On the Concept of Force: How Understanding its History can Improve Physics Teaching

Speaker: Ricardo Coelho - University of Lisbon

Abstract: Some physicists have pointed out that we do not know what force is. The most common definition of force in textbooks has been criticized for more than two centuries. Many studies have shown that the concept of force is a problem for teaching. How to conceive force on the basis of the concepts and criticism of force in the works of Newton, Euler, d’Alembert, Lagrange, Lazare Carnot, Saint-Venant, Reech, Kirchhoff, Mach, Hertz and Poincaré is the aim of this seminar. Moreover, an overview of definitions of force in contemporary textbooks is presented and some general educational implications of this historical and philosophical analysis are outlined.

Description: Instead of a normal talk, Ricardo agreed to make a brief presentation of the topic and then be available for more informal discussions based on his paper On the Concept of Force: How Understanding its History can Improve Physics Teaching (available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11191-008-9183-1#page-1). Coffee and cookies will be provided to fuel the discussion.