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Item NG054003: Energy is transferred electrically from a power plant to a light bulb in a lamp only when the lamp is turned on because energy can be transferred electrically only when there is a complete circuit.

A student plugs a lamp into an electrical outlet in her house. When she turns the light on, a complete circuit is made, and the light bulb in the lamp lights up. When she turns the light off, the circuit is no longer complete and the light bulb goes out. Is energy being transferred electrically from the power plant to the light bulb in the lamp? Why or why not?

  1. No, energy is not transferred electrically to the light bulb from the power plant because energy cannot be transferred over long distances.
  2. No, energy is not transferred electrically to the light bulb from the power plant. The electrical outlet created the energy that the lamp is using.
  3. Yes, but only when the lamp is turned on because energy can be transferred electrically to the light bulb only when there is a complete circuit
  4. Yes, as long as the lamp is plugged in because some energy will be transferred to the light bulb even when the lamp is turned off and the circuit is not complete
Distribution of Responses
Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item EG054003
Scale Score for Item Difficulty
(200[Easy]-800[Difficult])
480
Students Responding Correctly
Group Correct Total Percent
Overall 1844 3563 52%
Grades
  4–527445560%
  6–8 782 1614 48%
  9–12 788 1494 53%
Gender
  Male905174952%
  Female908174652%
Primary Language
  English1648316152%
  Other15131049%

View data table