After some brief remarks about determinism and randomness, a simulation program is illustrated which points out how chance and necessity do coexist in classical physics. Actually, a gas of N = 1000 interacting disks in a box neatly head for the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution just in some ten collisions. […]
In this paper we present some of the results of a research project, carried on since 1990, to evaluate the potentiality offered by the new information and communication technologies, to the innovation of science teaching (physics in particular) in school. Eight Italian middle school classes, […]
The article reports the results of an investigation on the knowledge of physics related to common sense patterns of knowledge of Italian students in the first year of University. The results were communicated both to the students and to the teachers of the courses. […]
A teacher reports his experience in an integrated ‘physics plus english’ course promoted by the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) project that introduces mixed teaching of institutional courses and foreign languages in secondary schools. […]
High school pupils? interest in physics and their understanding of the subject is disappointing if the teacher follows a teaching tradition that treats the subject as a bare technique that doesn?t motivate the learners and is unable to introduce them to critical thought. […]
The article describes a numerical method to determine the parameters of the linear regression when are present errors in both coordinates. […]
The deviation to the east of a falling body is examined in the hypothesis that the body is dropped at the equator and the distance fallen is small so that the variation of gravity with height and air resistance may be neglected. […]
The skills of freshmen mathematics majors, in interpreting graphs of basic mathematical functions, kinematical graphs and the language of motion were investigated by means of three multiple choice questionnaires with open comments. The unidimensional analyses of each student’s answers and their correlations show context-dependence of skills: in particular the malhematical abilities are not entirely transferred to the physics context. […]
Some experiments with home-made HT superconductors are reported. […]
Reactions to the science of global warming have followed a similar course to those of other inconvenient truths from physics. […]
The concept of verticality is discussed with reference to its different meanings, e.g. the direction that points towards the zenith, the one which is parallel to the direction of free fall or is perpendicular to a level ground, etc. […]