Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Item NG017004 ~ Student Performance

A ball, starting from rest at Position 1, rolls down and then up a curved track towards Position 5. The ball speeds up as it rolls from Position 1 to Position 3, and it slows down as it rolls from Position 3 to Position 5. When it reaches Position 5, it rolls back down the track.

When is the kinetic energy (motion energy) of the ball being transformed into gravitational potential energy?

Only when the ball rolls from Position 1 to Position 3
Only when the ball rolls from Position 3 to Position 5
The entire time the ball is rolling from Position 1 to Position 5
It is not being transformed at any time because kinetic energy (motion energy) cannot be transformed into gravitational potential energy.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice	Overall	Grades			Gender		Primary Language
	n = 1204	4–5 n = 233	6–8 n = 626	9–12 n = 345	Male n = 543	Female n = 626	English n = 1057	Other n = 115
A.	25%	26%	25%	24%	24%	25%	25%	26%
B.	34%	35%	33%	37%	33%	35%	35%	30%
C.	29%	24%	31%	28%	30%	29%	29%	31%
D.	12%	15%	11%	12%	13%	11%	12%	13%

Science Assessment

Item NG017004: The motion energy of a ball rolling back and forth in a curved track is converted to gravitational potential energy only when it is rolling uphill.