We’re talking about Newton, the man, his laws of motion, and the unit, in Higher Physics at the moment. Newton’s first law, from Wikipedia, is:
Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare. Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.
The second law is more succinctly stated as the equation but I wanted the class to see more clearly the relationships of nature which are obfuscated by such certain statements as “this is equal to that”. This is a man-made thing to salve our uncertainty in such great things as the nature of the universe. I showed the class that the equation only works when the (man-made) units of measurement are consistent throughout. We struggled with the small challenge of converting 28 pounds furlong per fortnight squared into newtons* but the point was well made: the unit of newton implied by the Standard Grade and Higher statements of Newton’s second law is misleading and unhelpful when stated without pausing to consider its meaning. Better for us to say that the unit of force is the kilogram (pause) metre per second (pause) per second. In this way, we keep a closer mind’s eye on the physical things we are talking about: mass and acceleration, or the time rate of change of mass and velocity
Newton himself was not disadvantaged by confusing interpretation by educators. His original:
Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur. The rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the resultant force acting on the body and is in the same direction.
Good students would do well to keep an eye on the foundations of the science they are taught. For my own students, notice the key element of “rate of change” here. Think back to our discussion on what velocity and acceleration are.
* 28 pounds furlong per fortnight squared is a force of 1.75 x 10-9N. Check it here.
With the change of timetable at our school tomorrow, it’s time to remind ourselves that safety in the laboratory is of paramount importance. As well as being reminded of the specific rules, you will also be given five basic rules for a safe and productive experience in science. Here they are for you to refer to and think about.
The Education Minister, Fiona Hyslop, has announced this week the Scottish Language and Science Baccalaureates. The Baccalaureate is an advanced qualification designed to build upon the success of Advanced Higher (it says here).
The proposed structure of the Science Baccalaureate is:
Interdisciplinary project at Advanced Higher
Maths at Higher
2 sciences at Higher
1 science at Advanced Higher
The successful candidate will have passes in all courses making up the Baccalaureate. A Distinction will be awarded to students who attain B passes at Higher and A in Advanced Higher courses.
What does this mean? Well, if you’re starting Highers this week, the Baccalaureate could be yours. The first awards will be made in 2010.
New codes of conduct for teachers have been published this week. For the time being, this means that it is a bad idea for teachers to have any contact through sites like Bebo with pupils. As the exams are now over, I have deleted my Bebo account.
I will continue to try to help anyone who asks me to through this site. I think it is my duty to do so if I can.
The NASA-University of Arizona spacecraft Phoenix makes it landing on the surface of the Red Planet Mars tonight, around 2 a.m. Monday UK Summer Time. What’s different about this mission is that the lander will be exploring the Arctic region of the planet, where water has been found by previous missions. Why is this important? Well, we know of no life form that can live without water: in order to understand our own planetary environment and the development of life on it, it helps if we understand the processes involved. If we can learn about water on other planets in our neighbourhood, we may be able to unlock a lot more of the mystery of life on our home planet. Ultimately, we are trying to establish whether life has ever existed on Mars: and this question goes to the heart of our lonely existence… are we alone here in this vast universe?
I can hardly believe that it’s a month since I posted here. My apologies to those who have posted comments, which have now been released from moderation. It’s been a busy time getting into my new job and although it’s the “quiet” time when seniors are out on study and exam leave, I have a large bow-wave of things to do. I’m also very tired.
You have all been very busy too, getting ready for your exams and from what I’ve seen, a lot of you have been really trying hard to get the best you can from the opportunity the exams present to you. I hope you all get what you deserve, and catch your markers in the right mood!
I’ve been playing with new content management systems for this site, for example, Joomla! and Drupal but I think I’m going to be reverting to the successful combination of Wordpress blogs for students and teachers and MediaWiki for the courses. Watch this space for updates and help me prioritise by letting me know what you like and what you don’t.
Most people will know by now that on 1st May I shall be taking up a 23-month temporary appointment as Principal Teacher of Physics at Glenwood High School, Glenrothes. I am looking forward to continuing and supporting the work of the staff in the Physics Department at Glenwood: I hope to be able to try to bring the best opportunities that Physics presents to as many as want it.
I am not a little sad to be leaving Kirkcaldy High School at a time when Physics in particular is waxing stronger than ever: there are some outstanding young minds ready to step up to the next challenge that SQA Physics has to offer. I was hoping to be part of their journey. If you are one of those young people, rest assured you are in good hands. You have some of the best Physics teachers available there to help you.
Watch this space for news of how things are progressing - and of course, for materials to help you.
This latest from my daily feed of the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci had me rolling on the floor as I recalled Father Ted trying to explain the same principle to Dougal:
PERSPECTIVE.
Small objects close at hand and large ones at a distance, being seen within equal angles, will appear of the same size.
The line has in itself neither matter nor substance and may rather be called an imaginary idea than a real object; and this being its nature it occupies no space. Therefore an infinite number of lines may be conceived of as intersecting each other at a point, which has no dimensions and is only of the thickness (if thickness it may be called) of one single line.
If the lines in the picture had no thickness, you wouldn’t be able to see them. They’re not real: they are just a way of thinking. AH Physics students, consider the lines of a magnetic or electric field. The fields are real (they produce real effects like light) but the lines only serve our mortal and pedestrian minds in the attempt to understand what’s real.
