{"items": [{"author": "Danner", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/114987071963782993407", "anchor": "gp-1342281932427", "service": "gp", "text": "I luckily have a mind for the laws of physics, so I would write out all the forces, and then get a basic gist of what would happen when I solved the problem, what the shape of integrals and\u00a0derivatives would be,\u00a0whether I'd be ending up with a small or large number within an order of magnitude, positive or negative, then I would do my calculations. If something started going far away from my prediction, I'd review what I'd done, and see if I had gotten something wrong. cancelling variables that didn't mean anything to the final answer\u00a0and understanding what a tweak to any of the constants or variables would do to the overall number was also very powerful - I love teaching videogame physics because of how easy it is to get feedback on something like accel due to gravity, when you can tweak the constant whenever you want. ask a kid what \"happens when you invert gravity?\" and then show them immediately as their character zooms up off the screen produces an immediate connection, and immediate laughs as they connect the visual to the physical law.\u00a0\n
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\nIn videogames you also change everything to a variable too, kids are always confused at the beginning why I make accel due to gravity a variable instead of just plugging in 9.8m/s everywhere, until they see the freedom it gives them.", "timestamp": 1342281932}, {"author": "Ben", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/441791922508211?comment_id=441796785841058", "anchor": "fb-441796785841058", "service": "fb", "text": "You'll be happy to know that since you left, the Commonwealth physics department started making everyone solve all their problems symbolically.", "timestamp": "1342282424"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/441791922508211?comment_id=441810852506318", "anchor": "fb-441810852506318", "service": "fb", "text": "@Ben: really? Awesome.", "timestamp": "1342286054"}]}