Re: (dv/dt) terminology: opportunity for improvement

[Matt Jusinski <mjusinski@YAHOO.COM>]

> > A) In physics, we need a name for the quantity
> (dv/dt).
> > denotes an increase in speed, and that it is the
> opposite
> > of deceleration.  This leads to wrong physics
> conceptions
> > in two ways:
> >   -- Speed is a scalar, whereas velocity is a
> vector.
> >   -- We don't want two words (acceleration and
> deceleration)

I have found that my HS students have a pretty good
sense of negation, and that when a negative sign is
placed before the word "acceleration" they (and I) can
do without the word "deceleration".  We just say that
the acceleration is negative sometimes.

I prefer to not introduce new vocabulary when existing
terms suffice.  There are already a lot of new terms
in an introductory class.

Matt Jusinski  Morris Knolls HS  Rockaway, NJ


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