A ATUALIDADE PEDAGÓGICA DA CONTROVÉRSIA HISTÓRICA SOBRE A VERDADEIRA DEFINIÇÃO DA "FORÇA DE UM CORPO"

Medeiros, Alexandre

doi:10.1590/1983-21172001030105

Resumo:

O século XVIII foi o palco para uma acirrada controvérsia a respeito da "verdadeira " definição da "força de um corpo". A polêmica girava em torno das idéias de vis viva e de momentum, envolvendo os partidários de Leibniz e de Descartes. Embora a própria expressão "força de um corpo " possa parecer-nos, atualmente, como revestida de um certo anacronismo, a disputa interpretativa em questão, como este presente trabalho tenta mostrar, fazia completo sentido no momento histórico em que estava situada. Tomando a contribuição de D'Alembert para o estabelecimento da distinção entre as evoluções temporais e espaciais de uma força, somos tentados, por vezes, a crer que a questão da polêmica acima referida esteja completamente ultrapassada. Como procuramos mostrar nesta pesquisa, é comum encontrarmos, ainda hoje, professores de Física, com muitos anos de experiência profissional, apresentando dúvidas que relembram aquelas ocorridas no século XVIII. Para investigarmos esta questão, construímos um aparelho muito simples, apresentado neste trabalho, especialmente destinado a suscitar dúvidas sobre o tema em foco: a distinção conceitual entre a energia cinética e o momento linear. Com o auxílio de um tal aparelho, adotamos a abordagem de um estudo de caso, investigando as opiniões de três professores de Física com mais de dez anos de experiência. As suas respostas mostram como certos obstáculos epistemológicos, bem pertinentes no século XVIII, podem manter-se vivos ainda nos dias atuais.

Palavras-chave:
história da ciência no ensino; conceitos físicos; força; energia cinética; momento linear.

Abstract:

There was a strong dispute, in the XVIIIth century, about the "true definition" of "force of a certain body'. The controversy had to do with the ideas of vis viva and momentum, and involved the followers of Leibniz and Descartes. Despite the fact that the very idea of a "force of a certain body" may seem to us, nowadays, a little bit clumsy, that interpretative dispute was completely meaningful in that particular historical moment. If we consider D'Alembert's contribution to make a distinction between the spatial and temporal evolution of force, we may sometimes be led to believe that the above mentioned controversy is completely overcome. As we demonstrate in this paper, some experienced teachers of physics are usually encountered showing some doubts similar to those historical ones occurred in XVIIIth century. A simple piece of apparatus was constructed in order to investigate this issue. Its main goal was to provoke some doubts about the conceptual distinction between kinetic energy and linear momentum. A case study approach was adopted to investigate the opinions of three teachers of physics, all three with more than ten years experience. Their responses exhibit similar epistemological obstacles to those someone could encounter in the minds of XVIIIth century physicists.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text available only in PDF format.

BARROW, L. e COOK, J. (1993). Swinging into Pendulums with a Background. Science Activities ; vol.30 n.3 p.37-39.
CLEMENT, J. (1982). Students' Preconcepons in Introductory Mechanics. American Journal of Physics v.50 n.1 pp.66-71 Janeiro.
D'ALEMBERT, J. (1743). Traité de Dynamique (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DESCARTES, R. (1644). Principles of Philosophy (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DUGAS, R. (1988). A History of Mechanics New York: Dover Publications Inc.
EDINGTON, J. e BARUFALDI, J. (1995). How Research Physicists and High-School Physics Teachers Deal with the Scientific Explanation of a Physical Phenomenon. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (San Francisco, CA,) April 22-25.
EHRLICH, R. (1996). Experiments with "Newton' s Cradle.Physics Teacher v.34 n.3 p. 181-83 Março.
ELKANA, Y. (1974). The Discovery of the Conservation of Energy London: Hutchinson Educational Ltd.
FILONOVICH, S. (1991). The Power of Likeness: But Analogy Can Take Us Only So Far. Quantum ; v.2 n.1 p.22-27 Setembro-Outubro.
FORBES, R. e DIJKSTERHUIS, E. (1963). A History of Science and Technology: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries . Londres: Penguin Books.
FRENCH, A. e EBISON, M. Introduction to Classical Mechanics . Berkshire, Inglaterra: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Ltd., 1986.
GRIMELLINI-TOMASINI, N. et al. (1993). Understanding Conservation of Laws in Mechanics: Students' Conceptual Change in Learning about Collisions. Science Education ; v.77 n.2 p.168- 89 Abril.
HARMAN, P. Energy, Force and Matter: The Conceptual Development of Nineteenth-Century Physics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
JAMMER, M. Concepts of Force New York: Dover Publications, 1999.
KOIRÉ, A. (1965). Newtonian Studies Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
LEIBNIZ, G. (1686). Acta Eruditorum (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MACH, E. (1989). The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and Historical Account of its Development La Salle, Illinois: The Open Court Publishing Company.
McCLELLAND, J. (1985). Misconceptions in Mechanics and How to Avoid Them. Physics Education v.20 n.4 p.159-62 Julho.
McCLOSKEY, M. (1982). Naive Conceptions of Motion; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY,) . 18 - 23 de Março
ROY, C. e SANNIGRAHI, A. (1979). Uncertainty Relation between Angular Momentum and Angle Variable. American Journal of Physics v.47 n.11 p.965-67 Nov.
SEQUEIRA, M. e LEITE, L. (1991). Alternate Conceptions and History of Science in Physics Teacher Education. Science Education ; v.75 n.1 p.45-56 Janeiro.
SOBOLEWSKI, S. (1989). The Effect of New Vocabulary on Problem Solving in Novice Physics Students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (62nd, San Francisco, CA) 30 de Março - 1 de Abril.
STEINBERG, M. et al. (1987). Genius Is Not Immune to Persistent Misconceptions: Conceptual Difficulties Impeding Isaac Newton and Contemporary Physics Students Massachusetts University, Amherst. Scientific Reasoning Research Institute.
WARREN, J. (1984). Understanding Force London: John Murray.
WATTS, M. e GILBERT, J. (1983). Enigmas in School Science: Students' Conceptions for Scientifically Associated Words. Research in Science and Technological Education ; v.1 n.2 p.161 -71.
WESTFALL, R. (1986). The Construction of Modern Science Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Datas de Publicação

