LSAT 137 – Section 3 – Question 10

LSAT 137 - Section 3 - Question 10

October 2012

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Request new explanation

Target time: 1:35

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT137 S3 Q10
+LR
+Exp
Most strongly supported +MSS
A
4%
158
B
2%
156
C
87%
165
D
2%
153
E
4%
158
136
145
154
 +Medium 146.416 +SubsectionMedium

A ring of gas emitting X-rays flickering 450 times per second has been observed in a stable orbit around a black hole. In light of certain widely accepted physical theories, that rate of flickering can best be explained if the ring of gas has a radius of 49 kilometers. But the gas ring could not maintain an orbit so close to a black hole unless the black hole was spinning.

Summary

Scientists have seen a ring of gas that maintains a stable orbit around a black hole. The gas ring emits X-rays that flicker 450 times per second. This flickering speed suggests that the gas ring has a radius of 49 kilometers, meaning that it is very close to the black hole. However, for the gas ring to maintain its orbit so close to the black hole, the black hole itself must be spinning.

Strongly Supported Conclusions

In some conditions, gas can orbit black holes at a close distance.

The black hole is spinning.

A
Black holes that have orbiting rings of gas with radii greater than 49 kilometers are usually stationary.

This is unsupported. We know only that black holes that have orbiting rings of gas with radii of 49 kilometers must be spinning. We do not know the conditions of black holes that have orbiting rings of gas with radii greater than 49 kilometers.

B
Only rings of gas that are in stable orbits around black holes emit flickering X-rays.

This is unsupported. The stimulus only tells us about this particular ring of gas. We do not have any information about the emissions of any other rings of gas.

C
The black hole that is within the ring of gas observed by the astronomers is spinning.

This is strongly supported. We know that the gas ring has been observed in a stable orbit very close to the black hole. Because the ring can only maintain such a close orbit if the black hole is spinning, we can conclude that the black hole is spinning.

D
X-rays emitted by rings of gas orbiting black holes cause those black holes to spin.

This is unsupported. The stimulus tells us that the black hole must be spinning based on the observed facts of the gas ring. However, it does not tell us what causes the black hole to spin.

E
A black hole is stationary only if it is orbited by a ring of gas with a radius of more than 49 kilometers.

This is unsupported. We know only that a black hole orbited by a gas ring with a radius of 49 kilometers must not be stationary. We do not know the conditions required for a black hole to be stationary.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 137 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply