Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Misconception EGM034

Elastic potential energy is the potential for an object to be stretched or compressed. For example, a rubber band has less elastic energy when it is stretched very far than when it is stretched a little bit because it can’t be stretched much more and a rubber band that is stretched a little bit has more elastic energy because it can be stretched a lot more (AAAS Project 2061, n.d.).

Items that test for misconception EGM034 in this project (ASPECt) and key idea (The amount of energy an elastic obj…)
Item ID Number	Item Description	How Often the Misconception was Chosen
RG054003	A spring has more energy if it is compressed more.	18%
RG052003	The more a rubber band is stretched the more energy it has.	15%
RG051003	A rubber band that is stretched more will travel farther when let go than a rubber band that is stretched less because the more a rubber band is stretched the farther it will travel.	13%
RG053003	A spring will jump higher if it is compressed more before letting go.	7%

Items that test for misconception EGM034 in this project (ASPECt) and other key ideas
EG035005	The elastic energy of a spring increases when a student compresses it.	22%
EG044003	For two identical elastic objects, the object that has more elastic energy is stretched more.	18%
EG041004	For two identical rubber bands, the rubber band that is stretched more has more elastic energy.	18%
RG167002	Stretching a rubber band increases the amount of elastic potential energy because the distance between the molecules that make up the rubber band increases, and intermolecular forces act to restore the molecules to the unstretched distance.	17%
EG043005	For two identical springs, the spring that is compressed more has more elastic energy.	15%
RG130002	Stretching a spring increases the elastic potential energy because the distance between the molecules that make up the spring increases, and forces between the molecules act to restore the molecules to their original separation.	14%
RG197001	The stronger the intermolecular forces, the greater the amount of elastic potential energy there is for a given length stretched.	7%
EG040004	For two rubber bands stretched the same amount, the rubber band that was harder to stretch has more elastic energy.	5%