MISCONCEPTIONS SPREAD BY K-6 TEXTBOOKS:
"ELECTRICITY"
William J. Beaty, Aug/1995

How does 'electricity' work? If you've learned about electricity from grade-school textbooks, then first we have to do some "debunking" and find out how electricity DOESN'T work. Sorry if the following is a bit contentious at times. I wrote it in an attempt to get some things off my chest. If you keep watching this site, I'll probably clean it up and make it sound a bit more professional. Also, this file is still under construction and is being written, edited, corrected, etc. It does currently contain some mistakes of its own. I placed it online as a sort of 'trial by fire' in order to hear readers' responses and target weak or unclear sections for improvement. Please feel free to post comments. -Bill B.
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ELECTRICITY MISCONCEPTIONS:

• 1. ELECTRONS FLOW AT NEARLY THE SPEED OF LIGHT?
• 2. BATTERIES & GENERATORS CREATE ELECTRICITY?
• 3. ELECTRICITY LEAVES ONE BATTERY PLATE, THEN RETURNS TO THE OTHER?
• 4. ELECTRICITY IS A KIND OF EVENT?
• 5. TOO BAD FRANKLIN SAID ELECTRONS ARE NEGATIVE?
• 6. "ELECTRICITY" IS A PHENOMENON COMPOSED OF ENERGY?
• 7. ELECTRICITY IS MADE OF ELECTRONS?
• 8. STATIC ELECTRICITY IS THE OPPOSITE OF CURRENT ELECTRICITY?
• 9. EACH INDIVIDUAL ELECTRON CARRIES ENERGY?
• 10. ALL ATOMS HAVE EQUAL NUMBERS OF ELECTRONS AND PROTONS?
• 11. CONDUCTORS ALLOW CHARGE TO PASS?
• 12. ELECTRICITY IS WEIGHTLESS?
• 13. THE "TWO FLUIDS" THEORY WAS DISPROVED?
• 14. "ELECTRICITY" IS A FORM OF ENERGY?
• 15. ELECTRICAL ENERGY FLOWS INSIDE OF WIRES?
• 16. VOLTS (under const)

Truth does not consist in minute accuracy of detail, but in conveying a right impression - Henry Alford

ELECTROSTATIC MISCONCEPTIONS:

• 1. BATTERIES STORE CHARGE, CHARGE FLOWS IN WIRES?
• 2. "STATIC ELECTRICITY" IS CAUSED BY FRICTION?
• 3. "STATIC ELECTRICITY" IS A BUILDUP OF ELECTRONS?
• 4. "STATIC ELECTRICITY" IS STATIC AND UNMOVING?
• 5. STORM CLOUDS ARE CHARGED BY FRICTION?
• 6. BEN FRANKLIN'S KITE WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING?
• 7. HUMID AIR IS CONDUCTIVE?
• 8. LIGHTNING RODS DISCHARGE THE CLOUDS?
• More on "static"...

Give me fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself.      - Vifredo Pareto

ELECTRIC CURRENT MISCONCEPTIONS:

• 1. THE STUFF FLOWING IN WIRES IS CALLED 'ELECTRIC CURRENT'?
• 2. THE DIRECTION OF CURRENT IS FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE?
• 3. ELECTRIC CURRENT IS A FLOW OF ENERGY?
• 4. ELECTRICAL ENERGY FLOWS IN A CIRCLE?
• 5. DURING ELECTRIC CURRENT, ELECTRONS JUMP FROM ATOM TO ATOM?
• 6. ELECTRIC POWER FLOWS FROM GENERATOR TO CONSUMER?
• 7. PROTONS CANNOT FLOW?
• 8. LIGHT AND RADIO WAVES TRAVEL AT 186,000 mile/s?
• 9. ELECTROMAGNET COILS USE ENERGY TO CREATE MAGNETISM?
• 10. CURRENT IS ONLY ON THE SURFACE OF WIRES?
• 11. ELECTRIC CURRENT IS INVISIBLE? (under const)

"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong."
- Richard Feynman

Some Electrical Misconception Articles Here:

• How SHOULD we teach electricity????
• The "Electricity" Map (GIF)
• Capacitor Misconceptions
• "Static" versus "Current"
• Explaining "electricity" with red/green plastic sheets.
• Which way does the "electricity" REALLY flow?
• Static Electric misconceptions
• What Is Electricity?
• Speed of "Electricity?"
• Are Amperes "Fundamental?"
• "Static electricity..." that flows!
• Sparks and Lighting
• Acoustomagnetoelectricisim!
• Understanding Electrical Energy Flow
• Why "Electricity" is Impossible to Understand (my raw data. long!)
• All the "Electricity" articles here
• Some resources on Elect. misconceptions

"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives." -Tolstoy

Links to other Websites: Electricity

• Electricity Preprint from Chabay and Sherwood (.pdf), (arcv)
• Falstad's circuit sim w/visible charges
• Understanding Electricity and Circuits: What the Text Books Don't Tell You (pdf) Sefton 2002
• Are we teaching electricity the wrong way around?
• Energy transfer in electric circuits: Qualitative, Galili/Goihbarg 2004
• Furryelephant: misconceptions
• Bill Drennon's Christmas Lights
• The CASTLE Electrical curriculum , and student manual
• CASTLE capacitor kits and downloadable manuals

Other articles here:

• Books and References: Electricity Misconception
• Books and References: Other misconceptions
• PREV PAGE: Main Misconceptions Page
• How transistors REALLY work
• How capacitors REALLY work
• COMMENT BOOK
• Static Electric Misconceptions

• Electricity: Frequently Asked Questions FAQ (large)
• All Electricity Articles Here
• Electronics Hobbyist
• Books: Electronics
• Science Answers
• Static Electric Page
• Tesla Coils Page

"It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it. " - Jacob Bronowski