Misconceptions

Findings from academic literature about common misunderstandings that children have and suggestions for identifying and challenging them in the classroom.

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Many students think of heat as an intangible substance that can flow into and out of objects

Most students are aware that a hot object can ‘heat up’ another object, and think of heat as something that can move from one object to another

Some students think of cold as an entity that behaves in ways similar to heat

Some students see the more obvious ‘heat’ of very hot objects as different from that of objects at lower temperatures

Students often use 'heat' to refer to both the extra energy in a hotter object and the energy spontaneously transferred from a hotter to a colder object due to temperature difference

Students use the term ‘temperature’ less frequently than ‘heat’ when talking about thermal phenomena

Many students think of temperature as a property of a material (some substances are ‘naturally’ warmer or colder than others)

Many students think that objects of different materials in the same room will have different temperatures

Many students think of temperature as a measure of the amount of heat an object contains, and that the temperature of objects is related to their size

Many students have difficulties in distinguishing between the ideas of ‘temperature’ and ‘heat’ and in using these terms appropriately

Many students make incorrect quantitative predictions about the temperature of a mixture of two samples of liquid at different initial temperatures, even when they can make correct qualitative predictions

Many students think the temperature of boiling water will continue to rise if it is heated, and that the temperature of a sample of ice will fall if more ice is added

Misconceptions

Many students think of heat as an intangible substance that can flow into and out of objects

Most students are aware that a hot object can ‘heat up’ another object, and think of heat as something that can move from one object to another

Some students think of cold as an entity that behaves in ways similar to heat

Some students see the more obvious ‘heat’ of very hot objects as different from that of objects at lower temperatures

Students often use 'heat' to refer to both the extra energy in a hotter object and the energy spontaneously transferred from a hotter to a colder object due to temperature difference

Students use the term ‘temperature’ less frequently than ‘heat’ when talking about thermal phenomena

Many students think of temperature as a property of a material (some substances are ‘naturally’ warmer or colder than others)

Many students think that objects of different materials in the same room will have different temperatures

Many students think of temperature as a measure of the amount of heat an object contains, and that the temperature of objects is related to their size

Many students have difficulties in distinguishing between the ideas of ‘temperature’ and ‘heat’ and in using these terms appropriately

Many students make incorrect quantitative predictions about the temperature of a mixture of two samples of liquid at different initial temperatures, even when they can make correct qualitative predictions

Many students think the temperature of boiling water will continue to rise if it is heated, and that the temperature of a sample of ice will fall if more ice is added

Misconceptions

Many students think of heat as an intangible substance that can flow into and out of objects

Most students are aware that a hot object can ‘heat up’ another object, and think of heat as something that can move from one object to another

Some students think of cold as an entity that behaves in ways similar to heat

Some students see the more obvious ‘heat’ of very hot objects as different from that of objects at lower temperatures

Students often use 'heat' to refer to both the extra energy in a hotter object and the energy spontaneously transferred from a hotter to a colder object due to temperature difference

Students use the term ‘temperature’ less frequently than ‘heat’ when talking about thermal phenomena

Many students think of temperature as a property of a material (some substances are ‘naturally’ warmer or colder than others)

Many students think that objects of different materials in the same room will have different temperatures

Many students think of temperature as a measure of the amount of heat an object contains, and that the temperature of objects is related to their size

Many students have difficulties in distinguishing between the ideas of ‘temperature’ and ‘heat’ and in using these terms appropriately

Many students make incorrect quantitative predictions about the temperature of a mixture of two samples of liquid at different initial temperatures, even when they can make correct qualitative predictions

Many students think the temperature of boiling water will continue to rise if it is heated, and that the temperature of a sample of ice will fall if more ice is added

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