Fly Swatter is an effective tool to kill pesky insects and has been used for a very long time in this job. Although the electric fly swatter has already replaced this tool, the working mechanisms of these two fly swatters are completely different.
Fly swatter uses a hard surface and a combination of speed and aerodynamic design to kill flies while the electric fly swatter uses electricity to kill flies in the air. As classic fly swatter doesn’t use any electricity, you may wonder how it works. In this article, we will explore the mechanism of a fly swatter so that you can understand the science of how this simple tool works to kill a fly. Let’s get started below!
Working Mechanism Of A Fly Swatter
A fly swatter contains three parts –
- A well-gripped handle to hold this tool.
- A shaft made of wire, wood, plastic, or metal to extend this tool from the handle.
- A swatting surface made of rubber, plastic, or metal to kill the fly.
A fly swatter is generally a lightweight tool that usually works by crushing flies against a hard surface like a wall, table, or floor. As it strikes a fly with the extreme speed of the swatting surface, it injures or kills the fly instantly on the spot.
Now, you may be wondering why you can’t kill flies with your hands as effectively as a fly swatter. Well, there is a hidden science behind it. Let’s explore it below!
How A Fly Swatter Works
- Aerodynamic Design: A Fly swatter contains a lot of holes and is designed this way so that it doesn’t disturb the air much. For this, flies neither detect the air changes around them nor detect that something is coming at them.
- Swings Faster than Hands: Again, the fly swatter consists of a long shaft made of wire or plastic that moves quickly with a slight flick of the hand. As the fly swatter comes towards them very quickly, the flies get less time to notice and react to the air pressure changes around them.
The more force you will give, the faster the fly swatter will strike the fly. The faster you will strike, the less time a fly will get to fly away. That’s how a fly swatter works.
Why Flies Are Hard To Kill With Hands?
Flies have hairs on their back and legs that are used as a sensor. Because they are very sensitive to air movement around them and trigger an instant flight response to the flies.
So, when you try to kill them with hands or other materials, the pressure in the air changes while the hand is coming to them; As a result, they fly away and you end up hitting your hand on the wall. In this way flies can reflect quickly when you try to kill them with your hands.
Conclusion
To put it simply, a fly swatter works with a combination of force, motion, and aerodynamics. It follows the basic physics of killing a fly. We hope now you have understood how a fly swatter works after reading it. If you still have any confusion regarding this topic, don’t hesitate to ask in our comment section below. Thanks for reading!
Frequently Asked Questions And Answers – Faqs
1.Can Flies See Fly Swatters?
Yes, fly can see fly swatter no matter how fast you strike them with it. It is because they have a panoramic view of around 300 degrees and for this, they don’t need to turn and look. However, they still die because they can’t get much time to respond.
2.Why Can’t Flies Escape Fly Swatters?
Flies have strong sensors and quick reflexes to escape. But in order for them to escape, their sensors need to pick up environmental changes. The fly swatter does not allow much change in the air and the flies do not get much time to detect the changes in the air and escape.