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Re: position vs displacement




Pedagogical remark: The idea of relativity of position is obvious
to us. It's not a big surprise or a burden on students, but it
needs to be discussed explicitly. It gets short shrift in a lot
of texts.

Actually relativity in position is often a big surprise to students, and
when discussed explicitly they often will still not understand it. This is
true especially of students with thinking skills below the formal
operational level. It requires a lot more than mere talking at them about
it.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX