I saw an ant on the table today, I brushed it aside and it fell on from the kitchen table to the floor, around 3 feet. I then saw the ant continue to move forward as if nothing happened. I feel a human may potentially break a leg if falling from a comparable height. So I’m curious, why did the ant not break any legs?
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The ratio of weight to surface area for an ant is much different than it is for a human. This means that when the ant falls, it only falls at about 4 mph max speed. Humans reach ~124 mph. If the table is 4 feet high, a person hits at ~11 mph. Nearly 3 times faster than the ant at max fall speed.
Next is strength to weight ratio. Human bones are incredibly strong, but we are also very heavy (compared to an ant). Ants have an exoskeleton, but are extremely light compared to the amount of exoskeleton they have. If they weighed as much as a person, while maintaining the same ratio of exoskeleton thickness compared to the size increase, their legs would probably break just trying to stand up.
So they fall slower and have a stronger support structure (related to body weight).
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