Re: [Phys-l] Work and Energy: which first?

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

> Why do you say "the average...does not work well for anything but a
> linear graph"?  In what way does the average force not work as well as
> the area under the curve?

How would a non calculus student take the average of a decaying sine wave?
The area under the curve can be approximated readily by a series of
triangles, but students would have much more difficulty taking the average
of each peak.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX