Getting Clever with the Sliding Ladder

Autor/in	De, Subhranil
Titel	Getting Clever with the Sliding Ladder
Quelle	In: Physics Education, 49 (2014) 4, S.390-393 (4 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0031-9120
DOI	10.1088/0031-9120/49/4/390
Schlagwörter	Kinetics; Mathematical Logic; Mathematical Models; Physics; Science Experiments; Science Education; Science Equipment; Scientific Principles; Scientific Concepts; Motion; Teaching Methods; Science Activities + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kinetik; Mathematical logics; Mathematische Logik; Mathematical model; Mathematisches Modell; Physik; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Bewegungsablauf; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode
Abstract	The familiar system involving a uniform ladder sliding against a vertical wall and a horizontal floor is considered again. The floor is taken to be smooth and the wall to be possibly rough--a situation where no matter how large the static friction coefficient between the ladder and the wall, the ladder cannot lean at rest and must slide down. Clever arguments that circumvent fully fledged mathematical analyses are presented to establish two more interesting properties: no matter how large the kinetic friction coefficient between the ladder and the wall, (a) the ladder must be speeding up at all times while sliding down, and (b) the ladder must break off the wall at some point during its slide. This work serves as an example of an intuitive rather than a mathematically detailed approach that often provides a shorter route to understanding the properties of a physical system, making it pedagogically valuable. It is also shown how the arguments presented can be easily extended to a non-uniform ladder as well. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Institute of Physics Publishing. The Public Ledger Building Suite 929, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: info@ioppubusa.com; Web site: http://journals.iop.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10