Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXVI
A qualitative question about work
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Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXV
A questions about free-body diagrams
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A question about how force affects momentum
Read More Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXIVConceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXIII
A question about systems and system boundaries and the Momentum Principle
Read More Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXIIIConceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXXII
A question about vector computation
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This is the first in a series of sample questions I’ve used in oral interviews.
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I just realized this is the thirtieth post in this series! I don’t know if anyone has found this series helpful, but I think these questions collectively might make a pool of original exam questions. That’s mainly how I see them anyway. This post is almost a word for word duplicate of the last post […]
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Students sometimes see vector dot products in their calculus classes before they see them in their physics classes. Dot products are often presented with two seemingly unrelated definitions, one of which is geometric and coordinate free and the other is in terms of components in a particular basis. Yet, the two give exactly the same […]
Read More Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Physics XXIXVector Formalism in Introductory Physics VI: A Unified Solution for Simple Dot Product and Cross Product Equations
TL;DR: Simple vector dot products and cross products may be “undone” using formal methods consistent with Gibbsian vector algebra. Writing the cross product and dot product of an unknown vector relative to a given vector in a canonical form allows a well known vector identity to be used to isolate the unknown vector. Special cases […]
Read More Vector Formalism in Introductory Physics VI: A Unified Solution for Simple Dot Product and Cross Product EquationsVector Formalism in Introductory Physics V: Two Equations, One Solution
TL;DR: Solving seemingly trivial dot product and cross product equations leads to an astonishing result, namely that they have the same solution, which can be derived both geometrically and algebraically. Establishing this common solution is an important step in motivating formal Gibbsian vector algebra. In the previous two posts, I demonstrated that the simple dot […]
Read More Vector Formalism in Introductory Physics V: Two Equations, One Solution