The Physics Exam Overthinking Trap

The classic physics exam trap in its natural habitat! The problem mentions a charged object in a constant electric potential field, and then asks about the work done when its speed changes.

Here's where students panic and split into three camps on the bell curve:

The clueless ones (left side): "Work equals change in kinetic energy, duh!"

The overthinking geniuses (middle): *sweating profusely* "Wait, there's a charge in an electric field... must calculate electric potential energy... what's the field strength? Is this a trick?!"

The enlightened few (right side): "Total work is just ΔKE because constant potential means zero electric field, so no electric work."

The beauty is that the simplest answer (ΔKE) is correct, but physics students are conditioned to suspect traps everywhere. This is why physicists make terrible dinner guests - we overthink even passing the salt.