As part of a first-year college Introductory Physics course, I have students construct an Excel® spreadsheet based on the differential equation for pendulum motion (we take a pendulum having a light bar rather than a string, so it can go 'over the top'). In extensive discussions with the students, I find that forcing them to make the spreadsheet themselves, entering velocities as position differences divided by time, etc., leads to a firmer grasp of basic calculus concepts. And, the instant graphical response of the finished product gives a sense of accomplishment as well as a lot of fun while building intuition about pendulum motion. © 2005 Springer.
CITATION STYLE
Fowler, M. (2005). Using excel to simulate pendulum motion and maybe understand calculus a little better. In The Pendulum: Scientific, Historical, Philosophical and Educational Perspectives (pp. 485–490). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3526-8_30
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