Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: oscillations test question

I wrote:

I can live with that. I just thought there was a more
descriptive name
for it so that students wouldn't interpret it as the total
PE for *any*
situation.

to which Carl E. Mungan responded:

True, but doesn't usually come up in intro physics. I agree an
alternate name might be better in rare cases.

The point is this is the total PE whether the spring is horizontal,
vertical, or on an incline. Just measure x relative to the
equilibrium position not the unstretched position. Carl

It would seem to me that intro students would naively think that since
1/2kx^2 describes the PE regardless of situation that the GPE (mgh) must
be negligible compared to the elastic PE. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll try
testing my students on this idea and see.

____________________________________________
Robert Cohen; rcohen@po-box.esu.edu; 570-422-3428; http://www.esu.edu/~bbq
Physics, East Stroudsburg Univ., E. Stroudsburg, PA 18301

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.