I think you should try as hard as possible to replicate the process of discovery that the great scientists of the past have undergone, especially in a first exposure to college physics. There is no better way to understand how the concepts (quantities, really) of position, velocity, and acceleration interact than by rolling a metal ball down a ramp and taking measurements with the goal of establishing predictive results. I had to replicate this famous experiment of Galileo's with extremely primitive instruments (i.e. my pulse and pseudo-reliable internal metronome). Of course, you don't want to make it so difficult that it becomes frustrating to your students, but making them digest data and create original (or for those who've been exposed to physics in high school, imitative) models should be the goal.
Slashdot Mirror
What are you talking about? The Milky Way alone has a diameter of around 100,000 light years.
I think you should try as hard as possible to replicate the process of discovery that the great scientists of the past have undergone, especially in a first exposure to college physics. There is no better way to understand how the concepts (quantities, really) of position, velocity, and acceleration interact than by rolling a metal ball down a ramp and taking measurements with the goal of establishing predictive results. I had to replicate this famous experiment of Galileo's with extremely primitive instruments (i.e. my pulse and pseudo-reliable internal metronome). Of course, you don't want to make it so difficult that it becomes frustrating to your students, but making them digest data and create original (or for those who've been exposed to physics in high school, imitative) models should be the goal.
Or perhaps you're making a new TV commercial, and you need a snippet of music that sounds something like Radiohead, but a bit more mellow.
You don't need software algorithms for that, just go download a Coldplay album. Except maybe replace "mellow" with "soulless."