Resumen de The Takeoff of an Airliner: Is It a Good Example of Uniformly Accelerated Motion?

Fabio Augusto Meira Cassaro, Luiz Fernando Pires, Luiz Américo Alves Pereira

• More than ever, the use of compact or cell phone cameras has become extremely popular and has been allowing people to make and post “homemade” videos, which frequently are accessible on websites such as YouTube.1 This fact, combined with the existence of free and easy-to-use video analysis software, has opened a vast opportunity for analyzing more realistic and non-idealized events.2 It can considerably modify the way traditional topics in physics can be introduced to students from different grades.

  In physics, most of the time students deal with simplified and idealized models that reproduce some complex phenomena.3 According to Etkina et al.,4 the use of models to analyze diverse physical phenomena and to solve problems is usual for scientists from different areas of knowledge. Nonetheless, it often makes science learning boring and meaningless for many students.5 Thus, the purpose of this study is to present the analysis of an accelerated motion using the real case of an airliner’s takeoff. As this kind of event takes place every day, all around the world, it certainly represents a practical and interesting example of the application of classical concepts of physics.

  Many studies have shown the importance of using videos in physics teaching.6,7 Using videos associated with image analysis tools has been seen as an exciting alternative to traditional experimental physics laboratories.8,9 It is also worth mentioning that high schools usually do not have adequate laboratories for physics teaching, especially in developing countries.10