LSAT 136 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q26

RC Question 26 Explanation

DISCUSSION: A big part of the problem was that scientists never analyzed the results of uranium bombardment experiments.

It was dangerous, and scientists assumed they would just find elements close to uranium. (lines 30-36)

___________

1. This wouldn’t have helped. The physicists’ techniques didn’t assume that bombardment would split the atom.
2. CORRECT. If the physicists hadn’t expected that the by-products would be similar to uranium, then they might have analyzed them earlier and realized they had split atoms.
3. The problem was that physicists hadn’t realized they were splitting atoms. If anything, knowing about the theoretical possibility of splitting atoms would have helped them make this connection.
    
   This answer choice said they would have been better off not knowing fission was possible, which makes no sense.
4. The problem was that every research team made the same errors. Only dumb luck let them discover they had split the atom. More research teams couldn’t have helped much.
5. We have no idea if neutrons could have split substances other than uranium.