Probing students' ideas of the principle of equivalence

Autor:	Arvind Kumar, Atanu Bandyopadhyay
Rok vydání:	2010
Předmět:	Physics Inertial frame of reference General relativity Group (mathematics) General Physics and Astronomy Special relativity (alternative formulations) Variety (cybernetics) Gravitation Theoretical physics symbols.namesake Extension (metaphysics) symbols Mathematics education Einstein
Zdroj:	European Journal of Physics. 32:139-159
ISSN:	1361-6404 0143-0807
Popis:	The principle of equivalence was the first vital clue to Einstein in his extension of special relativity to general relativity, the modern theory of gravitation. In this paper we investigate in some detail students' understanding of this principle in a variety of contexts, when they are undergoing an introductory course on general relativity. The tool of assessment is a diagnostic questionnaire administered to a group of 30 senior undergraduates going through the course. The analysis of responses reveals a number of significant conceptual vulnerabilities in several aspects of the topic. The most important among these is related to the notion of an inertial frame that follows naturally from the principle of equivalence.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::18bba03eec0cb0fdf40f14a47499d5fa https://doi.org/10.1088/0143-0807/32/1/013 Zobrazit plný text záznamu