Physics Education
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Algodoo for online education: impulse and
momentum activities
To cite this article: Atakan Çoban 2021 Phys. Educ. 56 025017
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PA P E R
Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017 (8pp) iopscience.org/ped
Algodoo for online
education: impulse and
momentum activities
Atakan Çoban
Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yeditepe University, Atas¸ehir,
Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail: atakancoban39@gmail.com
Abstract
During the periods of sudden transition to online education, the opportunity
to make applications that might attract students’ attention to the course has
decreased even more. Although this deficiency tried to be eliminated with
videos and simulations, it was not possible to ensure the active participation
of students in some cases. In this study, the Algodoo program, which can
increase the efficiency of the teaching environment by ensuring active
participation of students in online lessons and the applications that can be
done about impulse and momentum, are explained in detail. A total of six
different applications were carried out, one related to the subject of impulse,
one related to the momentum, two related to the relationship between
impulse and momentum change, and two related to momentum conservation.
At the same time, while developing these applications, the adjustments made
on the simulation and the reasons are explained in detail. In this way, both
the introduction of the program and the sample application suggestion were
presented. The values obtained as a result of the applications were calculated
and compared both theoretically and on simulation in different ways. As a
result, it has been observed that the values have internal consistency with
each other and are also compatible with theoretical calculations. The
Algodoo program, which allows many interactive applications and can be
downloaded for free, is a program that can be used both in lecturing and
evaluation processes in physics lessons during the online education process.
Keywords: Algodoo, online education, impulse, momentum
1. Introduction
Recently, online courses have been conducted
almost everywhere in the world [1]. This situation
virtualized the lecture environments. Suddenly
going into such a process left physics
teachers desperate to do in-class activities. When
considered specifically in the physics lesson,
classroom practices have a very important place.
It is very important to organize activities in the
online environment as in the classroom [2]. It
can be efficient in providing visualization through
video or ready-made simulations. However, it
1361-6552/21/025017+8$33.00 1 © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd
A Çoban
may be insufficient to attract the attention of the
students and to activate the student in the process.
Within the scope of the physics course, current
digital learning environments are divided
into two categories as ‘constrained’ and ‘less
constrained’ [3]. Digital learning environments
used in physics education, such as PhET simulations
[4], Physlets [5] and QuVis animations
[6], are ‘constrained’. These are ready-made simulations
that focus on the points that experts
who prepare simulations in these programs consider
the most important. However, since these
ready-made simulations allow limited applications,
adjustments may not be made on all variables
in some subjects. Algodoo [7], Interactive
Physics [8], and Fizika [9] programs are ‘less
constrained’ digital learning programs. There are
many variables in these programs such as gravity,
air drag, flexibility, speed, mass, color, etc.
And these variables can be given different values
as desired. In this way, various unique simulations
that focus on different points within the
scope of the relevant subject are designed and
provide the opportunity to make original applications.
The Algodoo interactive physics simulation
program, which can be used in classroom
applications that require active participation of
the student, can be very useful in online lessons
[10]. The program is very small and can be downloaded
for free [11]. There are many applications
on this simulation program, which is developed
by considering the laws of physics, especially on
Mechanical Physics. Within the scope of the program,
there are many possibilities, such as adding
objects in various geometric shapes, adjusting all
kinds of physical properties of the objects, adding
the graphics of many variables of the object relative
to each other, providing the visualization
of the vector representation of the variables of
the object, adding an inclined plane at different
angles, and adding forces in different sizes and
directions [7].
The implementation of the Algodoo program
can be done in several ways:
• First, theoretical explanation is made chapter
by chapter. Then, students are asked to design
a simple case study related to the subject on
the simulation. In this way, it is ensured that
the subject scope is learned by discovering
its equivalent in daily life. For example, in
order to analyze the relationship between
mass and acceleration, forces of the same
magnitude are added to objects of different
mass, and the relationships between accelerations
of objects are analyzed.
• An example problem written using the values
of a previously prepared simulation is
solved with the class after the lecture. Then
the ready-made simulation is opened and the
sample real-life problem is analyzed by the
students. It is ensured that the accuracy of
the result reached by theoretical calculation
is tested and the knowledge learned is reinforced.
