Term 1 Week 4 · The Particles Do Not Change. Only Their Spacing Does. · CG Quarter 1, competency 5
| # | The misconception | Where it shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Particles get bigger when heated | §A drawings, worksheet A | Expansion is increased spacing. Trace every circle round the same coin and the error becomes impossible to make |
| 2 | There is air between the particles | §C3, exit ticket 3 | Ask what air is made of, then ask what is between those. The regress is the argument |
| 3 | Particles in a solid are still | Game Round 3 | They vibrate. Solid means the pattern holds, not that motion stops |
| 4 | A single particle melts | §C3 | Melting is a property of an arrangement, not of a particle. One person is not a queue |
| 5 | Compressing a gas makes it heavier | Game Round 3 | The same particles are in there. Mass unchanged, volume reduced |
| 6 | Particles are tiny visible grains of the substance | §C1 | A grain of salt contains an enormous number of particles. If you can see it, it is not one |
| 7 | Evaporation only happens at boiling point | §D | The puddle at 30 °C. This is also why the exit ticket asks about energy direction rather than about temperature |