PrepTest 151, Section 3, Question 8
Winds, the movement of gases in the atmosphere(57 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- AUnlike Earth, Jupiter's(9 more words not shown)
- BJupiter's atmosphere is(14 more words not shown)
- CGaseous planets such(13 more words not shown)
- DThere are more(17 more words not shown)
- EPlanets even farther(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The Sun isn't the only possible source of heat.
The passage ties winds to differences in atmospheric temperature. Earth's winds get their driving heat from the Sun, but we're told sunlight doesn't significantly affect Jupiter's atmospheric temperature. That rules out using the same explanation there. It doesn't rule out every explanation for temperature differences.
What we’re looking for
Before concluding Jupiter should have no wind, I'd ask what else might supply heat. Perhaps something within the planet could do it; volcanic heat is one possibility to imagine, not a fact we've been given about Jupiter. Since the planet has powerful winds, the missing heat source is what I'd look for when asked to explain the apparent puzzle.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Jupiter has an internal heat source that warms its atmosphere. That supplies an alternative to the Sun and gives us a way to account for the atmospheric temperature differences that produce winds. We don't need sunlight to be important at Jupiter if the planet itself supplies heat. A explains how powerful winds can coexist with the stated lack of significant solar heating.
- B
A different mixture of gases doesn't by itself identify a heat source or explain how temperature differences arise. Perhaps the composition matters in some further way, but B doesn't give that connection. We shouldn't invent an effect of those gases just because their presence distinguishes Jupiter from Earth.
- C
This broadens the observation: gaseous planets sometimes have stronger winds than rocky ones. It doesn't explain what drives those winds when the Sun can't supply significant heat. Describing another version of the pattern isn't the same as accounting for it.
- D
Counting planets with stronger or weaker winds tells us Earth's place in a comparison. It doesn't tell us why Jupiter has winds despite its distance from the Sun. The puzzle would remain regardless of which group contained more planets.
- E
This shows that the pattern extends even farther from the Sun. But how do those planets generate the temperature differences behind their winds? E gives us additional cases to explain without supplying the missing mechanism. A actually provides another source of heat.
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