For example, students are asked to
calculate the magnitude of the final velocity
as a result of the 15 m displacement of a static
2 kg object on a frictionless ground, with a
force of 10 N on it. Then, this sample situation
is analyzed by providing the necessary
visualizations through Algodoo.
• Lectures can be made directly on the Algodoo
program. First, the situation related to
the subject is shown on Algodoo and questions
are asked to make students wonder and
think about the subject. Then the situation
is explained by lecturing and the simulation
is taken back and analyzed again, this time
with theoretical calculations. For example,
by enabling a force to act on an object
first, the simulation is stopped after a certain
period of time. At this point, it is explained
what impulse is and what its equation is.
Then the simulation is taken back and the
force-time graph of the object is added, the
motion is started again and the impulse is
calculated.
• Within the scope of an example case, students
can be provided to determine the relationship
between variables by testing through the program.
For example, in an application related
to projectile motion, the relationship between
the angle and the maximum height can be
analyzed by increasing the angle of the initial
velocity of the object with the horizontal.
Or, in another application, they can analyze
the time-dependent graphs of the position and
velocity during accelerated motion and how
these graphs change depending on the force
acting on the object.
March 2021 2 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017
Algodoo for online education: impulse and momentum activities
In this study, the development process and
data analysis processes of six sample applications
on impulse and momentum that can be used during
the lesson using the Algodoo program will be
explained.
2. Theory
In this section, theoretical information about the
applications in the study is explained. The theoretical
information used was taken from the relevant
textbooks [12]. The product of the net force
acting on the object and the duration of action ∆t
is called impulse and is calculated by the equation
⃗I = ⃗F · ∆t. (1)
At the same time, the area under the timedependent
graph of the force is equal to impulse.
And, objects with a certain mass and speed
have momentum. Momentum is calculated by the
equation
⃗P = m ·⃗v. (2)
If the net force acting on an object is not
zero, the speed of the object changes. The impulse
affecting the object causes the momentum of the
object to change. The impulse affecting the object
is equal to the change in the momentum of the
body and this relation is expressed as
⃗I = ∆⃗P =
−→
P2 −
−→
P1. (3)
The total momentum of a system consisting
of more than one body is conservative and does
not change unless an external force acts on the
system. The momentum of the objects in the system
can change as a result of various interactions
(collision, explosion, etc) in the system. But the
sum of these momenta never changes. In twodimensional
isolated systems, momentum is conservative
in both axes, and the final momentum in
both axes is equal to the initial momentum in both
direction and magnitude.
3. Applications and results
3.1. Impulse
With the help of the Algodoo program, it is possible
to develop activities by taking measurements
directly on the graph and by putting the data
obtained from the simulation into the equations.
In order to develop an activity related to impulse
using the Algodoo program, first of all, air friction
should be removed by clicking on the bottom
middle partition. Then, a rectangular object
of insignificant dimensions is added with the help
of the toolbars at the bottom left. To remove the
friction of the object, the ‘friction’ section in the
‘material’ toolbar is set to zero. Then, force is
added to the object from the toolbars in the lower
left corner. By double-clicking the force, it is possible
to adjust the size, the point of action and the
activating keys. In this application, the force acts
continuously, but it can also be adjusted to press
a key to activate the force, if desired. In the study,
a force of 5 N was preferred. By double clicking
on the object, the ‘show plot’ toolbar is selected
and the time-dependent graph of the force acting
on the x-axis is added. The simulation speed
was set as 0.100 by hovering over the start button
and the simulation was started. The motion of the
object with the added force effect is observed as in
figure 1.
The simulation was stopped after a while.
The added force had an effect from the moment
the simulation was started to the moment it was
stopped. On the graph, the time that the force is
active was determined as ∆t = 0.31 s. At this
point, the size of the impulse can be calculated as
1.55 N s with the help of equation (1). The area
under the time-dependent graph of the force added
to the simulation is also equal to the impulse and
this value can be seen directly as 1.67 N s through
the simulation. By clicking on different points on
the graphic, the area under the graphic at that time
can be determined with the help of the program.
There is a high level of agreement between the
result obtained in the theoretical calculation made
with the values obtained through the simulation
and the value read directly on the graph.
