It's mostly to do with mass. The less mass an object has, the easier it is to accelerate (so more energy goes to actual movement, and less to the object deforming.) Insects have very little mass, so they don't experience much resistance to acceleration (the flick.)
Alternatively, squishing against a hard surface results in most of the energy being used to actually deform the insect, as it doesn't have anywhere to accelerate to.
Why does flicking a small insect not kill it? Is the force not as strong as squishing it?
![Why does flicking a small insect not kill it? Is the force not as strong as squishing it?]()
Reviewed by Unknown
on
February 17, 2016
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