Concept tag
#physics-teaching
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I teach Newton’s laws knowing they are strictly false. What exactly am I teaching?
This term I'm teaching mechanics to a senior secondary class in Lagos. F = ma, the laws of motion, gravitation. I teach it with full confidence, and I also know that relativity and quantum theory say it is not strictly true of…
Started by Emeka AnyaohaAnswer first (no replies yet) -
Do the laws of physics make things happen, or only describe what happens?
Last week a student asked me why the ball "obeys" Newton's second law. I started to answer and realised I did not know what I meant by "obeys". We talk as if laws are rules and objects follow them. But a ball…
Started by Emeka Anyaoha4 replies