Instructors may reasonably be unwilling to assign challenge problems that are beyond the scope of the syllabus. I somehow feel the opposite and love to give students problems that are slightly beyond their capability, hoping that one or two may fail to resist the tantalization and thereby struggle through them. I benevolently enjoy observing that struggle, and my observations convince me that students’ creativity should in no way be underestimated. Their unorthodox and imaginative solutions make teaching enjoyable. In this paper, I recall three such delightful problems and their creative solutions.
References
1.
Timothy J.
Pennings
, “Do dogs know calculus?
” Coll. Math. J.
34
, 178
–182
(2003
).2.
The column editor has suggested Feynman Lectures on Physics, https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_26.html.
3.
D. C.
Giancoli
, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics
, 4th ed. (Pearson
, Upper Saddle River, NJ
, 2014
), p. 50
.4.
H. D.
Young
, R. A.
Freedman
, and A. L.
Ford
, Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics with Modern Physics
, 13th ed. (Pearson Education
, San Francisco
, 2012
), p. 1111
.5.
J.
Hass
, C.
Heil
, and M. D.
Weir
, Thomas’ Calculus
, 14th ed. (Pearson Education
, Boston
, 2018
), pp. 217
, 223
.6.
She had not yet learned the idea of a “fictitious force,” yet this is a quick and rigorous way to solve the problem.
7.
S. Y.
Mak
, “The static effectiveness mass of a slinky
,” Am. J. Phys.
55
, 994
–997
(1987
).8.
Mikolaj
Sawicki
, “Static elongation of a suspended slinky
,” Phys. Teach.
40
, 276
–278
(2002
).© 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by American Association of Physics Teachers.
2023
Author(s)
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.