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Re: [Phys-L] Energy-as-substance for introductory physics students



Time Magazine DID declare E= mc^2 to be the equation of the century.


On Oct 2, 2012, at 8:16 PM, carmelo@pacific.net.sg wrote:

Dear all,

Recently, there are two papers from Physical Review which suggest utilizing energy-as-substance conceptual metaphor to help introductory physics students to understand energy conservation, storage, and transfer...

1. Eric Brewe (2011). Energy as a substancelike quantity that flows: Theoretical considerations and pedagogical consequences. Phys. Rev. ST Physics Ed. Research. 7(2), 020106.
You may download the paper from this website: http://prst-per.aps.org/

2. Rachel E. Scherr, Hunter G. Close, Sarah B. McKagan, and Stamatis Vokos (2013). Representing energy. I. Representing a substance ontology for energy. Phys. Rev. ST Physics Ed. Research.

There are two questions:
1. If an object has more kinetic energy, it will have more substance, and thus more mass?
2. The best universities may still prefer to introduce energy as abstract quantity instead of energy-as-substance. Perhaps, some "smarter" students in less competitive universities may feel unhappy that inaccurate definition of energy is introduced in their curriculum?



Alphonsus

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