Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Item NG047004 ~ Student Performance

The temperature of a clay ball is 80ºF and the temperature of the water in a bucket is 50ºF. A student places the clay ball into the bucket of water. Which of the following describes how thermal energy is transferred between the ball and the water?

Thermal energy is transferred from the ball to the water until they are both at 55ºF.
Thermal energy is transferred from the water to the ball until they are both at 55ºF.
Thermal energy is transferred from the water to the ball until the ball is at 50ºF and the water is at 80ºF.
No thermal energy would be transferred between the ball and the water, so the ball will stay at 80ºF and the water will stay at 50ºF.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice	Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
	n = 2923	6–8 n = 1807	9–12 n = 1107	Male n = 1445	Female n = 1424	English n = 2655	Other n = 200
A.	43%	39%	49%	43%	43%	44%	34%
B.	27%	30%	23%	27%	27%	27%	27%
C.	18%	18%	17%	19%	17%	17%	23%
D.	12%	13%	11%	11%	13%	11%	17%

Science Assessment

Item NG047004: When a ball that is 80ºF is placed in a bucket of water that is 50ºF, thermal energy is transferred from the ball to the water until they are both at the same temperature.