PrepTest 149, Section 1, Question 15
Physicists attempting to create new kinds of atoms(89 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AWhen physicists create(18 more words not shown)
- BIf a new(32 more words not shown)
- CThe stronger the(26 more words not shown)
- DWhenever two existing(26 more words not shown)
- EIf two atoms(24 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Fast enough to stick together, but not so fast that the new atom gets too hot.
That's the balance I'm picturing. The atoms repel one another, a little like magnets pushing apart, so a collision needs enough energy to overcome that resistance. But a lot of energy beyond the required minimum becomes heat, and more heat raises the chance that the new atom immediately breaks apart again.
What we’re looking for
My prediction is a kind of Goldilocks point: enough energy to fuse the atoms without piling on excess heat that makes the result less likely to stay together. We need the most strongly supported answer, so let's see which choice stays within what that description gives us.
Working the answers
- A
We aren't told how often physicists produce an immediate split. Perhaps they usually arrange collisions with energy close to the minimum needed. Describing what happens when there is a large excess doesn't tell us how often their attempts have that excess or fail.
- B
If a new atom formed, the collision did overcome the repulsion that had to be overcome for fusion. Its later splitting doesn't show the initial energy was insufficient. The passage instead gives excess energy and heat as a reason splitting becomes more likely, although it doesn't say every split must have that cause.
- C
The important comparison is energy above the minimum needed for fusion, not the size of that minimum by itself. Stronger repulsion could require more energy, yet a collision could exceed that higher requirement by only a small amount. C doesn't establish how much excess becomes heat, so it can't tell us that the resulting atom must be hotter.
- D
We aren't given a rule that a collision either produces little energy or makes the new atom split immediately. The amount needed for fusion could be substantial, and even increased heat changes the chance of splitting rather than guaranteeing it. D introduces a sharp either-or claim that the passage doesn't support.
- ECorrect
A collision with considerably more energy than required produces a very hot new atom, and greater heat makes immediate splitting more likely. E follows that chain. It doesn't need the full balancing idea I initially predicted; it uses just the excess-energy side of the description. Notice that it says the atom is likely to split, not certain to split.
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