Introductory physics: The new scholasticism

Details Introductory physics: The new scholasticism Introductory physics: The new scholasticism

2004-12-17

arxiv.org/abs/physics/0412107v2

Physics

Physics Education

5 pages, revtex4, no figures; version submitted to Am. J. Phys on 2006-03-29, includes material on calculus textbooks

Scientific paper

Most introductory physics textbooks neglect air resistance in situations where an astute student can observe that it dominates the dynamics. We give examples from many books. Using dimensional analysis we discuss how to estimate the relative importance of air resistance and gravity. The discussion can be used to mitigate the baleful influence of these textbooks. Incorrectly neglecting air resistance is one of their many unphysical teachings. Shouldn't a physics textbook teach correct physics?

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