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The following statements are false but they are perceived to be true by many people. Scientific hypotheses and theories are subject to revision on the basis of observations, improvements in technology, and continued scrutiny. Inevitably certain "truths" are reconsidered. This is how honest science works. Brief explanations follow each of the FALSE statements and web site links are provided for reinforcement and/or substantiation. For the few items in which there is controversy or clear disagreement, the scientific view is presented.

T. Ansel Toney
Professor of Earth Sciences (retired)
©1990; last revision May, 2007

Most everyone has seen steam.
Physicists define steam as water in the invisible, gaseous state. Water in the gaseous state is called water vapor. We are "seeing" liquid droplets condensed from steam.
Einstein played a "hands-on" roll in the development of nuclear weapons.
He never participated in the Manhattan project which built the first atomic bombs.
Reflection off the ocean surface is what makes the sky blue.
This is a common misconception for some people living near the ocean. The blueness is due to selective scattering of blue light by molecules and very small particles in the air along with our sensitivity to blue light. One would be hard pressed to use this misconception to explain blue skies in Montana!
As you go up in the atmosphere it gets hotter because you are getting closer to the sun.
As a general rule, it gets colder for the first seven miles because we are getting further from the earth's surface which is the lower atmosphere's heat source (via radiation, conduction, convection, and latent heat transfer). Exceptions to that rule in the lower atmosphere are called "temperature (or thermal) inversions."
Sailboats move through the water mainly because they are being pushed by the wind.
There are "points" of sailing where the boat is actually being pulled by the wind due to the lower pressure on the leeward side of the sail. One example of such a "point" is the position called close hauled when the boat is working upwind as closely as it can (which for most boats is about 45 degrees off the wind).
Humid air is denser and heavier than dry air.
If all other variables are equal (e.g., temperature) air abundant in water vapor is less dense and weighs less than dry air. It is a real paradox. This misconception is frequently perpetuated by auto racing enthusiasts who are making some false assumptions.
Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Some radio/television towers, tall buildings, mountain peaks, etc. get hit by lightning over and over again. Incidentally, lightning can be ground to cloud, cloud to ground, and cloud to cloud. Lightning can occur in the absence of clouds. If you have heard of "lightning out of the blue" it does happen that the sky can be blue overhead at the point where lightning strikes the ground because it can travel diagonally out of a cloud for several miles.
If the wind velocity doubles, its force doubles.
If the velocity doubles, the force is four times greater upon a surface being struck at right angles. This relationship between force and velocity applies to many things, including auto accidents, rivers, a boxer's punch, etc.
Pencil marking elements are lead.
The elements are made mostly of graphite (a carbon mineral).
Smoke from the smokestacks near electric power plants contains material from nuclear reactors.
If there is a stack with a power generating unit it will be associated with the burning of a "fossil fuel" such as oil or coal. At Crystal River, on the Gulf Coast in Citrus County, Florida, units 1, 2, 4 and 5 use coal. Unit 3 is a nuclear reactor of the pressurized water type; it has no stack.
Protons and neutrons cannot be further subdivided.
They are believed to be made of smaller particles called "quarks." It is speculated that quarks are made of even smaller particles.
The water in toilets on the other side of the equator swirls down in the opposite direction.
Only if by design - if you were to transport your favorite toilet or sink to Australia the water would rotate in the same direction as it does in the Northern Hemisphere. Reversal demonstrations on cruise ships crossing the equator and in equatorial villages are parlor tricks.
The salt in a water softener's brine tank increases the salt content of the treated water.
Hard water is water with a lot of dissolved calcium and, to a lesser degree, magnesium. Sodium from the salt replaces calcium and magnesium in the water on a one to one exchange. So the salt (sodium chloride) content does not increase but the sodium content does. Very hard water requires, at most, 40 mg of sodium for each 8 ounce glass of water. By contrast, an 8 ounce glass of low fat milk contains about 120 mg of sodium! Typically one slice of bread will contain 100 to 200 mg of sodium!