ASPECt
Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation
Item EG088002: When two children who weigh the same are on a teeter-totter, the child who is up has more gravitational potential energy than the child who is down.
A girl and a boy are playing on a teeter-totter (seesaw). They both weigh the same.
While the boy is down and the girl is up, which child has more gravitational potential energy?
- The boy has more gravitational potential energy.
- The girl has more gravitational potential energy.
- They have the same amount of gravitational potential energy.
- They do not have any gravitational potential energy.
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 1238 |
4–5 n = 283 | 6–8 n = 613 |
9–12 n = 342 |
Male n = 578 |
Female n = 632 |
English n = 1081 |
Other n = 130 |
||
| A. | The boy has more gravitational potential energy. | 27% | 43% | 23% | 23% | 29% | 26% | 25% | 40% |
| B. | The girl has more gravitational potential energy. | 52% | 41% | 56% | 54% | 53% | 51% | 54% | 41% |
| C. | They have the same amount of gravitational potential energy. | 17% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 15% | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| D. | They do not have any gravitational potential energy. | 4% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 2% |