Publicação nesta coleção
Jun 2001

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

[1] BARROW, L. e COOK, J. (1993). Swinging into Pendulums with a Background. Science Activities ; vol.30 n.3 p.37-39.

[2] CLEMENT, J. (1982). Students' Preconcepons in Introductory Mechanics. American Journal of Physics v.50 n.1 pp.66-71 Janeiro.

[3] D'ALEMBERT, J. (1743). Traité de Dynamique (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[4] DESCARTES, R. (1644). Principles of Philosophy (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[5] DUGAS, R. (1988). A History of Mechanics New York: Dover Publications Inc.

[6] EDINGTON, J. e BARUFALDI, J. (1995). How Research Physicists and High-School Physics Teachers Deal with the Scientific Explanation of a Physical Phenomenon. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (San Francisco, CA,) April 22-25.

[7] EHRLICH, R. (1996). Experiments with "Newton' s Cradle.Physics Teacher v.34 n.3 p. 181-83 Março.

[8] ELKANA, Y. (1974). The Discovery of the Conservation of Energy London: Hutchinson Educational Ltd.

[9] FILONOVICH, S. (1991). The Power of Likeness: But Analogy Can Take Us Only So Far. Quantum ; v.2 n.1 p.22-27 Setembro-Outubro.

[10] FORBES, R. e DIJKSTERHUIS, E. (1963). A History of Science and Technology: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries . Londres: Penguin Books.

[11] FRENCH, A. e EBISON, M. Introduction to Classical Mechanics . Berkshire, Inglaterra: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Ltd., 1986.

[12] GRIMELLINI-TOMASINI, N. et al. (1993). Understanding Conservation of Laws in Mechanics: Students' Conceptual Change in Learning about Collisions. Science Education ; v.77 n.2 p.168- 89 Abril.

[13] HARMAN, P. Energy, Force and Matter: The Conceptual Development of Nineteenth-Century Physics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

[14] JAMMER, M. Concepts of Force New York: Dover Publications, 1999.

[15] KOIRÉ, A. (1965). Newtonian Studies Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

[16] LEIBNIZ, G. (1686). Acta Eruditorum (Quantity of Motion). In Magie, W. (1963). Source Book in Physics Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[17] MACH, E. (1989). The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and Historical Account of its Development La Salle, Illinois: The Open Court Publishing Company.

[18] McCLELLAND, J. (1985). Misconceptions in Mechanics and How to Avoid Them. Physics Education v.20 n.4 p.159-62 Julho.

[19] McCLOSKEY, M. (1982). Naive Conceptions of Motion; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY,) . 18 - 23 de Março

[20] ROY, C. e SANNIGRAHI, A. (1979). Uncertainty Relation between Angular Momentum and Angle Variable. American Journal of Physics v.47 n.11 p.965-67 Nov.

[21] SEQUEIRA, M. e LEITE, L. (1991). Alternate Conceptions and History of Science in Physics Teacher Education. Science Education ; v.75 n.1 p.45-56 Janeiro.

[22] SOBOLEWSKI, S. (1989). The Effect of New Vocabulary on Problem Solving in Novice Physics Students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (62nd, San Francisco, CA) 30 de Março - 1 de Abril.

[23] STEINBERG, M. et al. (1987). Genius Is Not Immune to Persistent Misconceptions: Conceptual Difficulties Impeding Isaac Newton and Contemporary Physics Students Massachusetts University, Amherst. Scientific Reasoning Research Institute.

[24] WARREN, J. (1984). Understanding Force London: John Murray.

[25] WATTS, M. e GILBERT, J. (1983). Enigmas in School Science: Students' Conceptions for Scientifically Associated Words. Research in Science and Technological Education ; v.1 n.2 p.161 -71.

[26] WESTFALL, R. (1986). The Construction of Modern Science Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brasil

Brasil

A ATUALIDADE PEDAGÓGICA DA CONTROVÉRSIA HISTÓRICA SOBRE A VERDADEIRA DEFINIÇÃO DA "FORÇA DE UM CORPO"

Resumo:

Abstract:

Datas de Publicação