A Study on Junior High School Students’ Misconceptions in Density, Mass and Volume

This paper is a study on junior high school students' misconceptions about the density and related concepts. Density which is related to the concepts of mass and volume often confused with them. These concepts are introduced in the seventh grade textbook. Teachers are often in trouble with teaching of density concept and explaining the difference of mass and density. In addition, students usually complain that they could not understand the concept of density well. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of misconceptions of seventh and eighth grade students about the concept of mass and volume as well as density. In order to collect information, a questionnaire with 4 multiple choice questions was used. Students' answers were analyzed to assess their understanding and to extract possible misconceptions. Based on the results, most of the students in both seventh and eighth grades have a misunderstanding about the concept of density.