Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Misconception EGM035

Springs or other elastic objects have the same amount of elastic energy regardless of how much they are stretched or compressed (AAAS Project 2061, n.d.).

Items that test for misconception EGM035 in this project (Original Project) and key idea (Elastic potential energy is associa…)
Item ID Number	Item Description	How Often the Misconception was Chosen
EG086001	The elastic energy of an object that is being compressed depends on how much the object is compressed and how difficult it is to compress it.	29%
EG036004	The elastic energy of an object that is being stretched depends on how much the object is stretched and how difficult it is to stretch it.	25%
EG041003	For two identical rubber bands, the rubber band that is stretched more has more elastic energy.	13%
EG035004	The elastic energy of a spring increases when a student compresses it.	13%

Items that test for misconception EGM035 in this project (Original Project) and other key ideas
NG088003	When a student shoots a rubber band across the room, the elastic energy of the rubber band is transformed into motion energy, and the total amount of energy stays the same. (This item uses bar graphs to depict the amount of each kind of energy.)	52%
NG049003	When a spring is used to shoot a cart across the floor, the spring transfers energy to the cart. (This item uses bar graphs to illustrate the amount of elastic energy the spring has and the amount of motion energy the cart has as the cart is rolling across the floor.)	36%
NG078002	After a rubber band is used to shoot a toy car across the floor, the total energy of the system will remain the same because the increase in the motion energy (kinetic energy) of the car is the same as the decrease in the elastic energy of the rubber band.	18%