What ideas do students have about rotational dynamics?

Please Sign In or Register* to view this video

*To protect students' privacy, you must register for a PhysPort account and prove you are an educator
Episode 202: Newton University of Colorado Boulder

Research suggests that students have both productive ideas about and difficulties with forces that cause both linear and rotational motion. What ideas do students have about rotational dynamics?

July 3, 2018

Pedagogy Content
Attending to student ideas
Physics Content
Newton's laws, Rotation

Lesson Contents (3 MB)Student Handout
Transcript, discussion questions, and problem

(1 MB)Specific Lesson Guide
Facilitator's guide for this lesson

(1 MB)General Facilitator's Guide
Background and best practices

(139 MB)Video
Captioned video

LOGIN OR REGISTER TO DOWNLOAD

Sample Discussion Prompts

  1. What did you notice in this episode? Talk to your neighbor about what you noticed.

  2. Andrew says more work is done on the spool than the block. Do you agree?

  3. Andrew says that Newton’s second law requires that the spool and the block cross the finish line at the same time. Do you agree?

  4. Cory wants to think about the acceleration. What is Cory’s argument?

  5. Brooklyn pulls a spool across the table. What might she be trying to accomplish?

  6. What student ideas about rotational dynamics are indicated by this episode?

Collections featuring this lesson

Student ideas14 LESSONS

Other Lessons featuring this video

How should teaching assistants prepare for a physics tutorial? What if one student in a group has done the activity before?