Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigating The Proposed Affordances And Limitations Of The Substance Metaphor For Energy, Lisa Goodhew

Honors Projects

This study explores the instructional advantages and disadvantages of representing energy as a material substance; this is done in the context of a computer simulation that illustrates processes of energy transfer and transformation. These affordances and limitations have been proposed in science education literature as extensions of the substance metaphor itself, but there is little empirical evidence to support them. This study is intended to provide preliminary empirical evidence for these affordances and limitations. We examine data from eight interviews conducted with students from Seattle Pacific University’s introductory physics classes as they used the simulation. We explore the hypotheses that …

Exploring The Relationship Between A Fluid Container's Geometry And When It Will Balance On Edge, Ryan J. Moriarty

Physics

At some point while consuming a beverage, many people will idly try to balance its container on edge. The act itself is physically straightforward, merely involving the system's center of mass and achieving a static equilibrium between the opposing torques caused by gravity and the normal force between the container and the surface on which it balances. Further analysis of the act, however, illuminates the richness of the exercise.

These nuances are apparent even in simplified two-dimensional models because of the depth of the relationship between a container's geometry and achieving balance. The purpose of such analysis is threefold: first, …

Turbulence, Climate And Supercomputers, Georgios Matheou

The STEAM Journal

Turbulence is often referred to as the last mystery of classical physics. Although turbulence is ubiquitous and prominent in our daily lives – from the mixing of milk in a cup of coffee to the perpetual motion of the atmosphere and the resulting weather variation – our understanding of this complex phenomenon is comparatively very limited (e.g., Davidson et al., 2011).