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The Physics Teacher -- November 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 8, pp. 530

Godzilla Versus Scaling Laws of Physics

Thomas R. Tretter

University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

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The concept of how scale affects systems and organisms is central to many science disciplines and serves as a unifying theme identified by Project 2061 as important for all students.1 This science education reform document indicates that by the end of 12th grade, “Students should know that because different properties are not affected to the same degree by changes in scale, large changes in scale typically change the way that things work in physical, biological, or social systems.” The focus of this paper is to provide a detailed description of a way to actively involve students in discovering a scaling effect in an interesting context. The activity described is most appropriate to use with beginning physics students in high school or nonmajor college students.

© 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

physics education, physics fundamentals, scaling phenomena, educational courses, student experiments

PACS

History
Online Oct 2005

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.2120383

  1. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Benchmarks for Science Literacy (Oxford University Press, New York, 1993).
  2. Ref. 1, p. 279.
  3. G. Galileo, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences, translated by H. Crew & A. de Salvio (Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL, 1950, Original work published 1638).
  4. J.B.S. Haldane, On Being the Right Size and Other Essays, edited by J.M. Smith (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985, Original work published 1927).
  5. D.A.W. Thompson, On Growth and Form, edited by J. T. Bonner (Cambridge University Press, London, 1961, Original work published 1917).
  6. C.E. Swartz and T. Miner, Teaching Introductory Physics: A Sourcebook (AIP Press, New York, 1998), p. 82.
  7. P.G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, 3rd ed. ( Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley, Menlo Park, CA, 1999).
  8. A.B. Arons, Teaching Introductory Physics (Wiley, New York, 1997), Chap. 1.
  9. Ref. 6, Chap. 3.
  10. H. D. Sheets and J. C. Lauffenburger, "Looking for scaling laws, or physics with nuts and shells," Phys. Teach. 37, 376–378 (Sept. 1999PHTEAH000037000006000376000001).
  11. G. Barnes, "Physics and size in biological systems," Phys. Teach. 27, 234–253 (April 1989PHTEAH000027000004000234000001).
  12. Retrieved from http://www.indyzoo.com/pdf/what_is_an_elephant_a.pdf on April 18, 2005.



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