Learners’ mental representations of the particulate nature of gases

This paper aims to describe selected Filipino learners’ mental representations of gas particles affected by temperature, pressure, and diffusion and identify possible alternative conceptions. The study employed a qualitative method that participants were in grade 11 of a local private institution. Results indicated seven mental representations on gas behaviours namely, motion of hot and cold gas (type 1), motion and size of hot and cold gas (type 2), motion and size of hot gas (type 3), motion and size of cold gas (type 4), motion of hot gas (type 5), motion of hot gas and size of cold gas (type 6), and demented (type 7) and were discussed accordingly. Type 1 is the major mental representation for these learners and alternative conceptions were described. The learners have similar alternative conceptions to other studies on bigger hot particles, and some alternative conceptions particular to them: denting hot bottles, same bottle shape in cold gas, uncertain on particle size, increasing or decreasing particle sizes on diffusion. Implications for teaching were discussed.