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Re: Stop using calorie?




EDT LUDWIK KOWALSKI <kowalskil@alpha.montclair.edu> writes:
Herb (herbgottlieb@juno.com) asked:

How does calorimetry explain Joule's paddle experiment?

Who said it does? But it is good if students know how to measure
things with calorimeters and thermometers before they learn "the kinetic

molecular theory of heat". Again it is a matter of pedagogical
preference.

I certainly agree that physics is more fun to teach and learn if there
are
lots of demos and labs that use real apparatus. I also agree that there
is no correct or universally preferred sequence for presenting topics
and concepts in a physics course. When I first started to teach physics,

I had the students skip around the textbook starting with sound and
modern physics and then presenting mechanics to help explain all
of the phenomena that had been previously introduced. Another
teacher in the department asked me to try following the textbook
sequence page by page. I tried it and it worked just as well as my
previous method .... and perhaps even better.

I also remember spending the first two weeks teaching
Archimedes' principle, density, and specific gravity using overflow
cans, hydrometers, picnometers and specific gravity cubes.
Then came calorimetry using double wall containers, aluminum
stirring rods, glass thermometers and ill fitting wooden tops.

Fortunately or unfortunately, those days are gone.

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where our picnometers are gathering dust in the lab prep room)