18 Jul
2006
18 Jul
'06
8:28 p.m.
<< The idea was to give a time-independent example of energy, but explaining the difference between mass and weight may not be clear to beginners, especially why acceleration has to be involved.
One pedagogic loophole the keeps acceleration only implicit, would be to define work (energy E) as determined by the time t it takes to bring a (frictionless) body of mass m up to speed s (along a straight line): E = ms/t. This has a visceral aspect to it, always a good thing in teaching. --dan