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I've been thinking about this thread along with the previous
discussion on what constitutes a model in physics. It seems to me that
physics is really a power series expansion. On the left side of the
equation is nature, on the right is our best model for a particular
phenomenon. Sometimes all we need is the first two terms of the series to
get good correspondence with nature, other times higher order terms are
needed.
In teaching physics I think we must start out the students with
the first order term, only when they understand that do we add in the
higher order corrections. For the case of our bullets being fired and
dropped, the first order term is the independence of the horizontal and
verticle components of the motion. Only after the students understand
that should we introduce the higher order terms of friction, lift, etc.
Mike Monce
Connecticut College