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Re: heat, centrifugal force, etc.



Here's my 2 ¢: Kinesthetically (and this is the Physics that intro.
students have) students are somewhat unaware of the force the floor,
ground, etc. pushes against them -- a constant sense tends to be ignored,
e.g. manure to a farmer -- However, a change, e.g. an elevator as it
begins up, is. So, as one poster pointed out, students will laugh at any
one who says centrifugal force doesn't exist. It is the same as weight.
When one is on a round about, either the traffic circle of the playground
machine, it (auto. seat, etc. or the PG machine pushes against one just
as the ground or elevator does. I think kinesthetic knowledge is among
the more certain ones one can know. As another posted, we should take
advantage of it.

bc who hopes he got this correct.

Robert Cohen wrote:

Savinainen Antti wrote:

Phys-L among other sources have taught me not to ban centrifugal
forces; they do belong to more advanced courses and modern
physics.

The question is whether such a hard stance in intro courses causes
hardship in the advanced courses.

I agree that using the term "centrifugal force" (like "centripetal
force", by the way) confuses students. For this reason, I prefer
using the phrase "apparent force away from the center" instead of
"centrifugal" until the students get used to the idea.

____________________________________________
Robert Cohen; rcohen@po-box.esu.edu; 570-422-3428; http://www.esu.edu=
/~bbq
Physics, East Stroudsburg Univ., E. Stroudsburg, PA 18301