How does an ant survive a fall from a great height but another creature dies in a fall from a height of same scale ?
In: Biology
When something is in freefall, there are essentially 2 opposite forces acting upon the object: the pull of gravity and air drag. Gravity pull is constant but air drag increases as “surface” increases but also as the falling object’s speed increases. There are two stages in freefall: first gravity is stronger than air drag and your falling speed keeps increasing, as your speed increases air drag increases and you eventually reach a second stage where air drag becomes as strong as gravity. At this point the falling speed cannot increase anymore, the object has reached its terminal velocity.
Ants and insects alike have very low terminal velocities because they have a large “surface” compared to their very low mass. As such the deceleration they experience when hitting the floor is not strong enough to damage them.
Elephants have a huge mass compared to their “surface” so their terminal velocity is much higher. Incidentally, the deceleration induced from hitting the floor induces huge forces that are enough to crush its bones, muscles and organs.
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