ASPECt
Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation
Item RG060003: When comparing the a ball dropped down and a ball thrown down, the thrown ball has more energy because it is moving faster.
Two students have soccer balls that are exactly the same. They climb up a slide with the balls. When they get to the top of the slide, one student drops his ball into the sand below, and the other student throws his ball down into the sand below. As the balls are falling, which ball has more energy and why?
- The thrown ball has more energy because it is moving faster.
- The dropped ball has more energy because it is taking a longer time to fall.
- The balls have the same amount of energy because they are the same type of ball.
- The balls have the same amount of energy because they will fall the same distance.
- Distribution of Responses
- Scale Score for Item Difficulty
(200[Easy]-800[Difficult]) - 467
- Students Responding Correctly
| Group | Correct | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 856 | 1378 | 62% |
| Grades | |||
| 4–5 | 171 | 231 | 74% |
| 6–8 | 349 | 590 | 59% |
| 9–12 | 336 | 557 | 60% |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 435 | 682 | 64% |
| Female | 394 | 659 | 60% |
| Primary Language | |||
| English | 755 | 1220 | 62% |
| Other | 73 | 118 | 62% |
- Disciplinary Core Ideas
- PS3.A The faster a given object is moving, the more energy it possesses.