The empirical contrast of a theoretical model on movement of bodies with variable mass as a way to promote epistemological discussions in physics classes

The incorporation of discussions about the nature of scientific knowledge in science teaching activities is a fundamental and quite challenging aspect. This paper aims to present an empirical contrast of theoretical models exploring the particular case of the movement of bodies with variable mass as a way to highlight the role of the scientific modeling process in an experimental situation. We investigate the implications of assuming certain idealizations in the contrasted models, explaining the representative character of scientific knowledge in the development of experimental investigations, incorporating the influence of different resistive forces on these bodies, such as air drag forces and rolling resistance. Thus, we seek to expose an example of a situation with the potential to be explored by teachers in overcoming naive epistemological conceptions by students. Also, the investigation involves the use of open-source computational resources in the construction of numerical solutions of theoretical models and the collection of experimental data, favoring the use of free technologies in physics teaching. Four of the six empirically contrasted theoretical models also had their analytical solutions deduced and compared with their respective numerical solutions. The results show that the choice of the best theoretical model that represents the collected data involves more than the analysis of the quality of the adjustment of the models because it demands an evaluation of the hypotheses assumed in the theoretical models and the decisions made by the researcher.

Keywords
Theoretical Models; Computational Modeling; Empirical Contrast; Variable Mass systems; Scientific Modeling; Epistemology.