If I let loose a butterfly at 1000m in the air?

Question

Will it fly? Say I put it in a cage and take it up to an altitude of 1000m on an airplane and then let it loose INSIDE the plane, will it fly? Would it be the same if I let it loose OUTSIDE the plane?

Answer 1

no it wont fly because it wouldn't be able to stand the pressure and there will be less oxygen.

Answer 2

Butterflies fly by moving the air -- when the air is thinner, its wings cannot cause as great of a force.  Think of it like a human swimming.  You can swim in water, where you push heavy liquid, but you cannot swim in air, where you push light gas.

With that said, the butterfly would probably fly just fine, as the air is pretty similar 1000m (1 kilometer) above the Earth's surface.  Air pressure is about 88% of what it is on the surface, and composition (percentage of each gaseous element) is pretty similar to what it is at sea level.