Cow tipping - is it really possible? We've all heard about that awesome prank the teenagers of our parents' and grandparents' generations used to pull...but can it really be done?

First off, I'd like to assert that in no way do I condone cow-tipping or the bullying of any other farm animals. Because hey, cows are people too.

Anyway, onto the physics. First off, cows don't even sleep standing up, contrary to popular belief. So, assuming they stay in place and don't run away when you try to sneak up on them (an unlikely wager to begin with, because who wouldn't run away when someone was trying to push them over?), once you started pushing, they'd do everything in their power not to be tipped over.

Cows weigh a lot - we know this. And according to Newton's 2nd Law, F=ma, you'll want to apply a big force as fast as possible to have any chance at knocking the cow over before it can react.

I actually found a diagram and calculations about the physics of cow-tipping someone had already compiled:

Adapted from Popular Mechanics, using the work of Margo Lillie and Tracy Boecher.

So you see, it's pretty impossible for one person to tip a cow, even if cows did sleep standing up - they're just too heavy. You'd need at least two people for that, and 5 or 6 if they cow were awake and able to take a wider stance and brace itself better against your cruel intentions.

And it's a good thing too - I mean come on people, the poor cows.

Thanks for reading, hope you don't try to test this one out for yourself!

Until next time,

bazinga818