Related papers: Action Physics
Research has shown that it is challenging to change departmental culture to support the adoption of transformed teaching practices. Michigan State University is working to transform its introductory physics courses by engaging faculty in…
You will find here a number of (mostly) elementary physics problems dealing mainly with uniform motion kinematics. In preparing this collection I have tried to create original situations that could help bring motivation to an introductory…
In physics, there is a scalar function called the action which behaves like a cost function. When minimized, it yields the "path of least action" which represents the path a physical system will take through space and time. This function is…
General physics approach is applied to analysis of power components in electrical systems under sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal conditions. Physical essence of active, reactive and distorting powers are determinate. It is shown that the all…
We present the principle of virtual action as a foundation of continuum mechanics. Used mainly in relativity, the method has a useful application in classical mechanics and places the notion of action as the basic concept of dynamics. The…
Physics in Films is an alternative version of the physical science course offered to non-science majors at the University of Central Florida. The course uses the popularity of Hollywood films to generate interest in science and to engage…
We describe the development of a junior-senior level course for Physics majors designed to teach Mathematica skills in support of their undergraduate coursework, but also to introduce students to modern research level results. Standard…
The least action principle occupies a central part in contemporary physics. Yet, as far as classical field theory is concerned, it may not be as essential as generally thought. We show with three detailed examples of classical interacting…
Einsteinian physics represents a distinct paradigm shift compared to Newtonian physics. There is worldwide interest in introducing Einsteinian physics concepts early in school curriculum and trials have demonstrated that this is feasible.…
This contribution analyses the classical laws of motion by means of an approach relating time and entropy. We argue that adopting the notion of change of states as opposed to the usual derivation of Newton's laws in terms of fields a…
This article serves as a pedagogical introduction to the problem of motion in classical field theories. The primary focus is on self-interaction: How does an object's own field affect its motion? General laws governing the self-force and…
The action principle is frequently used to derive the classical equations of motion. The action may also be used to associate group elements with curves in the space-time manifold, similar to the gauge transformations. The action principle…
Over the past year and a half we have developed an innovative approach to the teaching of `Physical Science', a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. The new approach uses popular…
Questions of participant understanding of the nature of an activity have been addressed in anthropology and sociolinguistics with the concepts of frames and framing. For example, a student may frame a learning activity as an opportunity for…
In this paper we put forth a model for physics course reform that uniquely uses proven, research-based active learning strategies to help students improve their physics knowledge and problem-solving skills. In this study, we compared the…
In teaching the physical sciences, a significant challenge lies in the student's tendency to consider the scientific world and the "real" world as separate. For example, Newton's 1st Law of Motion states that an object in motion remains in…
As part of a larger research project into massively open online courses (MOOCs), we have investigated student background, as well as student participation in a physics MOOC with a laboratory component. Students completed a demographic…
We further develop a recently introduced variational principle of stationary action for problems in nonconservative classical mechanics and extend it to classical field theories. The variational calculus used is consistent with an initial…
In this Thesis we study quantum corrections to the classical dynamics for mean values in field theory. To that end we make use of the formalism of the closed time path effective action to get real and causal equations of motion. We…
The papeer presents results of "non-traditional" teaching of basic course of Physics in the first year of study at the Technical University in Zvolen, specifically teaching via interactive method based on an increased focus on problem tasks…