Reforçando a relação entre a matemática e a física no ensino médio através de exemplos básicos de mecânica clássica

Abstract

In this work a study is presented using some teaching strategies in order to strengthen the relationship between mathematics and physics in high school. It is shown how important it is to describe mathematically a physical phenomenon to motivate students in the description and prediction of situations that can be observed in their daily lives. For this purpose, simple examples are considered in classical mechanics, such as Newton’s second law applications and uniform rectilinear and circular motions. The physical phenomena were explored through mathematical concepts which are suitable for high school level such as functions, unit vector, vectors and their projections, coordinate systems and graphs. The approach considered here can be an important step for addressing more advanced and modern topics in physics in which mathematics is imperative, such as relativity and quantum mechanics. It can also favor the understanding of more abstract concepts such as the electromagnetic field, and the modeling of systems in which the performance of experiments or its observation is impracticable, such as the movement of planets or the behavior of atoms in a gas. This proposal was applied to 35 students in the third year of high school in the Bragan¸ca Paulista city, state of S˜ao Paulo. Several calculations and the explanations developed by the students are presented, showing that the proposal was successful, being very well received by the students. The outcome educational product from this proposal consists of a booklet containing all details and the importance of quantifying physical phenomena through mathematical modeling.