Conceptual Physics Alive: Introduction

Conceptual Physics Alive: Introduction includes a digital video and questions set with answers.

Master teacher Paul Hewitt teaches non-computational Conceptual Physics. Observe Hewitt teach in a classroom with real students, using engaging demonstrations and artwork. Hewitt talks about teaching physics conceptually. We see Hewitt's opening day lecture in his Conceptual Physics class at the University of Hawaii, during which Hewitt poses some thought-provoking questions about the physical world. The introduction is designed to give a flavor of what the Conceptual Physics course is all about.

Intro Includes:

• Begins with Paul Hewitt speaking from his San Francisco apartment. Hewitt explains that physics is a study of the rules of nature.
• Conceptual physics is the description of physics in the English language- equations are seen as guides to thinking, rather than as formulas for plugging numerical data.
• An excerpt from a black-and-white video is shown of Hewitt's class -the classic sledgehammer and anvil-on-the-stomach demo.
• Excerpts from Hewitt's class are shown (from the video series Conceptual Physics with Hewitt, distributed by Addison Wesley as an ancillary to the first edition of his high school text, Conceptual Physics). Van de Graaff generator demo; inertia demo with hoop, chalk, and bottle; bed of nails and sledgehammer demo with Paul Robinson.
• Hewitt introduces the viewer to his opening day class at the University of Hawaii.
• Hewitt poses a few questions, interspersed with his teaching philosophy, that reveal the scope of the course and the diversity of physics-related subjects:
• Why do heavy and light objects pick up the same speed when dropped from rest? [ratios of weight/mass = g; the same.]
• What do rockets push against in outer space for propulsion? [They push against their exhaust gases, which In turn push and propel the rocket]
• Why don't satellites fall? [They do fall, but their tangential speed is great enough so they fall around the world rather than into it.]
• Which falls to the ground first, a bullet fired from a horizontally held rifle, or a bullet dropped from the same height when firing? [Both hit the ground at the same time because both undergo the same acceleration, g.]
• Which will skid to a stop quicker; a light truck or a heavily loaded truck traveling at the same speed? [Both skid the same distance; the heavier truck encounters correspondingly more friction.]
• Why is the force of impact less when one fails on a floor with 'give'? [More give means more time during stopping, which results in less force; in accord with Impulse= change in momentum.]
• Why will you be safe when touching a high voltage van de Graaff generator, but harmed when touching a faulty 110-volt household circuit? [The high voltage generator transfers low energy briefly; the 100-volt circuit can transfer a sustained high energy.]
• Why is your hand burned when touching the inner surface of a hot pizza oven, but not when touching the hot air Inside? [Air has low conductivity.]
• Why can one walk barefoot on red hot coals without harm? [Low conductivity.]
• Why does warm air rise? [It is buoyed upward by denser air below.]
• Why does expanding air cool? [Molecular collisions during expansion are on the average between receding neighboring molecules, so rebound speeds are lower (cooler).]
• How old are the atoms in your body compared to the age of the sun? [Older].
• Why are objects colored? [Objects absorb some light and reflect the rest; the apparent color is the 'opposite' of the color absorbed.]
• Why is the sky blue? [Tiny particles scatter light of high frequencies, larger particles scatter lower-frequency light since the atmosphere is made of tiny particles, light of high frequency is scattered -blue.]
• What keeps the interior of the earth hot? [Radioactive decay; nuclear power.]
• Will time run differently at high speeds? [Yes, this is relativistic time dilation.]
• Hewitt closes with comments about learning readiness, and requests students to read about motion before the next class.

Please note: The digital content will be sent to the email provided during checkout, once your order has been processed. Order will be processed no later than the next business day.

Digital format: The email you will receive will contain a hyperlink to download a .ZIP file containing a digital video (.MP4) and questions set with answers (.PDF).

Notice: The Conceptual Physics Alive Digital content is protected by copyright laws. Replicating and distributing this digital content without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright. This digital content can be used in physical or remote classroom settings (e.g., Google Classroom, Canvas, etc.), or Homeschool.