Suppose a fly flies around in a stationary bus and does not touch anything. The bus suddenly departs: does the fly stay ‘on the spot’ or is it swung back?

Curiosity and boredom (at work):

The problem can also be compared to someone who can (so to speak) jump high in a moving bus. Suppose the person jumps, will he come back down in the same place? Or ‘more to the back’ than in a stationary bus?

Asker: Danny, 24 years old

Answer

The fly goes back. The jumping person moves backwards. Newton already knew: inertia or inertia. A body that has no force acting on it will maintain its speed (or lack thereof). If you make a left turn with your car, your body wants to go straight ahead (it seems as if you are being pushed to the right in your car).

Suppose a fly flies around in a stationary bus and does not touch anything.  The bus suddenly departs: does the fly stay ‘on the spot’ or is it swung back?

Answered by

Dr. Jan Buytaert

Biomedical Physics and Optics: *middle and inner ear mechanics *electro-optics *tomography *interferometry *3D imaging *endoscopy *image processing *profilometry *topography *programming *classical physics

University of Antwerp
Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerp
http://www.uantwerpen.be

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