Bruce Sherwood
North Carolina State University

Some Surprising Aspects of Introductory Mechanics

One surprise is that potential energy cannot have an arbitrary additive 
constant (!). Another surprise is the ease with which the motion of 
deformable systems, and the energetics of motion with friction, can be 
analyzed with the help of the "point particle system." Both of these 
"surprises" have been incorporated into the Matter & Interactions 
curriculum, which is a PER-based reform of the content, not just the 
pedagogy, of the calculus-based introductory course. See 

See NCSU for information on book. 
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rwchabay/mi

*Supported in part by NSF DUE #0088906