The object of this note is to suggest how Newton's Laws of Motion may be approached explicitly by means of rate of change of momentum. It will be seen that the term “force” is not made prominent at the expense of the notion of rate of change of momentum. Once the student believes that rate of change of momentum is a vital aspect of stopping or starting the motion of a body, he is not inclined to overestimate his knowledge of “force” apart from the rate of change of momentum which accompanies it. Since students of ordinary endowment learn to observe things before words, we begin with some common examples. As for the term “momentum,” it is sufficient to begin by saying that
Supporting Conceptual Development in Newton's Laws of Motion Using an Interactive Computer-simulated Laboratory Environment
