|
AN INTRODUCTION TO NEWTONIAN
MECHANICS by Edward Kluk Dickinson State University, Dickinson ND |
A
need for good, simple and quantitative experiments in teaching introductory
physics on any level is commonly recognized. Using sonic rangers, photogates,
fast photography etc. we certainly can help our students to understand basic
physics laws. There are, however, two problems related with use of such
equipment. This equipment is relatively expensive, and preparation of experiments
takes a lot of time. A software for physics lab simulations is not cheap
either and usually is oriented toward applications than investigation of
fundamental laws.
Looking
at dynamics of applets (this applet is courtesy of
JavaMachine) one can realize
their potential as simulators of introductory physics lab experiments. Their
big advantage is a possibility to use them through the Internet with Netscape
2.0 browser (or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 installed on an
applet capable platform like Windows 95. Netscape browsers are free of charge
for educational institutions and Internet Explorer is free for everybody.
Nowadays it becomes more likely to find in colleges and high schools good
computers hooked up to Internet than well equipped physics labs. As a matter
of fact applets can be installed and used locally, without Internet connection,
which makes it even cheaper.
After creation of two such simulations
for experiments in mechanics I have concluded that they may work best as
a support for a Web course of introductory mechanics. So I have started to
develop such course which hopefully will be fully operational in the end
of 1997. In this course I try to emphasize an experimental base of the Newtonian
mechanics and its relations with mathematics as only known method capable
of quantitative descriptions the nature laws. The course will be kept as
much as possible on an elementary level. The mathematics used there will
not go much beyond a good high school algebra. Unfortunately true understanding
Newton laws is not possible without at least a type of calculus invented
by Newton himself. Such calculus will be developed and applied in this course.
Thus, this course is not intended for people who want to memorize a bit
of physics to pass some standard tests and forget about it, but for these
who want truly understand Newtonian mechanics. Students are supposed to perform
all suggested simulations of experiments and make an elementary mathematical
analysis of their "experimental" results. This analysis should lead to
mathematical formulations of the physics laws. It does not make much sense
to move to a next section without understanding what a current section is
about. Physical laws and principles are very much interdependent and very
often they must be introduced in a certain order. All of it demands from
students self discipline and hard work.
Those who teach introductory physics
courses may also find some elements of this course interesting. The applets
used here are capable to simulate many other experiments which are not described
in the course but may be of interest in other courses. But they have their
limitations. For example, none of them let you change initial conditions
for a simulated motion in a continuous way. It means that you have only limited
number of choices. This limitation keeps applets code relatively simple.
More about behaviour of a particular applet can be found in each part
of the course introducing this applet.
Due to limitations of HTML mathematical
formulae are often printed here in not quite standard notation. For example,
it is not possible to use standard square root symbol or fraction line. Thus,
they are replaced by power ½ and slash respectively. If you have problems
with some formulae, please rewrite them in standard forms on a piece of
paper.
In actual stage of its development
the course can be used as a supplemental material for a regular course containing
mechanics. When fully developed, it hopefully will make possible to learn
basic Newtonian mechanics without a lot of external help.
Currently developed material can
be downloaded as a zip file and used (at
least in theory) on any platform with a browser which is capable to handle
applets. But so far the related applets have beeen tested and found
working correctly on Windows 95 and Windows NT with Netscape and
Internet Explorer 3.0. Tests on Unix gave negative results. Hopefully I will
be able to test it on Macintosh soon. If you find worth to download it please
read the copy rights note. To use it, extract zip file to a separate directory
and open m_cont_h.html in your browser.
Last update: Jan 10, 1997 | E - mail to Edward Kluk |
Copyright (c) 1996 Edward Kluk |