LSAT 149 – Section 1 – Question 15

LSAT 149 - Section 1 - Question 15

December 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT149 S1 Q15
+LR
Most strongly supported +MSS
Conditional Reasoning +CondR
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
1%
151
B
1%
152
C
5%
160
D
2%
157
E
90%
163
120
132
146
 +Easiest 143.093 +SubsectionEasier

Physicists attempting to create new kinds of atoms often do so by fusing together two existing atoms. For such fusion to occur, the two atoms must collide with enough energy—that is, at high enough speeds—to overcome the electromagnetic force by which atoms repel each other. But if the energy with which two atoms collide greatly exceeds the minimum required for the fusion to take place, the excess energy will be converted into heat, making the resulting new atom very hot. And the hotter the atom is, the greater the chance that it will immediately split apart again.

Summary
Atoms naturally repel each other. But they can fuse together if they collide with enough energy to overcome this repelling force. If atoms collide with too much energy, however, then after the atoms fuse together, the excess energy will make the new fused atom hot. The hotter a fused atom, the greater the chance it will immediately split apart again.

Strongly Supported Conclusions
In order to fuse two atoms together, but also keep the fused atom from splitting apart again, there’s a certain range of energy that’s required for the collision. (In other words, there’s a certain “Goldilocks” range. The energy can’t be too low, or else the atoms won’t fuse. The energy can’t be too high, or else the atoms will split apart after fusing.)

A
When physicists create new kinds of atoms by fusing together two existing atoms, the new atoms usually split apart again immediately.
Unsupported, because we don’t know the typical level of energy produced when physicists try to fuse atoms together. We have no evidence that the physicists aren’t creating collisions with the right amount of energy to avoid splitting.
B
If a new atom produced by the collision of two other atoms immediately splits apart again, then the collision did not produce enough energy to overcome the electromagnetic force by which atoms repel each other.
This is anti-supported, because in order to fuse together in the first place, the energy of the collision needed to overcome the repelling force.
C
The stronger the electromagnetic force by which two atoms repel each other, the hotter any new atom will be that is created by the fusion of those two atoms.
Unsupported, because we don’t know about the relationship between the repelling force and heat. We know that if the collision produces a lot of energy, that create heat. But we don’t know what happens if the repelling force is greater or lower.
D
Whenever two existing atoms are made to collide and fuse together into a new atom, little energy is produced in the collision unless the new atom immediately splits apart.
Unsupported, because we know there’s a range of energy in which two atoms can fuse and not immediately split apart. This level of energy needs to be enough to overcome the repelling force, and this could be a high level. We don’t have evidence that this is a low amount of energy.
E
If two atoms collide with considerably more energy than is needed for fusion to take place, the new atom will be likely to immediately split apart again.
Supported, because we know that if the energy produced by a collision greatly exceeds the minimum required to fuse, the fused atom will be very hot. The hotter an atom, the more likely it will split. I don’t like the word “likely” here, but it’s the most supported answer.

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LSAT PrepTest 149 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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