Why does a flying insect not die when you slap it in mid air ? The slap should have the same impact as being hit by a bus .

Question

Why does a flying insect not die when you slap it in mid air ? The slap should have the same impact as being hit by a bus .

In: Physics

Answer 1

Flies, and lots of insects in general, are extremely light, so forces of impact don’t affect them as much because they basically just bounce off whatever it is that hits them.

For comparison, a human, which is much heavier, isn’t just crushed because of the bus, but is partly crushed because of the weight of the stationary part of the body resisting and pushing against the part being pushed aside by the bus.