Introducing Noether’s Theorem in Conceptual Physics

With little advanced notice, I was assigned a section of conceptual physics to teach this semester (because second semester astronomy was cancelled due to low enrollment and replaced with a section of conceptual physics with the same low enrollment..go figure). After teaching Matter & Interactions for over a decade and after much enlightenment I have […]

Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Phyiscs II: Constant, Invariant, and Conserved Quantities

This post is the second in this series. You can read the background on this series in my previous post. I hope the questions in this series promote some discussion of what the goals of contemporary introductory physics should be these days. Here is the next question. It has multiple parts. In one sentence, explain […]