Aerodynamics features
Scientists from all over the world have been studying the life activity of mosquitoes. Japanese scientists managed to study the aerodynamics of flight. The filming was carried out in slow motion. They filmed in infrared radiation with a camera at a speed of 10 thousand frames per second. The results were published in journals in Japan and Great Britain.
Interesting!
During the research, it became known that during flight the wingspan is only 40 degrees. This is 2 times less than that of bees. With such physiological abilities, a small creature is not able to rise to a high level above the ground. However, the question of where mosquitoes cannot reach remains open.
Apartment on the top floor - pros and cons
The highest floor I've ever lived on is the fifteenth. I still live here. I’m sitting here, writing this text and at the same time looking at the sunset outside the window:
Sometimes there are such beautiful sunsets, it’s just a miracle! Sit in front of the window and take pictures!
Even though my floor is not the top, I still have some idea of the problems that my neighbors who live two floors above face.
The first problem is a hot roof in the summer. Even if the house has a technical floor, the roof of the house still warms up during the day so that it becomes impossible to breathe in the apartments on the top floor. The air conditioner, of course, is a good thing, but he, the dog, eats electricity with large spoons. So either fry or pay.
Another problem is that if the pumps are not powerful enough, then interruptions in water supply occur. Especially during peak hours, when all residents begin to take baths at the same time. We don’t have this problem at home, but in the neighboring neighborhood we do. They were less fortunate.
Thin walls - excellent audibility. The fact is that in high-rise buildings the walls on different floors actually have different thicknesses. At the bottom they are thicker, the higher they go, the thinner the walls become. This is done to facilitate the construction of the upper floors, so that you can save on the foundation and building materials in general.
I remember when we just moved into a new apartment, no one lived in the neighboring one for a long time. It was quiet and calm. And then suddenly they started doing renovations there. And then the neighbor himself moved in and started making noise at night. No, he didn’t shout, didn’t turn on the music. He and his wife just sat in their room and talked. And not to say that it was so loud. And we lay behind the wall in our bedroom and could not sleep, because we clearly heard every word. So audibility on the upper floors is the price to pay for the beautiful view from the window. But, living on the very top floor, you will never be disturbed by noise from neighbors above.
Now that the main pros and cons are listed, let me go through the most common myths that are often taken for granted when buying apartments.
Factors that increase flight altitude
Flight of a mosquito
The size of the insect is about 3 mm in length, the weight of the mosquito is about 2 mg. With such dimensions, the trajectory of movement can easily be changed by the wind. The flight altitude of a mosquito directly depends on weather conditions.
- In the absence of wind, pests rise no more than 15 m above the ground, which is approximately equal to the third floor of a multi-story building.
- According to numerous reviews, they can easily rise to the height of a 9-story building. They were even found at 28. Movement over 15 m is facilitated by the wind, which picks up insects and lifts them upward. The number of pests decreases with each meter, but with a large number of bloodsuckers and on the fifth floor, you will need mosquito nets on the windows to protect your home from annoying bloodsuckers.
- Pests often live in damp basements of multi-story buildings, from there they calmly move up the ventilation shafts and through the elevator. At what height the insect will appear depends on the structure of the high-rise building. There is not much difference if there are shafts and an elevator.
Interesting!
Under the article, which contained information that the mosquito does not rise above the third floor, the maximum height is 15 m, numerous comments poured in. Eyewitnesses claimed that bloodsuckers haunted the 15th floor too. When asked where mosquitoes come from, they claim that they get into the room not through the ventilation grilles or entrance, but from the side of the balcony, where they were often found on the glass from the outside.
How high do mosquitoes fly in the wild?
The situation is different away from big cities. There, the flight altitude in meters is determined only by the intensity of natural air currents. But during the process of migration in areas with hilly and mountainous terrain, insects are able to cover considerable distances along an inclined plane. It is difficult to say to what height mosquitoes fly within one life cycle, but it is known that on the hills of Kamchatka they massively attack tourists at the border of the snow cover, that is, at an altitude of 2.5-3 thousand meters.
Flying in the rain
Flight of a mosquito in the rain
This small creature never ceases to amaze with its abilities. Scientists have recently studied the flight of a mosquito during rain and the height of its movement.
A raindrop measures 8 mm and weighs up to 100 mg, which is several times the size of an insect.
- Once on its paws, the drop slightly changes its trajectory, throws it to the side, and twists it.
- If a drop falls on the body, it does not change its trajectory, carries the insect down several meters, and does not allow it to rise.
- If a drop gets on the body of an insect when it is on a solid base, death occurs.
The experiment was carried out in a special container where rain was artificially created. They filmed what was happening with a camera, and then analyzed what was happening. During rain, bloodsuckers can fly, but their movements are not clearly coordinated; raindrops do not allow them to rise high; maximum flight is at a height of 1 m above the ground.
The structure of mosquitoes and flies is different, they also differ in size, but they annoy humans in the same way. The latter are able to rise much higher, the wind helps to rise higher, and the flight of a fly has its own characteristics.
Disadvantages of apartments on the ground floor
The very first drawback is the proximity of the basement. If you are buying an apartment in a new building, then this is not so bad. But in old houses (which are 20-40 years old), the basement really becomes a source of problems. Firstly: it is smell and dampness. You know, in an ordinary average basement there is always something leaking. Either the sewer breaks, or hot water... All this rises through the cracks into the apartment on the first floor (and sometimes on the second or third).
