Q: Imagine that I'm driving along at highway speed with the air conditioner on and the windows closed. A hummingbird that was caged in the back seat gets loose, and it ends up just hovering there in mid-air. If I hit the brakes hard, does the hummingbird crash into the windshield?
A: The hummingbird is toast. He crashes into the windshield. In summarizing Newton's first law, objects in motion will stay in motion...the cabin air is part of the car. So if the hummingbird is hovering in that air while the car is in motion, the bird has the same horizontal speed as the car...That means he's in motion. And when the car stops, the hummingbird does not, and splat.
Q: What about cigar smoke?
A: Smoke too, is subject to Newton's first law, and should crash into the windshield. The only reason it doesn't is because it doesn't have enough mass. So while it's heading twoard the windshield, it bangs into nearby air molecules, and the effect is muted.
From the Post's Click & Clack; May 17, 2009
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