An example of a teaching analogy:
"When a beam of low frequency, low energy light is directed onto a metal surface, it will reflect off with no effect upon the metal. If many light sources of the same frequency are used, there is still no effect on the metal. An analogy would be that if you shoot at a person in a suit of armour using either a single BB gun or many BB guns at once, the person inside the armor will not be affected.
If light of higher frequency and energy from only a single source is used, then this greater amount of energy may be absorbed and cause electrons to be promoted and ejected. Similarly, if the BB gun is replaced by a more powerful rifle, then it would only take one shot to pierce the armour and hurt the person inside."
Previously posted at scienceanalogies.com by retired science teacher Murray Hart – original source: McCullough, Thomas Simple Analogies in General Chemistry Journal of Chemical Education July 1992, 69(7), 543.
Read examples of scientific analogies
Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
