Today I continue to put down the student misconceptions on forces and motion as reported from physics education research. Every physics teacher will encounter the misconceptions every time when they teach force and motion. It is inevitable because of the “mismatch” of what was taught with the daily life experience. However, there is actually noContinue reading “Student misconceptions on forces and motion”
Category Archives: Forces
“On” and “by”
In describing forces, one needs to take note of the “on” and “by”. We need to mention the object the force exerts on and the agent that exerts the force. For example, the weight of the block is the gravitational force by the Earth on the block. Note: If you prefer gravitational force on the block by the Earth, that is fine too!Continue reading ““On” and “by””
Problem solving involving kinematics, forces, and work
I emphasize these chains of reasoning involving kinematics, forces, and work after students learned them whenever possible. I believe students will benefit if they apply them to problems. Here is one example: Objects at rest / moving at constant speed: Acceleration is zero Net force is zero The forces acting on the object are balanced /Sum ofContinue reading “Problem solving involving kinematics, forces, and work”
Chang Physics Class 