written by Alicia R. Allbaugh

Evidence is presented to suggest a misconception concerning motion of an object when acted upon by a force that decreases with distance such as Coulomb's Law. This evidence was collected during interviews of several above average calculus-based physics students. The students stated that the motion of an object would slow, even stop, if the force on it decreased based upon its distance. This may not be surprising until viewed in the light that many of these students didn't reveal this impetus or Aristotelian notion except with diminishing forces.

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Published September 1, 2005
Last Modified July 8, 2013

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