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Caracal Jump Hunting Lab: Projectile Interception (2D)

2D side-view leap-interception lab: real projectile kinematics (v0, launch angle, max height = v0²sin²θ/2g) drive a caracal's leap against a moving bird's altitude and flight speed, with a real paw-reach interception test at the apex.

Animals & Their World2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion strips the caracal's signature vertical leap down to the kinematics that make it work: a launch-speed-and-angle slider pair drives a real projectile arc (x(t), y(t) from v0 and θ, with the textbook max-height and apex-time formulas shown live), while a bird flies its own independent horizontal line at an adjustable altitude and speed. Interception is decided the way the hunt actually happens — not by touching the whole arc, but by testing whether the caracal's paw-reach disc overlaps the bird's position in a short timing window centred on the apex, exactly where a caracal's real strike lands.

⚙ Under the hood

2D projectile-interception lab: v0 and launch angle drive an analytic leap arc (max height = v0²sin²θ/2g, apex time = v0sinθ/g), a bird flies a level path at its own altitude and speed, and a hit is scored only if the caracal's paw-reach disc overlaps the bird within a timing window around the apex.

caracalprojectile motionbiomechanicspredator-prey interceptionkinematicsvertical leap

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install