Be careful that the reader does not confuse this with the colloquial usage: 'One factor in the success of this experiment was…'

A very common mistake found in textbooks is to speak of "flow of current". Current itself is a flow of charge; what, then, could "flow of current" mean? It is either redundant, mis [..]

Sometimes the word electricity is colloquially misused as if it named a physical quantity, such as "The capacitor stores electricity," or "Electricity in a resistor produces heat." [..]

In elementary lab manuals one often sees: experimental error = [your value - book value] / book value. This should be called the experimental discrepancy. Calculating this does not substitute for the [..]

One sometimes sees "A force arises because of inertia." This misleads one into supposing that the inertia is a cause of the force. It is not hard to discuss all of the physics of force, mass [..]

Many books emphasize that the mole is "just a number," a measure of the number of particles in a collection. They say that one can have a mole of any kind of particles, baseballs, atoms, sta [..]

Radioactivity is a process, not a thing, and not a substance. It is just as incorrect to say "U-235 emits radioactivity" as it is to say "current flows." A malfunctioning nuclear r [..]

Do not call an authoritative or ‘book’ value of a physical quantity a theoretical value, as in: "We compared our experimentally determined value of index of refraction with the theoretical value [..]

Do not call an authoritative or ‘book’ value of a physical quantity a theoretical value, as in: 'We compared our experimentally determined value of index of refraction with the theoretical value [..]

One hears some folks with superficial minds say 'Einstein showed that everything is relative.' In fact, special relativity shows that only certain measurable things are relative, but in a pr [..]

Many books emphasize that the mole is 'just a number,' a measure of the number of particles in a collection. They say that one can have a mole of any kind of particles, baseballs, atoms, sta [..]

In elementary lab manuals one often sees: experimental error = |your value - book value| /book value. This should be called the experimental discrepancy. See: discrepancy. Factor. One of several thing [..]

Sometimes the word electricity is colloquially misused as if it named a physical quantity, such as 'The capacitor stores electricity,' or 'Electricity in a resistor produces heat.' [..]

A very common mistake found in textbooks is to speak of 'flow of current'. Current itself is a flow of charge; what, then, could 'flow of current' mean? It is either redundant, mis [..]

Be careful that the reader does not confuse this with the colloquial usage: "One factor in the success of this experiment was…"

Folks who don't pay attention to details of science, are heard to say "Heisenberg showed that you can't be certain about anything." We also hear some folk justifying belief in esp [..]

One hears some folks with superficial minds say "Einstein showed that everything is relative." In fact, special relativity shows that only certain measurable things are relative, but in a pr [..]

Folks who don't pay attention to details of science, are heard to say 'Heisenberg showed that you can't be certain about anything.' We also hear some folk justifying belief in esp [..]