Circular motion changes the perception of up and down. For a skater, the need to lean in towards the centre of an arc constitutes an embodiment of centripetal acceleration. This paper presents a discussion between a physicist and a high-school science teacher without previous physics studies at university level. The discussions started as part of…

In this paper, we present a case study of a pair of students as they use nondisciplinary communicative practices to mechanistically reason about binary star dynamics. To do so, we first review and bring together the theoretical perspectives of social semiotics and embodied cognition, therein developing a new methodological approach for analyzing…

The problem of choosing an optimal strategy for moving in the rain has attracted considerable attention among physicists and other scientists. Taking a novel approach, this paper shows, by studying simple shaped bodies, that the answer depends on the shape and orientation of the moving body and on wind direction and intensity. For different body…

Examples of the application of compound pendulum theory to the practical measurement of the moments of inertia of human beings, farm tractors, and sailing boats are presented. Suggests developing laboratory experiments to measure moments of inertia of hockey sticks, golf clubs, and frisbees, among others. (Author/SK)