Hydraulic Capacitor Analogy

Students have difficulties in physics because of the abstract nature of concepts and principles.1 One of the effective methods for overcoming students' difficulties is the use of analogies to visualize abstract concepts to promote conceptual understanding.2,3 According to Iding,4 analogies are consistent with the tenets of constructivist learning theories, which claim that learners should be actively involved and new concepts should be based on learners' previous experiences. When analogies are used during the teaching-learning process, they may promote students' understanding of abstract science concepts.5 This paper suggests a capacitor analogy that aims to foster students' conceptual understanding of capacitors in a slightly different way than Greenslade's analogy.6