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The pedagogical representation of mass functions with LEGO and their origin

2021; IOP Publishing; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/1361-6404/abe75c

1361-6404

Stefan Kautsch, Dimitri Veras, Kyle K. Hansotia,

Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

We promote the teaching of mass functions as an integral part of an interdisciplinary science education. Mass functions characterize the frequency distributions of objects with different masses on all cosmic scales. We intend to enhance experiential learning of this concept with a creative LEGO brick experiment for a diverse student audience. To our surprise, the LEGO mass function is not only qualitatively but also quantitatively comparable to mass functions found across the Universe. We also discuss the relation between gravitation and mass distributions as a possible explanation for the continuity of the universal mass function.