Question

Ques. If an elephant was chasing you, its enormous mass would be most threatening. But if you moved in a zigzag path, its big mass would become your advantage. Why?

Answer 1

An elephant has great mass , thus it also has very high inertia, which we know is the resistance to acceleration. Acceleration can also be a change in direction of motion as it is equal to change in velocity/time taken, where velocity is a vector. So when an elephant has to change direction it will have to accelerate and as it has high inertia, this acceleration would require a lot of force, which either the elephant would not be able to supply , or would be able to supple but it would get tired faster and lose interest in chasing you.