QUESTION TEXT: Physicists attempting to create new kinds of…
QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported
FACTS:
- Physicists often try to make new atoms by fusing two existing atoms.
- To fuse atoms, you need to collide them at high speeds (meaning high energy). This overcomes the forces that repel atoms.
- But if there’s too much energy, the energy will become heat, and make the new atom hot.
- If the atom is too hot, it has higher odds of splitting.
ANALYSIS: It sounds like you need a lot of energy but not too much. Too little, the atoms won’t join. Too much, they’ll heat up and may split again.
The main difficulty here is the scientific language. On a passage like this, go slow, make sure you understand each term, and see how the parts link together. Redo this question and figure out the meaning of the words from context until you’ve got it. It will help you practice for other questions like it. I also recommend reading the science section of the Economist. It has a similar style: the material isn’t hard, but the terms are. However, they’re designed to be understood by a non-scientist.
___________
- We don’t know this. This would only be true if physicists usually use too much energy. They might instead create exactly the right amount of energy most times.
- Actually, the stimulus only mentioned atoms “immediately splitting apart again” if they have too much energy. If there isn’t energy, the atoms won’t join at all. Immediately splitting apart again implies the atoms briefly joined.
- The stimulus only said heat is produced if the energy used greatly exceeds the amount required. So if forces are strong, but you use just the right amount of energy, no heat is produced.
- Energy isn’t produced in the collision. Energy is used to make the collision happen.
- CORRECT. This follows. It basically joins the final two sentences. Too much energy = heat. Too much heat = immediately split apart. So, too much energy = immediately split apart again.
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