Modelagem Científica : atividades experimentais usando molas para aplicação no Ensino Médio

Abstract

This work, through the view of scientific modeling proposed by the Argentine physicist and philosopher of science Mário Bunge, aims to work on three episodes of modeling on springs, which involve the construction of theoretical models and their subsequent empirical validation. Initially, the work is about two springs associated in series and in parallel. For springs associated in series, the empirical contrast of the traditional model is performed and in the case of association in parallel, using different elastic constants, a theoretical model is proposed under an energetic approach that results in an equivalent elastic constant different from the traditional model. Then, the case of two springs associated in parallel was studied, maintaining or forcing the hypothesis of equal elongations, which due to its simplicity proved to be advantageous. The third modeling episode addresses the construction of the elastic constant model as a function of the number of turns, where the proposed hypothesis is that the shear modulus G is constant for each spring and its parts into which they were divided. The empirical results indicate that the hypothesis considered is correct, in which it is verified that the spring constant of the original spring and its derived springs depend on the number of turns. Therefore, scientific modeling is promising for Physics Teaching, as students can understand how science is done through the construction of model objects, theoretical models and their respective empirical contrasts.