MS-PS3-1: Graphing Kinetic Energy Against Mass and Speed
Also called NGSS MS-PS3-1 · Topic: Energy · Physical Science
The Official Wording
Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a wiffle ball versus a tennis ball.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What MS-PS3-1 Means in Plain English
Middle schoolers make and read graphs that show how an object's kinetic energy, its energy of motion, depends on its mass and on its speed. They graph each factor separately and notice that the two graphs have different shapes.
The relationships stay descriptive, read from graphs. Doubling the mass doubles the kinetic energy, but doubling the speed makes it four times as large, so the speed graph curves upward. This builds on 4-PS3-1 and leads to MS-PS3-2 and HS-PS3-1.
MS-PS3-1 I Can Statements
- I can graph kinetic energy against mass and against speed.
- I can describe how kinetic energy changes when mass doubles.
- I can explain why speed affects kinetic energy more than mass.
MS-PS3-1 Worked Example
A hallway test with sand-filled tin cans that roll off a plank and shove a wooden block.
How do a rolling can's mass and speed change how far it shoves a wooden block?
Set It Up: Three tin cans with lids taped on, filled with sand to 150 g, 300 g and 450 g, a 1 m plank propped on books, a wooden block, a stopwatch and a meter stick.
- Roll each can from the same spot on the plank, so all reach the block at the same speed, and measure the block's slide.150 g: 7 cm, 300 g: 14 cm, 450 g: 21 cm
- Use only the 300 g can, release it from three spots, and time it across 1 m of floor before the block.Speeds of 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 m/s
- Measure the block's slide at each speed.6 cm, 14 cm, 24 cm
- Graph slide distance against mass on one grid and against speed on another.Mass: straight line. Speed: upward curve
Tripling the mass tripled the block's slide, but doubling the speed from 0.8 to 1.6 m/s made it slide four times as far.
Why it works: Kinetic energy grows in step with mass but with the square of speed, so a change in speed changes the shove much more than the same change in mass.
Common Mistakes with MS-PS3-1
Treating speed like mass
“Twice as fast means twice the energy.”
Try this: Doubling speed makes kinetic energy four times as large. Check the speed graph: it curves upward instead of rising in a straight line.
Changing mass and speed together
A heavier can released from a higher spot
Try this: Keep the release spot fixed while changing mass, then use one can while changing the release spot, so each graph shows one factor.
Connecting the dots with a zigzag
A jagged line drawn point to point
Try this: Look for the overall pattern and draw a smooth line or curve through the points, since every measurement has a little error.
Where MS-PS3-1 Fits
Practice MS-PS3-1
Quick Check
- A bike's speed doubles. What happens to its kinetic energy?
- A truck and a car move at the same speed. Which has more kinetic energy?
- Why does a graph of kinetic energy against mass make a straight line?