As an example, I can cite this fact. My parents live in a house built according to a German design. There are really good apartments there, BUT! Every time I enter the entrance, I involuntarily hold my breath and try to leave the first floor without breathing. Why? I just don’t want to inhale the stench that comes from the basement and the garbage chute (there will be a separate discussion about that). This smell practically does not reach the third floor, but in apartments on the first floors there is no escape from it. I asked the residents - they were not happy.
The basement and garbage disposal are not only sources of unpleasant odors, but also a neighborhood with restless inhabitants, such as cockroaches, mice, and even rats. In the apartment where I lived after birth, there was more than enough of this goodness. The matter was aggravated by the fact that the apartment was communal and none of the neighbors made any special efforts to combat rodents. They felt almost like masters in the apartment. Just think about the fight between two rats in the built-in closet - one of the most vivid impressions of childhood! I still remember the squealing sound, and the roar was as if it were not rats, but two rhinoceroses engaged in a mortal fight.
And at night it was better not to leave the room. Rats could easily attack in the corridor and bite your leg. Brrr!
Now this probably no longer exists, but still, the first floor is a potential neighborhood with dangerous creatures. Not now, but over time.
There is another unpleasant thing about living on the ground floor. Because of the fear of burglary, people have to decorate their windows with bars. No matter how curly and beautiful they are, they will still be grilles. If there is a fire in the house, and the bars are installed properly, then you won’t be able to just jump out of the window. Not everything is as simple as I wrote a few paragraphs earlier.
And finally - a constantly spit-stained entrance, since crowds of people will constantly walk past your doors. This is noise, because they cannot walk in silence - they must definitely shout for the entire entrance. It's the smell of smoke. These are some guys looking into the windows from the street. Yes, a lot more. And God forbid there will be a bench near the entrance under your window. On warm summer nights you won't be able to sleep - guess why.
Maybe over time I’ll remember something else and add it.
Advantages of apartments on the ground floor
But you can look at the problem from the other side. After all, if you live on the ground floor, then you get from the apartment to the street and back much faster
In ordinary life, this may not be so important. But if a fire suddenly happens in the house, then you will be very glad that you don’t have to trudge up the stairs from the very top floor, carrying the most expensive thing in your arms, but just go outside, and then still have time to return for the second batch of the most expensive, then for the third etc
Moreover, it is quite possible to leave the apartment through the window.
And it’s convenient to buy large-sized items, since delivery to the entrance is usually free, and then you can somehow strain yourself and drag the coveted new piece of wood into the apartment on your own.
Again, if the apartment is on the ground floor, it is more convenient to keep an eye on your car left near the house. If something happens, you can quickly go out into the street and “hang lulya” on young hooligans who tried to break off something necessary from it, for example, a brand name.
Also, residents of the first floors sometimes even have a small “own” area in the front garden, where they can plant some gladioli and begonias.
And it’s really great if from your apartment, located on the ground floor, you can exit through a separate exit into a fenced mini garden. This way you can put a bench, create flower beds, or put up a swing for a child. A sort of plot of land attached to a city apartment. Such projects of multi-storey buildings are very rare, but they do occur.
If it happens that your water pipe bursts, then you will not “flood your neighbors” and you will not have to make repairs to them if it is proven that the flood is your fault. On the other hand, if the upper neighbors decide to thoroughly flood someone, then you are unlikely to be able to avoid their flows.
And (I almost forgot) children can run on the floor until they are blue in the face. No one will come to make a fuss from the ground floor for not having it. And finally: the walls on the first floors are usually thicker than on the upper floors, so the audibility will be less (although this rule does not apply to panel houses).
Yes! Somehow there are only advantages. It's time to pour tar.
Where can you breathe more comfortably and freely?
The state of our health is directly dependent on our living conditions. It is clear that the cleanest and freshest air is outside the city, but, unfortunately, not everyone can afford a luxurious mansion. Therefore, it doesn’t hurt to know which floor to choose.
First of all, let's talk about the characteristics of air. What air is considered clean and what is dirty? Let's conduct a comparative study:
- Clean air contains 21 percent oxygen, polluted air contains only 15.
- The nitrogen content in clean air is 77 percent, in polluted air it is 71 percent.
- Clean air contains 0.03 percent carbon dioxide, polluted air contains 0.108.
- The percentage of impurities from dust, soot, xenon and neon in clean air is 1.97, and in dirty air – 13.9.
It is worth noting that in cities the air is not always so polluted, but the proximity of a highway, for example, will make the overall picture depressing.
Person search algorithm
Considering all of the above, we can derive an algorithm for a mosquito to search for a victim to bite:
- the insect is guided by the smell of carbon dioxide, sweat and other aromas emanating from a person and attractive to the bloodsucker, from a distance of up to 50 m;
- Having approached 5–15 m, the insect visually determines the location of the future food source;
- Having flown even closer (at a distance of about 1 m), the bloodsucker finds the victim by the heat emanating from the body.
Such tactics are bearing fruit. Mosquitoes have no difficulty finding a victim, even if she tries to hide under a blanket. So, if a person who suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night hears a characteristic squeak, and then it seems that someone is biting an open area of his body, most likely the insect is actually already actively saturated with blood.
Bite
