One thing scientists study is how objects move. A famous scientist named Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) spent a lot of time observing objects in motion and came up with three laws that describe how things move. This explanation only deals with the first of his three laws of motion. Newton's First Law of Motion says that moving objects will continue…

The present research deals with the perception of matter in young children, inquiring if it is perceived as discrete or continuous. It investigates the existence of the intuitive rule "everything can be divided in two" in elementary school children (K-6) by using questions on the subdivision of mathematical and material objects. In addition, we…

All four of the most important figures in the early twentieth-century development of quantum physics--Niels Bohr, Erwin Schroedinger, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli--had strong interests in the traditional mind--brain, or "hard," problem. This paper reviews their approach to this problem, showing the influence of Bohr's complementarity…

What is music? What should be taught when music is taught? How should it be taught? In the early twentieth century, these most foundational questions relating to music education were addressed by the highly regarded, though less well known, educator and researcher, Otto Rudolph Ortmann. In 1922, he published an article in which he outlined a…

The authors investigated the mechanical basis of length perception through dynamic touch using specially designed rods in which the various moments of mass distribution (mass, static moment, and rotational inertia) were varied independently. In a series of 4 experiments, exploration style and rod orientation were manipulated such that the relative…

Oscillating reactions have been extensively used in chemical demonstrations. They involve several chemical concepts about kinetics, catalysts, and thermodynamics. The spontaneous cyclic color change of a solution is an attraction in any educational-level course. Chemiluminescent reactions are also among the most fascinating demonstrations and have…

Buckminsterfullerene, which is in the shape of a soccer-ball was first discovered in 1985, has many applications as a good lubricant, or as a new superconductor. The synthesis of these inorganic fullerenes involves a great deal of interdisciplinary research between physicists, material scientists, engineers and chemists from various fields.

It is so obvious that the sky is blue in the daytime and black at night, but it took the smartest humans thousands of years of observation, thought, discussion, conjecture, and analysis to finally come up with answers that make scientific sense as to why the sky is these colors. This article discusses light and the scientific research…

Investigates the behavior of a bar magnet with a steel ball bearing on one pole as it approaches another bar magnet. Maps the problem onto electrostatics and explains observations based on the behavior of point charges near an isolated, uncharged sphere. Offers a simple demonstration of the method of images in electrostatics. (Author/NB)

The topic 'relative velocity' has recently been introduced into the Cambridge Ordinary Level Additional Mathematics syllabus under the application of Vectors. In this note, the results of relative velocity and the 'reduction to rest' technique of teaching relative velocity are derived mathematically from vector algebra, in the hope of providing…

Children and teachers find understanding the solar system, especially how the motion of the Earth and Moon causes seasons and tides, difficult. Often, within a group, each person knows part of the "right explanation" but no one can put these parts together on their own. In this article, the author recounts how her group of PGCE (Postgraduate…

This paper describes how the method of steepest descent can be used to find periodic solutions of differential equations. Applications to two suspension bridge models are discussed, and the method is used to find non-obvious large-amplitude solutions.

In the present study we attempt to incorporate the philosophical dialogue about physical reality into the instructional process of quantum mechanics. Taking into account that both scientific realism and constructivism represent, on the basis of a rather broad spectrum, prevalent philosophical currents in the domain of science education, the…

Pendulums which swing in two dimensions simultaneously and are designed to leave a record of their motion are termed "harmonographs". The curves which they draw are known, alternatively, as "Bowditch curves" or "Lissajous curves". A variety of designs of harmonographs have been invented over the years. These may be a "Y-suspended" "simple"…

Approximately thirty years ago archivists began formulating new models to guide archival collecting, creating a literature that continues to grow. In the mid-1980s, the introduction of the documentation strategy collection model put new emphasis on cooperation between repositories and among stakeholders. The model initially focused on the history…