Rebecca Rosenblatt

Investigating introductory student difficulties reading equipotential diagrams

Rebecca Rosenblatt, Raymond Zich, Amber Sammons, Jacob Cermak

Illinois State University

 

In this study, we investigated student difficulties reading standard equipotential diagrams and the effect a visual modification to these diagrams had on students’ ability to correctly interpret these diagrams. Equipotential diagrams are often drawn with a uniform color and thickness to each equipotential line. We modified these diagrams based on theories of visual attention and grounded cognition to use color variation and line thickness to indicate the sign and amount of the potential. Students were randomly assigned to the traditional or modified diagrams and asked to compare electric potentials for indicated points on given diagrams. Results show that these modified diagrams did not affect students' overall response correctness. This, and other findings, clarify the specific issues students have reading equipotential diagrams which is mainly a misconception that charge sign does not affect the electric potential and a distance only rule can be used to find electric potential.

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