This page from the Institute of Physics provides research-based evidence that secondary students and college students majoring in science education often hold entrenched notions that magnetic fields and electric fields are the "same stuff" or are measured in the same way. The authors include a lab activity to help students build better understandings.
This page is part of a larger collection from IOPSpark that presents findings from academic literature about the conceptions (and misconceptions) young people have regarding processes in the physical world. See Related Materials for a link to the full collection.
Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively). (6-8)
Forces at a distance are explained by fields (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) permeating space that can transfer energy through space. Magnets or electric currents cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields cause electric fields. (9-12)
Forces that act at a distance (electric, magnetic, and gravitational) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a charged object, or a ball, respectively). (6-8)
Forces at a distance are explained by fields (gravitational, electric, and magnetic) permeating space that can transfer energy through space. Magnets or electric currents cause magnetic fields; electric charges or changing magnetic fields cause electric fields. (9-12)
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=15994">IOPSpark. IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects. London: IOPSpark, January 11, 2021.</a>
IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects (IOPSpark, London, 2021), <https://spark.iop.org/some-students-conflate-magnetic-and-electrostatic-effects>.
IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects. (2021, January 11). Retrieved October 6, 2026, from IOPSpark: https://spark.iop.org/some-students-conflate-magnetic-and-electrostatic-effects
IOPSpark. IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects. London: IOPSpark, January 11, 2021. https://spark.iop.org/some-students-conflate-magnetic-and-electrostatic-effects (accessed 6 October 2026).
IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects. London: IOPSpark, 2021. 11 Jan. 2021. 6 Oct. 2026 <https://spark.iop.org/some-students-conflate-magnetic-and-electrostatic-effects>.
@misc{
Title = {IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects},
Publisher = {IOPSpark},
Volume = {2026},
Number = {6 October 2026},
Month = {January 11, 2021},
Year = {2021}
}
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%0 Electronic Source %D January 11, 2021 %T IOPSpark: Some students conflate magnetic and electrostatic effects %I IOPSpark %V 2026 %N 6 October 2026 %8 January 11, 2021 %9 text/html %U https://spark.iop.org/some-students-conflate-magnetic-and-electrostatic-effects
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