PT152.S3.P4.Q26

PrepTest 152 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 26

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P1

Physicists posit that at first our universe was infinitesimally small and infinitely hot and dense. ██ ████ █████████ █ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████ ███████ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ █████

Intro topic · Big Bang
Expansion from small, dense, hot universe to larger, cooler universe
P2

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C and C's hypothesis · Big Bang is a recurring event
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Support for hypothesis · Multiverse theory
Earlier Big Bangs have occurred outside of the known universe
P3

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Introduce entropy · Idea that disorder increases over time
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Illustration of entropy · Randomly moving objects in room
Room will tend toward disorder each time an object is moved
P4

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Relevance of entropy to Big Bang · Raises questions about pre-Big Bang universe
If the universe tends toward disorder, how did it ever reach its starting state as small and dense in the first place? Seems too orderly, not random
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C and C's hypothesis · Most likely starting state for universe is empty space
In other words, it's unlikely that the universe would have started as small and dense purely by chance
P5

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G and V's hypothesis · Seemingly empty space can create tiny big bangs
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C and C's hypothesis · Our Big Bang is was a kind of "tiny big bang" in an even larger multiverse
P6

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Significance of hypothesis · Reconciles Big Bang theory with entropy
The larger multiverse can be disordered, random, and full of empty space while still containing pockets of matter and energy for big bangs
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
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26.

It can be inferred from ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ██ █████

a

The multiverse originated ██ █ ███ █████

Unsupported. The author reports that some physicists have suggested that the Big Bang that started our universe did not start the multiverse as a whole. It could be the case that some other big bang started the multiverse, but the passage doesn’t give any information to support this possibility, so (A) is unsupported.

9%
b

The initial state ██ ███ ████████ █████████ █████ █████ ██████

Anti-supported. The cold, empty space is, according to Carroll and Chen, what one might expect to be the initial state of our universe, considering the second law of thermodynamics. Carroll and Chen’s theory goes on to show how the actual initial condition of the universe (small, hot, and dense) isn’t actually unexpected. The author accepts that the initial state of our universe was small, hot, and dense; Carroll and Chen’s innovation was to reconcile this small, hot, dense initial state with the second law of thermodynamics

28%
c

A hot and █████ █████ ██ █ █████ ██ ███ ████████

This is supported in P4. Here, we see that the referential phrase “such a low entropy universe” refers back to the “small, hot, and dense universe” mentioned in the previous sentence; because of this, we can infer that the author assumes that a hot and dense state is a state of low entropy.

46%
d

The multiverse is ████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ ██ ████████████

Unsupported. The author cites the view of some physicists who claim that our universe is part of a larger multiverse, but nothing in the passage indicates that our multiverse is part of a larger system of multiverses.

10%
e

The second law ██ ██████████████ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████ █ ████████ █████ █████

Unsupported. We know that the second law of thermodynamics explains the flow of time, but we don’t know if this law was formulated to answer a question about time. We don’t know why the second law of thermodynamics was formulated, so (E) is unsupported.

7%

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