Although analogies are commonly used in Science textbooks, studies on textbooks used in undergraduate courses are unusual. Taking this into account, this paper presents an analysis on the analogies found in General Chemistry textbooks, aiming to establish a parallel with studies whose focus was on high school textbooks. After reading the textbooks, 212 analogies were identified. They were classified according to a system of categories adapted from studies present at the literature. Undergraduates' textbooks presented more analogies than high school textbooks, differences in analogical relation and a minor presence of illustrative analogies. This work also discusses directions for an adequate use of some analogies, as well as aspects related to the teachers role.
Analogies; textbooks; general chemistry.