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Name:  Cheryl J.
Status: other
Age: 40s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
When bugs hit the windshield of a car they rupture first and then splatter. what causes them to rupture?

Replies:
Cheryl,

The forces involved in the impact exceed the tensile strength of the bugs' exoskeleton.

Drop an egg from a height of only a sixteenth of an inch onto the hard surface of a frying pan. Very likely, the egg will withstand the impact without breaking. Dropped from a much greater height, it is almost certain to break because the higher the drop, the faster it is moving at impact, and the larger the force the shell must withstand. When the force exceeds the shell's strength, you're on your way to an omelet. Enjoy!

Regards,

Regards,
ProfHoff

The insects just collide with the windshield with an impact force that exceeds the strength of its exoskeleton. The car is just a large, fast moving hammer!

Vince Calder


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