Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Item NG074004 ~ Student Performance

Imagine a ball on a track where no energy is transferred between the ball and the track or between the ball and the air around it. The ball starts from rest at the position labeled Start and moves along the track toward the right.

What is the highest position the ball will reach before stopping and going back down the track? Why? (Remember that no energy is transferred between the ball and the track or between the ball and the air around it.)

Position 1. The total amount of energy the ball has will decrease as it moves along the track, and it will not have enough energy to make it over the hill.
Position 2. The total amount of energy the ball has will decrease as it moves along the track, but it will still have enough energy to make it over the hill and reach a position a little lower than the position it started from.
Position 3. The total amount of energy the ball has will not change as it moves along the track, so the ball will reach a position that is the same height as the position it started from.
Position 4. The total amount of energy the ball has will increase as the ball moves along the track, so it will have enough energy to make it over the hill and reach a position a little higher than the position it started from.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades			Gender		Primary Language
		n = 1141	4–5 n = 0	6–8 n = 680	9–12 n = 461	Male n = 503	Female n = 609	English n = 988	Other n = 123
A.	Position 1. The total amount of energy the ball has will decrease as it moves along the track, and it will not have enough energy to make it over the hill.	21%	N/A	23%	19%	19%	23%	21%	24%
B.	Position 2. The total amount of energy the ball has will decrease as it moves along the track, but it will still have enough energy to make it over the hill and reach a position a little lower than the position it started from.	46%	N/A	44%	49%	49%	44%	47%	39%
C.	Position 3. The total amount of energy the ball has will not change as it moves along the track, so the ball will reach a position that is the same height as the position it started from.	23%	N/A	22%	24%	22%	23%	22%	25%
D.	Position 4. The total amount of energy the ball has will increase as the ball moves along the track, so it will have enough energy to make it over the hill and reach a position a little higher than the position it started from.	10%	N/A	11%	8%	10%	10%	10%	11%

Science Assessment

Item NG074004: Assuming that no energy is transferred between a ball and the curved track it is moving in, or between the ball and the air around it, the ball will move to a height equal to the height from which it started.