Over the last year, I have studied certain difficulties, that physics teachers and students who are taught how to teach physics in school have with understanding definitions of some very important physical concepts. We must know that knowledge and understanding of physical concepts is necessary to next understand physical laws. Understanding of physical concepts, it’s not only a good conceptual model of it, but also understanding of its definition and its physical sense.
In my contribution I would like to present how physics teachers and students who are taught how to teach physics formulate the definitions of physical concepts which are described by formula X =Y/Z and whether they understand the physical sense of this formula.
In my studies three groups of participants took part: the third year students of chemist – physics or physics – geography college, the fourth year students of physics and physics teachers. In my studies only these students took part who are taught how to teach physics in school.
In my test participants solved four tasks concerning definitions of: density of mass, the strength of a gravitational field, the electrical capacitance and the electrical resistance.