Questions to Measure Understanding of the “Moment of Force” and Development of Experimental Apparatus for Student Use

Abstract

In order to clarify students’ understanding of the “moment of force” concept in high school physics, questions that can measure the level of understanding of high school students were developed. Trial surveys were then conducted with high school and college students using these questions. The results of the survey imply that many students are likely to be misinformed about “length of arm,” which is important in considering the “moment of force”. Therefore, in this paper, an experimental, easy-to-fabricate apparatus that can find the conditions under which the “moment of force” is balanced is proposed. This new teaching material carries the advantages of the apparatus used in the previous study, while solving the problems of fabrication and cost; indeed, a large number of devices can be manufactured at a low cost. The results of the trial practice with high school students suggest that it is possible to find the rotation condition of an object via thoughtful consideration using the experimental apparatus. It is thought that this will enable the understanding of the “moment of force” concept to be successfully acquired by students with a greater sense of reality than ever before through experimentation.