Science Assessment ~ Items ~ RG145002

An inventor has an idea to have a light bulb power itself. She finds a light panel, which is a device that absorbs light and uses that light to produce electricity. She connects the light bulb to the light panel in a complete circuit. She turns the other lights in the room off so that the light bulb is the only source of light.

Her idea is that the light panel will capture light from the light bulb and produce electricity to keep the light bulb lit. Will her idea work?

Yes, but only if she uses a separate power source to begin the process because all processes require an input of energy to start
Yes, but only if the panel completely surrounds the light bulb so that the panel can absorb all of the light given off by the bulb
No, some energy will be transferred to the surrounding environment, and that energy will no longer be available to be used by the light bulb or panel.
No, some energy will be destroyed during the process, so there will eventually not be enough energy for the light bulb to work.

Details
Performance
NGSS

Topic
Correct Answer: C
Misconceptions

Distribution of Responses

Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item 145002

Scale Score for Item Difficulty (200[Easy]-800[Difficult]): 535

Students Responding Correctly

Group	Correct	Total	Percent
Overall	1089	4296	25%
Grades
4–5	140	791	18%
6–8	373	1770	21%
9–12	576	1735	33%
Gender
Male	522	1923	27%
Female	536	2242	24%
Primary Language
English	970	3843	25%
Other	83	307	27%

View data table

Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS3.D Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms--for example, to thermal energy in the surrounding environment.
NRC Framework: When machines or animals “use” energy (e.g., to move around), most often the energy is transferred to heat the surrounding environment.

Science Assessment

Item RG145002: A device cannot power itself because some energy will be transferred to the surrounding environment, and that energy will no longer be available to be used by the device.