Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Item EG065002 ~ Student Performance

A student has a glass of water and a block of ice. The water in the glass and the block of ice are made up of the same number of molecules. The average speed of the molecules of the water is greater than the average speed of the molecules of the block of ice. Which has more thermal energy and why?

The water has more thermal energy because frozen things, like ice, do not have thermal energy.
The water has more thermal energy because thermal energy depends on how fast the molecules are moving, and the molecules of the water are moving faster than the molecules of ice.
The ice has more thermal energy because solids, like ice, have more thermal energy than liquids, like water.
The water and the ice have the same amount of thermal energy because thermal energy depends only on the type of molecule that makes up the object, and water and ice are made up of the same type of molecule.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades			Gender		Primary Language
		n = 1615	4–5 n = 0	6–8 n = 826	9–12 n = 789	Male n = 744	Female n = 844	English n = 1414	Other n = 155
A.	The water has more thermal energy because frozen things, like ice, do not have thermal energy.	20%	N/A	21%	18%	19%	20%	19%	21%
B.	The water has more thermal energy because thermal energy depends on how fast the molecules are moving, and the molecules of the water are moving faster than the molecules of ice.	51%	N/A	47%	54%	49%	52%	51%	45%
C.	The ice has more thermal energy because solids, like ice, have more thermal energy than liquids, like water.	17%	N/A	18%	15%	17%	16%	16%	25%
D.	The water and the ice have the same amount of thermal energy because thermal energy depends only on the type of molecule that makes up the object, and water and ice are made up of the same type of molecule.	13%	N/A	14%	12%	15%	12%	13%	10%

Science Assessment

Item EG065002: Water has more thermal energy than ice because the thermal energy of a substance depends on how fast the molecules that substance are moving, and the molecules of water are moving faster than the molecules of ice.