3.2. Momentum
In the Algodoo program, it is possible to adjust
objects in different masses and speeds of different
sizes. In addition, velocity magnitudes can be
adjusted in both the x- and y-axis. Therefore,
it is possible to add objects having momentum
in all directions and sizes. With the help of the
March 2021 3 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017
A Çoban
Figure 1. Screenshot of the application about impulse in Algodoo.
program, the momentum magnitudes in both axes
can be plotted depending on different variables.
In figure 2, a screenshot of the simple application
developed for momentum is given.
In the application, air friction and gravity
were removed and a circular object was added.
By double clicking on the object, the mass of the
object is set as 3.0 kg in the ‘material’ section,
and its speed is set as 2.0 m s−1
in the +x direction
from the ‘velocities’ section. The timedependent
graph of the value of momentum on
the x-axis has been added from the ‘show plot’
section. The magnitude of the momentum value
of the object on the x-axis was determined as
6.0 N s both by theoretical calculation and on the
graph.
3.3. Impulse and momentum change
In order to analyze the relation of impulse being
equal to momentum change, a circular body was
added in a simulation where air friction and gravity
were removed, and a force of 4 N was added
on the object. The vector representation and magnitude
of the added force are provided with the
help of ‘Visualization’ from the toolbars located in
the upper right corner of the simulation program.
The simulation is finalized as in figure 3 by adding
the time-dependent graph of the momentum of the
object on the x-axis.
The duration of the force on the graph was
determined as 2.07 s and the final value of the
momentum was 8.267 N s. The body was at
rest when not under the force, and therefore its
momentum was 0. The final momentum of the
body is equal to the change of momentum and is
8.267 N s. During the period of force of 4 N, the
size of the impulse was calculated as 8.28 N s. It is
seen that the momentum change value read from
the graph added to the simulation and the impulse
value calculated using the values in the simulation
are equal to each other with a small margin
of deviation.
In another application, an object with a mass
of 5 kg has been raised to a certain height
while standing still. The air friction was removed
and the gravitational acceleration was adjusted
to be −90◦
in direction and its magnitude to
9.8 m s−2
. The velocity vector is visualized by
selecting the view velocity section from the velocities
section in visualization from the toolbars
in the upper right corner, and the velocity size
is also visualized by selecting the show value
expression in the same toolbar. By double clicking
on the object, a graphic is added as time on
the x-axis and force (magnitude) on the y-axis
through the show pilot option. The simulation
is started, the movement of the object is monitored
and the simulation is stopped. At this
moment, the screen shot of the simulation is as in
figure 4.
If the gravitational acceleration is assumed to
be g = 9.8 m s−2
, the net force acting on an object
with a mass of 5 kg is the force of gravity and this
March 2021 4 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017
Algodoo for online education: impulse and momentum activities
Figure 2. Screenshot of the application about momentum in Algodoo.
Figure 3. Screenshot of the first application about impulse and momentum change in Algodoo.
force is 49 N as can be seen from the graph in
figure 4. The time from the start of the simulation
to the moment it is stopped is 0.73 s. Therefore,
the impulse affecting the object during this movement
is 35.77 N s. Impulse was found as 35.93 N s
from the area under the force–time graph added to
the simulation. The two values are largely compatible
with each other. It can be seen from the
simulation that the linear velocity of the object
that started to move in a stationary state when the
simulation stopped is 7.19 m s−1
. The momentum
change of an object with a mass of 5 kg is also
∆P = 35.95 N s. At this point, it is seen that the
results achieved have a high internal consistency
with each other.
3.4. Momentum conservation
The ability to add objects of different mass and
velocities in different directions on the simulation
leads to various applications for momentum conservation.
In this study, two applications related
to two dimensional elastic collision and related
to internal explosion have been made. A wide
variety of other momentum conservation applications
can be developed with the methods used
in these applications. In the application related to
the collision, two circular objects are added by
removing the air friction and gravity and these
objects are adjusted to have a mass of 3 kg. The
velocities of 4 m s−1
in the +x direction and
March 2021 5 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017
A Çoban
Figure 4. Screenshot of the second application about impulse and momentum change in Algodoo.
a b
Figure 5. (a) Screenshot of the initial state of the first application of momentum conservation in Algodoo.
