Re: Models Computational Physics

["Prof. John P. Ertel (wizard)" <jpe@nadn.navy.mil>]

I'm wondering if my experiences have just been very fortuitous!  I have
been traveling around the country for six to seven years now giving
invited workshops in Interactive physics both at the high school and
college/university level (but have very little experience in other
"turn-key" modeling software).  I use Interactive Physics extensively in
my mechanics sections (both those taught to Physics majors as well as to
the general population here at the Academy); and to a lesser extent in
electricity and magnetism.  I always model the interactions about to be
studied in a given laboratory in Interactive Physics and allow my students
to create their own "interactions" to model what they have seen in the
lab.  I also open up our laboratory computers and have students coming in
every evening during the week (and some Sundays) during the Fall term to
"model" mechanics problems using Interactive Physics.

Over a long and varied experience, I've found that students quickly pick
up the use of all of the tools of Interactive Physics without the aid of a
user manual --- just "playing" with the software teaches them its
functionality.  In my experience, I have found that students need little
help discovering the important aspects of mechanical phenomena that are
very faithfully presented by interactive Physics.  It is sometimes true
that they fail to understand what they have "discovered" through the use
of Interactive Physics; but this is also true of some of their "discovered
learning" in the real lab with hands-on use of equipment.  I like to think
that is one of the reasons that I am there.

I simply tell them that if they want kinematical results that match a body
that doesn't roll, use a disk without friction (but then they cannot study
the effects of friction) or use a box (just like we describe in most
simple inclined plane problems).  If you are going to use something that
rolls, you have to expect to use some energy in rotation.  It's just the
way nature is!


On Fri, 14 Mar 1997, Alex. F. Burr wrote:

>       I am thinking in terms of the program Interactive Phyics.
> The student has to know a lot of physics or have acess to a good teacher.
> An example.   a disk rolling down an inclined plane.
>
> Put a meter in which will tell how long it takes to get to the bottom.
> But the answer you get will not be what a box takes. Why?
>                                  Did you consider the moment of inertia?
>  etc

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