INFLUENCE OF THE CALCULATION METHOD ON UNDERSTANDING THE MOTION OF THE RIGID BODY

Simple but more accurate calculation methods can be used to calculate rigid body motion. The method used influences the understanding of the real motion of the rigid bodies. In the paper are shown the calculations of motion of the rigid body using high school mathematics and then the calculation of motion by means of a second order differential equation. The numerical method called the Runge-Kutta method was used to determine the results, i.e. the position of the rigid body in the coordinate system, as well as the velocity and acceleration of the rigid body. Different results of the calculation show the students errors that arose due to the calculation method used. The use of the differential equation is more difficult, but on the other hand it is taught to analytically think, because the use of numerical methods for calculating the second order differential equation means thorough preparation of the calculation procedure. The teacher should be able to connect knowledge from physics and mathematics. Using a detailed calculation of rigid body motion, students learn to understand the complex motion as well as learn to apply mathematical methods to model rigid body motion. In the end, the two approaches that are used in teaching are compared.