An historical example of a common form of misconception
"…sound will advance … in the time of one second, 979 feet.
But in this computation no account is taken of the thickness of the solid particles of air, a thickness trough which sound is of course propagated instantaneously. … the diameter of a particle of air will be to the distance between the centres of the particles roughly as 1 to 9 or 10, and to the distance between the particles as to 1 to 8 or 9. Accordingly, to the 979 feet which sound will travel in the time of 1 second according to the above calculation, 979/9 feet or roughly 109 feet may be added, because of the density of the particles of air; and thus sound will travel roughly 1,088 feet in the time of one second."
Isaac Newton (1999) Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (3rd edition, 1726): The authoritative translation (I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman), University of California Press
The result here (c.332 ms-1) is impressive. However Newton refers to the particles of air as 'solid' when the molecules themselves cannot be sensibly described in terms of macroscopic states of matter. Newton appears to have a mental model of sound travelling between, and then passing through, the molecules. When Newton was writing this was understandable, but today learners commonly make similar mistakes in transferring properties or qualities that apply to the macroscopic level to the molecular level models where different properties and qualities apply.
Read about the nature of alternative conceptions
Read about some examples of science misconceptions
Read about historical scientific conceptions
Read about macro-micro confusions
