"One can then turn to particle accelerator work (was a PSSC film on this as well as the muons) that measures velocity and momentum of particles moving very fast. The experiments clearly show that momentum rises must faster than velocity at high velocity. For the student group in question--comparing this to their ideas of momentum (p = mv) the conclusion _has_ to be that mass has increases."
I have taught intro relativity to HS students for a number of years. I can assure that my students do not find it hard at all to understand the experiment mentioned above without relativistic mass.
Here is how I do it: it is not a surprise to students that Newtonian formulas do not hold when speed increases. Thus it is quite straight forward to introduce the definition of momentum with the gamma factor and show that it is consistent with the Newtonian definition when speeds are low. Then the gamma factor is evaluated with different speeds and plotted against speed. Its behaviour is quite obvious and "explains" why "momentum rises much faster than velocity". There is no need to say that mass increases; the only thing is to realize that the earlier definition of momentum is just an approximation.
I find it useful to mention, however, that relativistic mass exists even in quite respected writings and it most certainly is well and alive in HS textbooks :-).
I refer to John's papers on the geometric approach to all students in my teaching and strongly encourage my best students to study them. Some of them do and I know that they have benefited from it.
Cheers,
Antti
Antti Savinainen, Ph.D., B.Ed.
Senior Lecturer in Physics and Mathematics
Kuopio Lyseo High School
Finland
E-mail: <antti.savinainen@kuopio.fi>
Website: <http://kotisivu.dnainternet.net/savant/>
--
********************************************************************************************
Tämä viesti on tarkoitettu ainoastaan henkilölle tai yhteisölle, jolle se on osoitettu.
Viesti saattaa sisältää luottamuksellista tietoa. Jos olet saanut viestin erehdyksessä,
ilmoita siitä lähettäjälle ja tuhoa viesti postilaatikostasi
Viesti on tarkastettu roskapostisuodatus- ja virustorjuntaohjelmistolla.
Tarkastuksesta huolimatta noudata asianmukaista varovaisuutta liitteitä avatessasi.
Kuopion kaupunki / ATK-keskus
*********************************************************************************************