ASPECt
Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation
Item RG114002: When two balls collide, a small amount of energy was transferred to the environment as thermal energy.
A student rolls a ball down a ramp toward an identical stationary ball.
He determines that the total energy of the two balls just after the collision is slightly lower than the total energy of the two balls before they collided. Why is the total energy of the two balls lower after the balls collide?
- A small amount of energy was destroyed in the collision.
- A small amount of energy was transferred to the environment as thermal energy.
- The student made an error; the total energy of the two balls should be higher after the collision because the first ball actually gained energy as it rolled down the hill.
- The student made an error; the total energy of the two balls should not change because the amount of energy in a system cannot change.
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 3705 |
4–5 n = 681 | 6–8 n = 1569 |
9–12 n = 1455 |
Male n = 1674 |
Female n = 1926 |
English n = 3306 |
Other n = 274 |
||
| A. | A small amount of energy was destroyed in the collision. | 27% | 29% | 29% | 23% | 26% | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| B. | A small amount of energy was transferred to the environment as thermal energy. | 31% | 29% | 27% | 35% | 32% | 30% | 30% | 35% |
| C. | The student made an error; the total energy of the two balls should be higher after the collision because the first ball actually gained energy as it rolled down the hill. | 30% | 32% | 31% | 29% | 30% | 31% | 31% | 31% |
| D. | The student made an error; the total energy of the two balls should not change because the amount of energy in a system cannot change. | 12% | 9% | 12% | 13% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% |