The Pedagogical Representation of Mass Functions with LEGO and their Origin

Autor:	Kautsch, Stefan J., Veras, Dimitri, Hansotia, Kyle K.
Rok vydání:	2021
Předmět:	Physics - Physics Education Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Physics - Popular Physics
Druh dokumentu:	Working Paper
DOI:	10.1088/1361-6404/abe75c
Popis:	We promote the teaching of mass functions as an integral part of an interdisciplinary science education. Mass functions characterize the frequency distributions of objects with different masses on all cosmic scales. We intend to enhance experiential learning of this concept with a creative LEGO brick experiment for a diverse student audience. To our surprise, the LEGO mass function is not only qualitatively but also quantitatively comparable to mass functions found across the Universe. We also discuss the relation between gravitation and mass distributions as a possible explanation for the continuity of the universal mass function. Comment: This is the version of the article before peer review and submission. The published version is Kautsch, Veras, & Hansotia 2021, European Journal of Physics, 42, 035605, https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/abe75c
Databáze:	arXiv
Externí odkaz:	http://arxiv.org/abs/2106.10342 Zobrazit plný text záznamu View this record from Arxiv