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Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research
written by Thomas M. Scaife and Andrew F. Heckler
We investigate student confusion of concepts of electric and magnetic force. At various times during a traditional university-level course, we administered a series of simple questions about the direction of force on a charged particle moving through either an electric or a magnetic field. We find that after electric force instruction but before magnetic force instruction most students answer electric force questions correctly, and we replicate well-known results that many students incorrectly answer that magnetic forces are in the same direction as the magnetic field. After magnetic force instruction, most students answer magnetic force questions correctly, but surprisingly many students incorrectly answer that electric forces are perpendicular to electric fields, as would happen if a student confused electric forces with magnetic forces. As a further indication of interference between electric and magnetic concepts, we also find that students' responses depend on whether electric or magnetic force questions are posed first, and this effect depends on whether electric or magnetic force was most recently taught.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Alternative Conceptions
- Cognition
= Cognition Development
Electricity & Magnetism
- Electrostatics
= Coulomb's Law
- Magnetic Fields and Forces
= Force on Moving Charges
= Force on Wires
= Forces on Magnets
- Lower Undergraduate
- Graduate/Professional
- Reference Material
= Research study
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- application/pdf
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Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104
IES Grant:
60003571
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
01.40.Ha
01.50.Kw
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created May 1, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
May 1, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
March 28, 2011
Other Collections:

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Record Link
AIP Format
T. Scaife and A. Heckler, , Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 7 (1), 010104 (2011), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104).
AJP/PRST-PER
T. Scaife and A. Heckler, Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 7 (1), 010104 (2011), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104>.
APA Format
Scaife, T., & Heckler, A. (2011, March 28). Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics. Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res., 7(1), 010104. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104
Chicago Format
Scaife, Thomas, and Andrew F. Heckler. "Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 7, no. 1, (March 28, 2011): 010104, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104 (accessed 6 May 2024).
MLA Format
Scaife, Thomas, and Andrew F. Heckler. "Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics." Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 7.1 (2011): 010104. 6 May 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Thomas Scaife and Andrew F. Heckler", Title = {Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {7}, Number = {1}, Pages = {010104}, Month = {March}, Year = {2011} }
Refer Export Format

%A Thomas Scaife %A Andrew F. Heckler %T Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 7 %N 1 %D March 28, 2011 %P 010104 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Scaife, Thomas %A Heckler, Andrew F. %D March 28, 2011 %T Interference between electric and magnetic concepts in introductory physics %J Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. %V 7 %N 1 %P 010104 %8 March 28, 2011 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.010104


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