---
license: other
license_name: utqa25-eval-only
license_link: LICENSE
pretty_name: UTQA Thermodynamics Benchmark
paperswithcode_id: utqa-thermodynamics-benchmark

tags:
  - thermodynamics
  - benchmark
  - multiple-choice
  - education
  - chemistry
  - physics
task_categories:
  - multiple-choice
language:
  - en

# Tell the Viewer exactly which file(s) to display
configs:
  - config_name: default
    default: true
    data_files:
      - split: test
        path: "data.csv"

# (Optional but recommended) Define schema so the Viewer renders image thumbnails
dataset_info:
  features:
    - name: question_number
      dtype: int32
    - name: question
      dtype: string
    - name: option_a
      dtype: string
    - name: option_b
      dtype: string
    - name: option_c
      dtype: string
    - name: option_d
      dtype: string
    - name: image
      dtype: string        # <- this makes the viewer show thumbnails for paths like images/fig01.png
    - name: correct_answer
      dtype: string
    - name: explanation
      dtype: string
    - name: image_explain
      dtype: string
  description: >
    UTQA is a 50-item benchmark on undergraduate-level thermodynamics
    covering state functions, entropy, reversibility, and diagram
    interpretation. Each question is in multiple-choice format with 
    exactly one correct answer, with explanations and
    (optional) figure references.


---
# UTQA: Undergraduate Thermodynamics Question Answering Benchmark

UTQA is a 50-item multiple-choice benchmark designed to evaluate large language models on **undergraduate-level thermodynamics**.  
It consists of single-choice questions (four options, one correct), of which 17 include associated figures.  
The benchmark targets **reasoning about state functions, reversibility, entropy, and diagram interpretation**, rather than simple plug-and-chug calculations.

---

## Dataset Structure

- **Number of items**: 50
- **Format**: CSV table + images folder
- **Columns**:
  - `question_number`: integer identifier
  - `question`: question stem (text)
  - `option_a` – `option_d`: four answer choices
  - `image`: relative path to figure (if applicable; empty otherwise)
  - `correct_answer`: one of {a, b, c, d}
  - `explanation`: text explanation of the solution
  - `image_explain`: additional explanation of the solution using a figure (if applicable)

Images are provided in the `/images/` directory and linked from the `image` column.

---

## Intended Use

UTQA is released as a **benchmark for evaluation** of language models and as a resource for **educators and researchers** studying AI capabilities in unsupervised teaching contexts.  
It is **not** intended for use in pretraining or fine-tuning language models.

### ✅ Allowed
- Model evaluation and benchmarking
- Academic research
- Teaching and educational analysis
- Publication of results with proper citation

### ❌ Not Allowed
- Pretraining or fine-tuning of models on UTQA (in whole or in part)
- Incorporation into larger training corpora
- Commercial use for training or data augmentation

---

## License

This dataset is released under a **Custom Evaluation-Only License** (see `LICENSE`).  
- Free to use for **research, education, and evaluation**.  
- **Training use is prohibited**.  
- Attribution is required in all uses and publications.  

---

## Citation

If you use UTQA in your research, please cite:

Geißler, A., Bien, L.-S., Schöppler, F., & Hertel, T. (2025).  
*From Canonical to Complex: Benchmarking LLM Capabilities in Undergraduate Thermodynamics*.  
arXiv:2508.21452 [physics.ed-ph]. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.21452  

```bibtex
@misc{Geissler2025,
  title        = {From Canonical to Complex: Benchmarking LLM Capabilities in Undergraduate Thermodynamics}, 
  author       = {Anna Geißler and Luca-Sophie Bien and Friedrich Schöppler and Tobias Hertel},
  year         = {2025},
  eprint       = {2508.21452},
  archivePrefix= {arXiv},
  primaryClass = {physics.ed-ph},
  url          = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.21452},
}