
Some physical properties are related to area, and some to volume. As you increase in size, area increases with the square of your size and volume increases with the cube. The cube increases much faster
If you double in size, area increases by 2×2=4 times, volume by 2×2×2=8 times
If ten times the size, area increases 10×10=100 times, volume 10×10×10=1000 times
A human is about 1000 times bigger than an ant, so has about 1,000,000 times the area, and 1,000,000,000 the volume
What physical properties are relevant to surviving a fall? Well, force due to gravity, which depends on mass, which increases with volume. But there’s also air resistance to slow you down, which increases with area. The effect of air resistance relative to gravity will be about 1000 times smaller for the human than the ant, so you’ll fall faster
And then when you hit the ground, the stress on your body again comes from mass, but the structural strength of your bones and flesh depends more on the cross sectional area. So the human’s body is about 1000 times weaker relative to its weight than the ant’s
Latest Answers