ASPECt
Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation
Item RG167002: Stretching a rubber band increases the amount of elastic potential energy because the distance between the molecules that make up the rubber band increases, and intermolecular forces act to restore the molecules to the unstretched distance.
A student stretches a rubber band. How does stretching the rubber band change the amount of elastic potential energy the rubber band has and why?
- Stretching the rubber band decreases the amount of elastic potential energy because the act of stretching releases some potential energy stored in the rubber band.
- Stretching the rubber band decreases the amount of elastic potential energy because the distance between the molecules that make up the rubber band increases, which causes the intermolecular forces to decrease.
- Stretching the rubber band increases the amount of elastic potential energy because the distance between the molecules that make up the rubber band increases, and intermolecular forces act to restore the molecules to the unstretched distance.
- Stretching the rubber band increases the amount of elastic potential energy because elastic potential energy depends only on how much an object is stretched, and the intermolecular forces do not play a role.
- Distribution of Responses
- Students Responding Correctly
| Group | Correct | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2040 | 4384 | 47% |
| Grades | |||
| 4–5 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 6–8 | 1032 | 2238 | 46% |
| 9–12 | 1008 | 2146 | 47% |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 939 | 2038 | 46% |
| Female | 1052 | 2238 | 47% |
| Primary Language | |||
| English | 1866 | 3941 | 47% |
| Other | 123 | 321 | 38% |
- Disciplinary Core Ideas
- PS3.A A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions.
PS3.A These relationships are better understood at the microscopic scale, at which all of the different manifestations of energy can be modeled as a combination of energy associated with the motion of particles and energy associated with the configuration (relative position of the particles). In some cases the relative position energy can be thought of as stored in fields (which mediate interactions between particles). This last concept includes radiation, a phenomenon in which energy stored in fields moves across space.