Abstract
Vertical amusement rides let your body experience the tickling sensation of feeling light, but also feeling much heavier than as usual, due to velocity changes as you move up and down. Family rides offer different possibilities to visualize the forces that are experienced by your accelerating body. This paper presents a number of different ways to view and experience the motion in a small vertical amusement ride. A smartphone includes an accelerometer that can provide a graph of the forces acting during the ride. A movie from the smartphone camera lets students recall the motion which can then be analysed in more detail. The complementary representations may help students develop a deeper understanding of the relation between force and motion. The affordances of these different semiotic resources are analysed in some detail. In addition, we discuss responses from a number of students to questions about where you feel light and where you feel heavy. We find that the experience of the body is an underused resource in physics teaching.
Highlights
Acceleration is often viewed as abstract, but when a person accelerates, e.g. in a car or on swings, trampolines, carousels or rollercoasters, the force required for the acceleration is felt throughout the body [1]
The literature shows that there are two sides to the coin; on one hand we find that the embodied experience helps to build knowledge about a concept and, on the other hand, gestures work as a means to describe and explain the experience
We first present the results from the groups who responded without access to the ride, where any use of the experience of the body was through previous experiences
Summary
Acceleration is often viewed as abstract, but when a person accelerates, e.g. in a car or on swings, trampolines, carousels or rollercoasters, the force required for the acceleration is felt throughout the body [1]. If acceleration is introduced as force divided by mass rather than as a second derivative of displacement, the concept can be made accessible to much younger. The force required for acceleration can be measured e.g. using smartphone sensors. A small slinky can be used for visual demonstrations that complement photos and video analysis. For a teacher this creates opportunities to discuss challenging concepts of force and motion, in enjoyable authentic situations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
