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Acids and Bases: The Appropriation of The Arrhenius Model by Tunisian Grade 10 Students

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Abstract

In this work, we propose to identify the knowledge that Tunisian grade 10 students build up concerning acids and bases. Thus, after learning, we have proceeded by giving a paper and pencil task to students of two levels of teaching. The results obtained allow us to say that the assimilated knowledge is transitory; that the students have a worse perception of the base than of the acid concept and these two concepts are independent; that they associate the acid or base strength to its concentration; that the pH is far from being a “tool” of estimation of the degree of acidity; and that the students have difficulty in linking the empirical and the models’ registers. Moreover, some alternative conceptions that can be harmful to the learning of Brønsted’s model appear.

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Correspondence to Alain Dumon.

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Ouertatani, L., Dumon, A., Trabelsi, M.A. et al. Acids and Bases: The Appropriation of The Arrhenius Model by Tunisian Grade 10 Students. Int J Sci Math Educ 5, 483–506 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-006-9049-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-006-9049-4

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