Eli5: How come flies don’t smash into the back window inside a moving vehicle while they’re flying around? Surely they don’t fly “with” the vehicle.

Question

Eli5: How come flies don’t smash into the back window inside a moving vehicle while they’re flying around? Surely they don’t fly “with” the vehicle.

In: Physics

Answer 1

Because the vehicle, and the atmosphere inside of it, are travelling the same speed as the car.

If you put your hand up in a car while going 60 mph, your hand doesn’t fly backwards and snap, it is going the same speed as the rest of the vehicle.

If you were to get in the back of a moving van, and jump in the air, you won’t fly backwards against the wall, you’ll land where you jumped up from