Joyful Physics Volume II: Learning by Experiencing - Momentum, Gravitational Force, and Weight Workbook

By Gunjan Raizada

Presently, 90 percent of students in middle and high schools are fearful of physics. As a result, they keep on avoiding physics till they encounter it in college as a prerequisite, and then feel lost. If nothing is done about it, this trend of feeling helpless will continue to shadow their potential. The solution is to make students at ease with physics before or during middle and high school by connecting the laws of physics to their world of high-fives, coming down the slides, shooting balls, or simply drinking water from fountains. In the first volume of the book, the concepts of energy and Newton's three laws of motion were covered. In this second volume, the concepts of momentum, gravitational force and weight are covered. There are no equations in any chapter of both the volumes. Physics has been simplified to pure English with many joyful photos, and simple experiments that can be done with the stuff inside the home or outside in the playgrounds. Now, can physics be more beautiful or easier than that?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Sep 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9780228896722

Gunjan Raizada

DR. GUNJAN RAIZADA fell in love with physics in a science fair conducted by middle schoolers when she was ten years old. A seed of physics was sown into her that day. After that, in Grade 12 (after six years) she was taught physics by a wonderful teacher, and then she clearly knew she wanted to pursue physics. She continued to earn scholarships to complete her PhD in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. She realized during her PhD that physics is everywhere, in the playground and inside homes. Math and equations only complicate the learning of physics. When she was teaching at San Jose State University in the US, she realized the need of teaching physics to elementary graders without math or equations.She followed her children in their schools and did workshops teaching physics concepts with basketball rolling/ shooting and water fountains. Additionally, she regularly wrote about those workshops on a blog after every workshop. She took notes on what worked with Grades 4 to 6 students and what did not. This book is the essence of that blog. It has been written with a lot of passion to educate students. The goal is that every student who reads this book begins observing, thereby tapping into the inherent Newton within themselves. She describes her passion as, "Enthusiastic to sow the seed of loving physics in all students (ages 9 to 20) all over the world." She speaks from her firsthand teaching experience that the simple experiential experiments that work smoothly with age 9 also work very well with college students. And once those students have their fundamentals nailed (in their bodies) using Joyful Physics series as an introductory book, it becomes easy to add the layer of Equations (from their curriculum textbook, whenever they encounter Equations). Guess what? Using Joyful Physics series, physics will become joyful to all students in all school grades and college levels all over the world.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Gunjan Raizada

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-9671-5 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-9670-8 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-9672-2 (eBook)

Table of Contents

Preface

My dream is to make physics accessible to all.

Who is this book for?

Chapter 1: Momentum

1. What is momentum?

2. Collisions

3. Conservation of momentum

4. Vocabulary

Chapter 2: Gravitational Force

1. What is a force?

2. Force of air

3. Gravitational force

4. Vocabulary

Chapter 3: Weight

1. What is acceleration due to gravity?

2. Weight

3. Feeling lighter while swimming

4. Vocabulary

Thanks to My Readers

Gratitude for My Supporters

Praise for Joyful Physics

About the Author

Follow Thy Heart

This book, Joyful Physics Volume II, is part of the series called Follow Thy Heart, which is

the name of the nonprofit organization in California.

The author is one of the founding members.

Its big picture is to create a world full of honor.

It includes education and food outreach to the poor, with respect.

10% of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Follow Thy Heart.

Preface

My dream is to make physics accessible to all.

Presently, most students in middle and high school fear physics. As a result, they avoid physics until they encounter it in college as a prerequisite; then they feel lost. If nothing is done about it, this helpless feeling will continue to shadow their potential.

One solution is to introduce students to physics before or during middle and high school by connecting laws of physics to their world of high-fives, slides, balls, and water fountains.

My goal is to sow the seed of physics in students, especially in those who need it the most—students whose parents are underprivileged and not as educated in physics. Such students cannot receive guidance from their parents to understand physics, nor are their parents able to afford expensive tutoring help.

I pray that this book may share the joy of physics with the many students in middle and high school who genuinely need help understanding this beautiful subject. This book has evolved from my blog and is based on actual one-on-one workshops with students in grades 4 to 6. The experiments reported here have been well tested over the years with this age group.

If translated into other languages (like Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin, and French), this book has