Mathematization involves translating physical description into a mathematically viable representation. That is, when someone describes a physical scenario, that scenario can be "mathematized" into something that can be solved using mathematical reasoning. Mathematization is the backbone of physics, and is arguably the most important and useful tool in a physicist's toolkit. When people ask, "Why learn physics?" the answer is to be able to translate real world scenarios into something mathematically feasible.

Learning Objectives

Summary: Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  1. Translate between the descriptive (words) and the mathematical representation.

BoxSand's Resources

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Stuff and stuff

Video

Mathematization part 1 (3 min)

Mathematization part 1 (3 min)

Mathematization part 2 (5 min)

Mathematization part 2 (5 min)

Web Resources

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Videos

Here's videos on the basics of mathematization:

Simulations

Let us know if you have any ideas for mathematization simulations

Practice

Practice Problems

Translate the following from a physical to a mathematical description:

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Problem Solving Help

Tips and Tricks

One helpful trick is to underline anything in the problem statement that might be relevant to the problem. Basically, look at the problem, and ask yourself: "Where's the physics?". If a problem mentions anything about any physical quantity such as time, charge, velocity, position, energy, et cetera, underline it and put the quantity in a table of "knowns/unknowns". Then try to look at the equations you know, and ask yourself what you can solve for with the quantities you know.