Abstract:

In the introductory course of microworld physics and subsequently, in the introduction to quantum physics, students become acquainted with new, more abstract and less intuitive ideas about the microworld. As a result of a different view of measurement and the possibility of measuring physical quantities in the microworld, the definition of the state of the physical system changes. It differs from the definition of the state of the classical system. In classical state, it makes sense to ask about the value of any quantity. With this idea, the student enters the introductory course of quantum theory, where such a question may no longer make sense. In a particular quantum state, a quantum system may not have sharply defined values of all quantities. For a student with standard ideas, this fact can cause problems in understanding quantum theory. Correct classical ideas can thus become a source of incorrect ideas in quantum physics - misconceptions. In this paper, we address some such preconceptions arising from classical physics, which may be potential sources of misconceptions in quantum theory. We deal with the issue of wave-corpuscular dualism and superposition of states. In a sample of 56 students from university of technology in Slovakia, we used a test to determine the occurrence of preconceptions concerning the transition from classical physics to the physics of the microworld. The test consisted of 9 closed questions with the possibility of choosing the correct answer, created using a theoretical example of a double slit experiment. Based on the specific answers of students, we identified misconceptions initially rooted in the standard subject of physics. The students showed misconceptions concerning the different view between the classical and quantum wave, the issue of wave-corpuscular dualism and the principle of superposition. The revealing of these misconceptions and their analysis is beneficial in the future teaching process when the emphasis will be placed in those parts of quantum physics in which the given misconceptions occur and arise.

Keywords:

Quantum physics, a quantum state, double slit experiment, misconceptions.