Italian ministerial programs have introduced the teaching of modern physics in the last year of high school (students of 18 years). The textbooks also introduce, obviously in an elementary way, some current problems as, for example, the mysterious galactic rotation curves. It is explained that the cause of their non-Keplerian motion is due to the presence of a non-luminous form of matter and, for this reason, called Dark Matter. To stimulate the curiosity of students who have an aptitude for research, it might be useful to observe that "dark particles" are not provided by the standard model of particle physics and most cosmologists believe in their existence only because they very well explain a series of experimental observations. For this reason, in our opinion, it is interesting to highlight that, until a dark particle is found, it is not wrong to look for an alternative explanation of the experimental data. For example, to simulate the strange behavior of galaxies rotation using elementary and well-known concepts, we have built with students, during a series of lectures in the classroom, a Galilean composition between a Keplerian motion and a very slow circular motion.
Keplerian motion on a carousel: a research teaching project
Iovane G.;BENEDETTO, ELMO
2019
Abstract
Italian ministerial programs have introduced the teaching of modern physics in the last year of high school (students of 18 years). The textbooks also introduce, obviously in an elementary way, some current problems as, for example, the mysterious galactic rotation curves. It is explained that the cause of their non-Keplerian motion is due to the presence of a non-luminous form of matter and, for this reason, called Dark Matter. To stimulate the curiosity of students who have an aptitude for research, it might be useful to observe that "dark particles" are not provided by the standard model of particle physics and most cosmologists believe in their existence only because they very well explain a series of experimental observations. For this reason, in our opinion, it is interesting to highlight that, until a dark particle is found, it is not wrong to look for an alternative explanation of the experimental data. For example, to simulate the strange behavior of galaxies rotation using elementary and well-known concepts, we have built with students, during a series of lectures in the classroom, a Galilean composition between a Keplerian motion and a very slow circular motion.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
