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ERIC Number: EJ984089
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Sep
Pages: 2
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Falling PC Solitaire Cards: An Open-Inquiry Approach
Gonzalez-Espada, Wilson J.
Physics Teacher, v50 n6 p365-366 Sep 2012
Many of us have played the PC Solitaire game that comes as standard software in many computers. Although I am not a great player, occasionally I win a game or two. The game celebrates my accomplishment by pushing the cards forward, one at a time, falling gracefully in what appears to look like a parabolic path in a drag-free environment. One day, as I was watching this progression, I asked myself what is the downward acceleration of the playing cards. Could the game programmer have used a realistic value of Earth's acceleration due to gravity? It occurred to me that this could be an excellent open-inquiry activity for high school or introductory college physics students!
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A