question about ANTs (trivial thread)

[nerdyneo]

Ok, this is my first post in science forum,

 

I was wondering about something to-do with ants the other day

 

So, here goes the question:

 

Some ants can lift around 50 times their body weight, ok

So, in relation to a human that is like a human easily lifting a car

 

BUT. If ants were really human size, Due to the difference in the molecular structure of the ant, and different measurements, (different circuitry system size and different heart sizes, etc). Would the ant actually be able to life something 50 times as heavy as itself then? If it where the same mass as a human (50 – 70 KG)

 

I thought not, what do others think?

 

I can see ant lifting leaf 50 times heavier then itself, but that only due to the actually weight of the leaf. We are talking about smaller mass and scale,

 

So if a ant where 60KG in weight, and near human size, I don’t believe a ant would actually be able to lift something 50 times bigger then itself (2500 – 3500KG)

 

Would really like others people views on this?

 

(Oh, and In future I will promise not to start trivial threads, lol)

 

By Joseph Goss

[JaKiri]

If you scaled an ant to the size of a human, then it would die pretty quickly.

 

If you compare an ant to an elephant (for example, no pun intended) then you'll see that an elephant has many adaptations to allow it to live at that size - the thickness of the legs for example.

 

The legs of an ant of the same size would just snap instantly, because they wouldn't be strong enough to hold the same weight. This is because the mass of an object is proportional to its volume, whereas the strength of a leg is proportional to its area - x^3 is obviously going to increase faster than x^2.

 

It's not really a trivial question at all, because it shows us a lot about how different creatures have adapted to the problems of living at different scales - and, indeed, that there are different requirements at different scales.

[YT2095]

scaling something UP is fine, but gravity remains constant, so in order for the ant to function at that size, you`de have to scale down gravity proportionaly.

 

a similar principal applies to airplanes, what may work with enough lift at one size, will not when at another size, as the air molecules and density remain constant (like Gravity).

[blike]

JaKiri hit the nail on the head.

[Yggdrasil]

Even if you scaled down gravity proportionally, a human-sized ant would still not be able to function. Ants do not have a circulatory system; because of their small size, ants can transport oxygen and nutrients just by the "sloshing" around of their internal fluids as they move. If you scale up an ant, this system would not be able to function properly.