8 Examples Using QP Theory

One of the key hypotheses of QP theory is that the representations it provides are expressive enough to formally describe a wide variety of human mental models of continuous systems. To argue for this hypothesis, this chapter uses QP theory to model a variety of phenomena. This includes two of the motivating examples from chapter 1 (the kettle on the stove and speed of freezing examples) and other examples from the literature. These include the following: One-dimensional motion, including two common misconceptions found in physics students (i.e., Aristotelian and Impetus models) • A simple model of materials sufficient to state Minsky's conundrum that one can pull with a string but not push with it • A spring-block oscillator and the impact of dynamic and static friction on its possible behaviors • How dynamic equilibria can be detected qualitatively Any theory intended to capture the range of human mental models ought to be able to handle at least these phenomena.