Science questions

[DrPizza]

Simple science questions... I took a poll of teachers, and have statistics and anecdotal stories from alleged college profs. I didn't ask any other science teachers. The only teacher who got it correct (out of about 10) was the math teacher I asked. I figured the people in this forum represent a more scientifically oriented bunch, so here goes...
(edit: my physics class finds this amusing)


update:
moon video from Apollo mission

 

[DingDingDao]

3rd choice
3rd choice
3rd choice

 

[reverend boltron]

3,2,4

 

[mobobuff]

The questions aren't very well defined in a scientific language, so I can only answer them by what "sounds good".

 

[DrPizza]

Actually, when I polled teachers, my second question was "complete the following phrase, for every action force, there is..."
ALL were able to complete it.
Then, I asked them, before I told them the correct answers, "do you want to change either answer? Are you sure of both answers?"
The results basically show, from among the teachers I asked, and from stories (I haven't verified, but believe the credibility of many of them) I read about, that while science teachers assume students understand, they often really don't have a clue.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: mobobuff
The questions aren't very well defined in a scientific language, so I can only answer them by what "sounds good".

The correct answers are well enough defined

 

[Dgital]

Originally posted by: DingDingDao
3rd choice
3rd choice
3rd choice

 

[reverend boltron]

Also, good to have you back from your vacation DrPizza

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: mobobuff
The questions aren't very well defined in a scientific language, so I can only answer them by what "sounds good".

The correct answers are well enough defined

Yeah, that's how I deducted which ones were most likely the correct ones . Except the first one which was easy enough.

 

[DrPizza]

I'll post the correct answers after I return from lunch (about 10 minutes)
(Unless someone beats me to it)
Not that my post, 2 posts ago, pretty much hints at the correct answer for the 2nd and 3rd questions.

However, the results on the first question here are FAR better than I expected, based on what I've read of college physics students answers to that same question. 100% of my own students had that one correct. (compared to about 90% here at the time I'm posting this)

 

[mugs]

It's been like 4 years since I took a physics class... but I'm going with the pen will fall and equal forces in both 2 and 3. Every action, equal and opposite reaction and all that jazz. (of course, there are other forces involved in both situations to produce those results - i.e. football players against the ground, VW against the ground)

 

[laurenlex]

3
2
3

 

[Ipno]

Not enough information to answer.

What team does the 100 lb lineman play for?

 

[Titan]

Ok, I'm the idiot who voted 1 in the first because I forgot the moon has gravity . I was wondering if there was no gravity on the earth would we all float away due to inertia and no centripital counterforce? I realize gravity is hard to turn off though.

But you can't fool me on the other two, I know my newton's third law!

I tried to explain to my Tae Kwon Do students the maximum impact they can generate with a kick is related to the speed of the kick, which is determined by the force exerted on their foot by the floor while the foot is still in contact with said floor. This force is related to the coefficient of friction with the surface and their foot, so a bare foot gets a better push off on carpet than wet grass. So grip pays a role in kick force.

Then when I tried to explain the dynamics of angular momentum in a spinning side-kick, I completely lost them.

I loved physics though, got an A in it, constant 100s on exams. I liked you could experiment with it personally and see things like how the firce of friction does not depend on surface area.

 

[DrPizza]

The correct answers are 3,3,3

For every force, there is an equal and opposite force
or
Forces always exist in pairs. If I push on the wall, it's only possible because the wall pushes on me. (otherwise my hand goes right through)
Likewise, I can't push on a ghost, because the ghost can't push on me.

So, when the football players push against each other, it is with the same amount of force. Unfortunately for the littler player, there are other forces, such as his force of friction against the ground.

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: Ipno
Not enough information to answer.

What team does the 100 lb lineman play for?

:laugh:

 

[Legend]

The 250 lb guy pushes harder, but there's equal forces on each person (until contact ceases as the smaller guy falls back).

That question wasn't clear.

 

[DrPizza]

Easy way to understand the 3rd answer (why it's "neither, they're the same")
Get two bathroom scales. Sandwich them back to back. Put them between the cars so you can see how hard each car is pushing. Wow, both scales read the same amount.

 

[FoBoT]

this is very basic high school stuff
those greek dudes figured it all out eleventy billion years ago

are you saying kids these days don't know basic science?

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
this is very basic high school stuff
those greek dudes figured it all out eleventy billion years ago

are you saying kids these days don't know basic science?

No, I think he's saying that teachers these days don't know basic science

 

[iamwiz82]

Ha, I was right on every one of them, and was a business/management major

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
this is very basic high school stuff
those greek dudes figured it all out eleventy billion years ago

are you saying kids these days don't know basic science?

No, I'm saying that MOST people think they know basic science, but they don't understand what they think they know. Almost everyone knows "for every action force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force" (with or without the word force in there), but, as the results of this poll clearly show, particularly with the 2nd question, is that more than 50% don't "know" that tidbit of basic science (while, of course, they could probably parrot that phrase back to their teacher.) The first question helps gauge the number of people who are answering the questions honestly... and fortunately the vast majority are answering that correctly. (although I expected slightly worse results)

 

[TStep]

Kudos, DrPizza. We actually got answers unlike most of the riddle threads.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Ha, I was right on every one of them, and was a business/management major

Same here. :thumbsup:

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: Dgital

Originally posted by: DingDingDao
3rd choice
3rd choice
3rd choice

And this is such basic physics that if teachers cannot get the right answer then they should not be teachers. No wonder our educational system sucks.

Oh and BTW....I have not been in the educational system where science was involved for over 15 years so I am not exposed to this kind of critical science related thought on a daily basis.