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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2024-11-22 1:57 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2021 Meeting
Section: Physics Education
Title:
Whiteboard animation – a tool for teaching special theory of relativity notions
Authors:
Bogdan CHIRIACESCU (1,2), Fabiola CHIRIACESCU (1,2), Cristina MIRON (1), Valentin BARNA (1), Cătălin BERLIC (1)
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Affiliation:
1) University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, 405 Atomistilor Street, 077125, Magurele, Romania
2) Theoretical High School ”Nicolae Iorga”, Nehoiu
E-mail
bogdan.chiriacescu@drd.unibuc.ro, fabiola-sanda.chiriacescu@drd.unibuc.ro, cristina.miron@fizica.unibuc.ro, barnavalentin@yahoo.com, cberlic@gmail.com
Keywords:
Physics education, whiteboard animation, relativity
Abstract:
Special Theory of Relativity (STR) and Einstein’s Postulates consequences brought a new perspective for some notions that previously were considered absolute: the simultaneity, time or space. Classical approaches of relativistic phenomena led to a series of paradoxes that need to be addressed by means of new ideas, entirely different from the things that we can find in daily life. It is obvious that explaining unusual, highly peculiar things, implies completely different didactic approaches from the classical ones. High school students that study STR do not have enough math knowledge, neither the abstraction capability in order to easily understand the considered notions. In this paper, we present one of the didactic tools, namely Whiteboard Animation, employed for introducing and explaining the “Garage Paradox” – a consequence of the STR Postulates. Herein, the relativistic contraction phenomenon is explained, starting from the relativity of simultaneity. The method is based on an animation built by means of free open-source computer programs. We show a conceptual approach with less math involved, to be better understood by high school students. Audio-video message has a great impact and helps to adapt the teaching manner to many learning styles. The phenomena are presented using comparisons and examples that correlate these concepts with the knowledge that the students already have, everything respecting scientific accuracy.
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