Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Misconception EGM043

The gravitational potential energy of an object depends only on the mass/weight of the object, not its height above the ground (AAAS Project 2061, n.d.).

Items that test for misconception EGM043 in this project (ASPECt) and key idea ()
Item ID Number	Item Description	How Often the Misconception was Chosen
RG042003	The gravitational potential energy of a system of two objects can be increased by pulling them farther apart.	29%
RG179001	The gravitational potential energy of a falling rock at 50 meters is half of the gravitational potential energy at 100 meters because the amount of gravitational potential energy an object has is directly proportional to the height the object is above the ground.	23%
EG089001	Two apples hanging from a tree will have different amounts of gravitational potential energy if one is hanging higher in the tree than the other.	18%
RG046003	The amount of gravitational potential energy in a system containing a rocket and the earth can be determined from the distance between the rocket and the earth, the mass of the rocket, and the mass of the earth.	16%
RG049003	A rock on the higher post is more likely to break when it falls than a rock on a lower post because the rock on the higher post is farther from the ground.	8%