Discovering the Rule Set

Application of Newton's laws in the real world require understanding of the rules (i.e. the physics).

The rules need to be discovered via accurate experimentation and measurement. This is one of the points that Descartes repeatedly makes.

To drive this point home, let's attempt to blow up various important historical figures with our "knowledge-revealed" cannon.

The general use of this simulation is after you have done your experiment, you need to publish your result and then we can compare what everyone has done. again, follow the instructions and take this exercise seriously, don't just screw around with the cannon.

(Note for those of you that may have practiced in advance, the firing solutions will change right before class.)

Note also that the actual size of the hitbox is much smaller than the Target Icon so you can actually hit the target image and not blow it up because the hitbox is more precise than the target image.

• First Attempt You get one and only one shot to hit Aristotle. Most of all of you will miss unless you understand the language of kilometers per second, angle, etc. After you have fired your one shot publish it clicking on the submit your work button (lower left part of simulation)

  After publishing just hit the back button to return to this page.

• Second Attempt Now you get three shots - some of you will hit the target because you have "learned" how the physics behaves. This doesn't mean you understand the physics, but it does mean that the physics behaves in a consistent way and you have gained an intuitive feel for that consistency. Publish your successful trajectory (if you have one). If you did not hit the target then do not publish

  This consistency of the newtonian world is precisely why there is no magic in this world. If there is no magic then the world is entirely rational!

  It is this consistency that lends itself to the Coming Age of Reason that is all problems are solvable if you just apply reason to it. But this doesn't mean that you actually understand the foundation or origing of the problem - only a solution to it. This is what ENGINEERING IS at its essence! One should never confuse science with engineering.

• Third Attempt Okay now we will live in the real world, instead of the idealized shooting the cannon in a vacuum. There is also a headwind. For this part, turn on drag by clicking the drag button in the simulation(that means your shooting through the atmosphere and therefore your ballistic trajectory will suffer frictional energy loss) by checking the box marked drag .

  You have now 4 shots to hit the target in a strong headwind.

  Publish your successful hit, if you have one. If you did not hit the target then do not publish