Trabajando las leyes de la mecánica a través de un proyectoel móvil de Newton, un juguete muy serio

Abstract

This article presents a didactic proposal, based on the development of a project, to work on the foundations of mechanics through Newton's second and third laws. The activity consists on the construction of toys developing them as Newton's mobiles, objects that move autonomously by jet propulsion. The movement is produced by a stream of fluid (gaseous or liquid), and it is explained through Newton's third law, the law of actionreaction. This is a project that, in addition to helping students to actively learn the basic laws of mechanics, contributes to the acquisition and development of numerous skills (scientific, technological, linguistic, artistic, etc.). This project can be carried out in both primary and secondary schools, adapting the requirements and characteristics that mobiles must have (minimum mass, minimum distance, origin of the fluid jet, etc.) to the different stages. The project carried out with university students during the initial training of teachers is presented here as an example.