Connecting Meaning and Mathematics

Students often do not (for lack of time, motivation, skills, reward) connect their mathematical work to their
conceptual understanding. This page will house a collection of curricular pieces and references that guide
students to connect meaning and mathematics in physics courses.

Most of these pieces were written for the upper level undergraduate classical mechanics course on the level of
Marion and Thorton or Cassiday and Fowles. We refer the interested instructor to Intermediate Mechanics
Tutorials for other useful curricular pieces for the same class. Some of the tutorials below assume students have
done specic IMT tutorials already; this will be in the "notes" column. All of these have been class-tested with 2-3
groups of 15-20 students.

Level Topic and format Notes Files

tutorial - pdf format

tutorial - Word format

Electric eld due to a bar of Helps students become develop a view
Introductory charge; guided inquiry tutorial of integration as a sum of physical homework - pdf format
and homework quantitities.
homework - Word
format

tutorial-pdf format

tutorial - word format

Scaling Equations; guided
Sophomore- To show how scaling can help see the
inquiry tutorial, overview sheet, overview - pdf format
junior story that an equation tells.
and AAPT talk
overview - word form

AAPT talk

To show how to use the eigenvalues

Phase space for a damped
and eigenvectors of a coupled, linear
harmonic oscillator; guided
differential equation can be used to
inquiry tutorial. Physics topics:
understand the organization of phase
simple harmonic motion, but tutorial -pdf format
Sophomore- space of a damped harmonic
also charged particle in
junior oscillator. This piece assumes
magnetic eld and non-inertial tutorial - word format
students understand phase space
reference frame are solved by
rules at the level of theIMT tutorial on
coupled linear differential
"phase space - simple harmonic
equations.
motion."
This sheet is practice (not guided
Identifying separable differential
inquiry) on recognizing separable diff worksheet - pdf format
Sophomore- equations; worksheet. Physics
eqs. The second page gives students a
junior topics: velocity dependent worksheet - word doc
chance to see why second order diff
forces, rockets,
eqs are never separable.
Solving rst order differential
equations numerically; guided This sheet requires access to some
Sophomore- programming language. It builds on tutorial - pdf format
inquiry tutorial; physics topics:
 junior oscillators with non-linear students' understanding of the tutorial - word doc
damping derivative as a measure of change.

This sheet guides students to see how tutorial - pdf format

Sophomore- Finding roots of transcendental
a linear approximation to a function
junior equations; guided inquiry tutorial
creates a simple root-nding method. tutorial - word doc

Connecting conditions on This is a very simple worksheet to give

integrals to physics; worksheet. students a chance to see that worksheet - pdf format
Sophomore-
Physics topics: velocity conditions on integrals are connected
junior
dependent forces, central force to different physical (or unphysical) worksheet - word doc
problems situations.

tutorial - pdf
This helps students understand what it
means for inertia to be a tensor and tutorial TeX format
Sophomore- Inertia tensor; guided inquiry
not a scalar. As a supplementary topic,
junior tutorial.
the matrix sheet just reminds students matrix -pdf
how to tell if vectors are parallel.
matrix - word doc

Solutions to linear, any order,

constant coefcient,
Sophomore-
homogeneous differential
junior
equations. Physics topics:
simple harmonic motion.
Sophomore- Modied Atwood with a massive worksheet that asks students to a) get
junior string using Lagrangians.
The purpose is to help students tutorial - pdf format
understand why x(t)=Re^(nt) is a
solution. tutorial - TeX format
This is a guided problem solving
problem solving - pdf
a foothold, b) choose a method, c) problem solving -doc
solve the math and d) check and learn.

Equations of motion for a ball This is a guided problem solving

problem solving - pdf
Sophomore- tossed upward from the surface worksheet that asks students to a) get
junior of the earth, including coriolis a foothold, b) choose a method, c) problem solving - doc
force. solve the math and d) check and learn.
Reminds students of how to nd Taylor
Taylor series; worksheet (this is series and convergence issues; worksheet - pdf
Sophomore-
not really guided inquiry, but hits introduces the idea that the expansion
junior worksheet - doc les
some key confusions) variable must be unitless; does an
example; gives a practice problem

[ University of New Hampshire ] [ Physics Department ]