Michele Camarca

Magnetic interactions and the method of images: a wealth of educational suggestions

Under some conditions, the method of images (well known in electrostatics) may be implemented in magnetostatic problems too, giving an excellent example of the usefulness of formal analogies in the description of physical systems. In this paper, we develop a quantitative model for the magnetic interactions underlying the so-called Geomag™ paradox and describe a quantitative experimental investigation to validate the model. The validity ranges of some approximations involved in this problem are quantitatively discussed and the advantages of a dimensionless formulation of the interaction are pointed out. This work offers many educational suggestions suitable for university students.

Virtually Exploring A Pillar Of Experimental Physics: The Hertz Experiment

In the present work we report on the implementation and early assessment of a multimedia learning object, developed using the Java programming language, which also integrates in a creative way some internet freely available educational resources, intended to support the teaching/learning process of the historical Hertz experiment.

Science-Technology Cross-Hybridization and its Role in the Crisis of the Scientific Method: An Historical Perspective

Nowadays, in the science-related community, an urgent need has emerged to clarify a crisis of the methodological paradigm known as “Scientific Method”. Such a crisis, arising from some recent striking experimental results achieved in experimental sciences, undermines the very foundations of knowledge, with potential serious consequences to the development of future technological applications. In this work, the crisis is analysed within an historical survey on the evolution of the Scientific Method. Furthermore, the role played by cross-hybridization between sciences and technological development is highlighted, throughout the last three centuries, as a possible factor in overcoming that crisis.

Capacitors, Tanks, Springs and the Like: A Multimedia Tutorial

In this work we present an interactive multimedia tutorial allowing to comparatively explore the dynamical behavior of the “Two-capacitor system” and of others systems, quite different, but showing a very similar energetic behavior: (i) two communicating tanks; (ii) two coupled lossy springs “sharing elongation”; (iii) plastic collision between two material points; (iv) two coaxial, rotationally coupled, disks spinning around an axis. The aim of the work is to give learners useful insights on the fundamental subject of energy transformation. The tutorial, appropriate for high school and first year university students, is implemented in a form that makes it also suitable for classroom use with an Interactive White Board.

Archimedes and Caustics: A Twofold Multimedia and Experimental Approach

In this work we present a twofold educational approach to the reflective properties of surfaces, starting from the historical context of Archimedes “burning mirrors”. The properties of the emerging surface known as “caustic” of a given smoothly shaped mirror are illustrated by an interactive multimedia. An experimental device is also proposed to visualize the geometrical principles underlying the formation of caustics. The proposed didactical trail is intended also to contextualize the figure and work of Archimedes in a perspective tightly linked to modern technology, so to collect young learners’ interest.