Home▸Everyday Physics▸Kick Elephant Physics (2D): Impulse, Momentum & Newton's Third Law

Kick Elephant Physics (2D): Impulse, Momentum & Newton's Third Law

2D companion to the 3D Kick Elephant simulator: a real impulse-momentum model shows why kicking a 4,000 kg elephant barely nudges it while the equal-and-opposite reaction force sends the kicker sliding backward. Same physics, no camera or crates — a side-view momentum-conservation lab.

Everyday Physics2DEasy60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Details

CategoryEveryday Physics

RenderingCanvas 2D

DifficultyEasy

Target FPS60

ControlsSliders for kick force (5-150 kN), contact time (10-150 ms) and launch angle (0-45°); a target-mass selector (elephant/human/mouse/piano) and a gravity selector (Earth/Mars/Moon); Kick, Pause and Reset buttons; live readouts for impulse, target and kicker velocity change, target flight distance, kicker slide-back distance and the mass ratio.

impulse-momentum theoremNewton's third lawprojectile motionfriction kinematicsmomentum conservationcanvas 2d

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A 2D companion to the 3D Kick Elephant simulator: a side-view impulse-momentum lab where a fixed kick impulse produces wildly different results depending on the target's mass — the elephant barely moves while the kicker skids backward under the equal and opposite reaction force.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D companion to the 3D Kick Elephant simulator: a side-view impulse-momentum lab where a fixed kick impulse J = F·Δt produces wildly different results depending on the target's mass. Swap between an elephant, a human, a mouse and a piano to watch the same reaction force barely nudge a 4,000 kg elephant while sending a 70 kg kicker skidding backward under real friction kinematics — Newton's third law made visible.

impulse-momentum theoremNewton's third lawprojectile motionfriction kinematicsmomentum conservationcanvas 2d

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