(b) Screenshot of the final state of the first application of momentum conservation in Algodoo.
3 m s−1
in the +y direction are added to the
objects, as shown in figure 5(a). For the collision
to be fully flexible, the restitution value is
set as 0.500 and attraction 0 in the ‘material’
section.
When figure 5(a) is examined, the first
momentum of the red one out of two objects with
a mass of 3 kg can be calculated as 12 kg m s−1
in the +x direction and 9 kg m s−1
in the
+y direction of the green one. After the collision,
it can be seen that the speed of the red
object in the x-axis is 1.5 m s−1
in the y-axis,
2.7 m s−1
, the green object in the x-axis 2.5 m s−1
and 0.3 m s−1
in the y-axis. Using these values,
the final momentum in the x-axis is calculated
as 12 kg m s−1
and the final momentum
in the y-axis is calculated as 9 kg m s−1
. These
results appear to be the same as the initial
momentums in accordance with the conservation
of momentum.
In another application, it is related to the
explosions that are frequently encountered in
momentum conservation. In this application, three
circular bodies of different masses were nested at
the same point while the simulation was in pause.
Air friction and gravity have been removed. Visualization
of momentum has been selected from
the visualization toolbar in the upper right corner.
‘Show values’ and ‘show components’ options are
selected in the same section. In this way, the components
and sizes of the momentum vectors on the
x- and y-axis are visualized. Simulation was started
when the objects were nested at the same point
and after a while it was stopped and a view like in
figure 6 was obtained.
When figure 6 is examined
March 2021 6 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017
Algodoo for online education: impulse and momentum activities
Figure 6. Screenshot of the final state of the second application of momentum conservation in Algodoo.
• The momentum of a 4 kg red body on the
x-axis is −186.22 N s and −45.21 N s on the
y-axis.
• The blue body with a mass of 3 kg has a
momentum of 131.52 N s on the x-axis and
−33.81 N s on the y-axis.
• The green body with a mass of 2 kg has a
momentum of 54.70 N s on the x-axis and
79.02 N s on the y-axis.
• Before the simulation started, all three objects
were stationary at the same position, and the
initial momentum was zero for both the x- and
y-axis. When the momentum values obtained
at the moment the simulation is stopped, it
is seen that the total final momentum magnitudes
on both x- and y-axes are also zero.
4. Conclusion
In online lessons, it is more difficult to attract
students’ attention to the lesson and to perform
efficient educational processes than in the school
environment. At this point, it is indispensable to
use different methods. Today’s students are individuals
who grew up in the age of technology and
benefit from most of the technology’s opportunities.
Providing online trainings to such a community
with direct instruction will undoubtedly
not attract them to actively work in the classroom
environment. In order to eliminate this problem
and increase the efficiency of the education
process, it is necessary to visualize the course
environment using videos, animations and simulations.
The Algodoo program is a free interactive
physics simulation program. The program
is developed considering the laws of physics,
and instead of watching ready-made simulations,
optional changes can be made on physical quantities
in this program. In this study, sample applications
on impulse and momentum are explained.
In addition, technical information about the program
is also given. Besides these applications,
information that will prepare the groundwork for
a wide variety of applications on impulse and
momentum is given. It is very difficult to make
applications due to limited opportunities in these
times when the training continues online throughout
the world, and at this point, applications to
be made with the Algodoo program, which can
be downloaded and used for free, will be very
useful.
ORCID iD
Atakan Çoban  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
4959-0614
Received 25 August 2020, in final form 10 October 2020
Accepted for publication 9 December 2020
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/abd1e9
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A Çoban
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Atakan Çoban was born in 1993 in
Northern Cyprus. He is a research
assistant at Yeditepe University
Physics Department. He completed
his undergraduate and graduate
education on Physics Education.
Currently, he is in the Ph.D. process
on Physics Education. He carries out
studies with the idea of enriching the
educational environment with the
necessary technological innovations
so that students can learn with pleasure and gain 21st century
skills.
March 2021 8 Phys. Educ. 56 (2021) 025017