ACT Science : ACT Science

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Science

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Chemistry

An experiment was carried out measuring the boiling point and freezing point of an unknown organic liquid (Sample X) with varying levels of salt dissolved within it. The experiment was conducted in the following manner:

First, the experimenter measured the boiling point and freezing point of Sample X. 

Next, a known quantity of salt was dissolved into the sample and then the boiling point and freezing points were measured again. 

The results of the experiment are outlined in the table below:

Table1

What would we predict the melting point of Sample X to be if the concentration of salt in it were 50 mg/L?

Possible Answers:

More information is necessary. 

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If we look at the chart, we see that every time the concentration of the salt is increased by 10 mg/L, the melting point temperature decreases by . Therefore, we can easily extrapolate from the chart's information and predict that the melting point temperature will decrease by  from the normal melting point of Sample X and therefore be around .

Example Question #22 : Chemistry

An experiment was carried out measuring the boiling point and freezing point of an unknown organic liquid (Sample X) with varying levels of salt dissolved within it. The experiment was conducted in the following manner:

First, the experimenter measured the boiling point and freezing point of Sample X. 

Next, a known quantity of salt was dissolved into the sample and then the boiling point and freezing points were measured again. 

The results of the experiment are outlined in the table below:

Table1

What is the normal freezing point of Sample X?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This question is straightforward. The trick is to interpret correctly what the question means by "normal freezing point." We can presume that this means the freezing point of Sample X without any salt added, as this would mean that Sample X is in its normal state. Therefore, the answer is simply , as indicated on the table.

Example Question #711 : Act Science

An experiment was carried out measuring the boiling point and freezing point of an unknown organic liquid (Sample X) with varying levels of salt dissolved within it. The experiment was conducted in the following manner:

First, the experimenter measured the boiling point and freezing point of Sample X. 

Next, a known quantity of salt was dissolved into the sample and then the boiling point and freezing points were measured again. 

The results of the experiment are outlined in the table below:

Table1

What would we predict the boiling point of Sample X to be if the concentration of salt within it were 210 mg/L?

Possible Answers:

More information is necessary to do this calculation.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This question may be intimidating because at face value, it appears to require some sort of equation; however, if we look at the trend in the chart provided, it comes down to interpreting the apparent relationship and extrapolating. 

As we can see in the chart, every time the concentration of salt increases by 10 mg/L, the boiling point increases by 1.4 degrees Celsius. This relationship remains consistent at all the given temperatures, so we can reasonably extrapolate. Therefore, if the concentration increases by 100 mg/L, the boiling point increases by . This remains true in the chart. Therefore, if we increase the concentration to 210 mg/L, we know that the boiling point is going to increase from the normal boiling point by  or 29.4 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the answer is , or 63.0 degrees Celsius.

Example Question #712 : Act Science

In studying the effects of adding heat to different substances on each substance's temperature, a researcher conducted the following experiment. The researcher added 1,000 Joules of energy by a controlled heat lamp to four different substances. The temperature change in each substance that was caused by the heat was then measured and recorded. The results of this experiment are shown below.

Table3

The researcher is aware of a concept called specific heat and knows that lead has a lower specific heat than wood, which has a lower specific heat than cardboard, which has a lower specific heat than styrofoam. Therefore, the researcher has ordered the objects in the table from lowest specific heat (lead) to highest (styrofoam).

A new substance, Substance X, is discovered with a specific heat greater than that of cardboard but less than that of styrofoam. What would we expect would happen if we were to add 1,000 Joules of energy to a sample of Substance X assuming the exact same conditions as in the experiment above?

Possible Answers:

Its temperature will increase by around 0.1 degrees Celsius

More information is necessary to make this prediction.

Its temperature will increase by around 5 degrees Celsius

Its temperature will increase by around 3 degrees Celsius

Its temperature will not change.

Correct answer:

Its temperature will increase by around 3 degrees Celsius

Explanation:

The correct answer 3 degrees Celsius because it is the one that falls between the temperature changes observed for cardboard and styrofoam. This is a classic case of extrapolating from data trends and making predictions. Since we know the specific heat is between those of cardboard and styrofoam, we can also assume that the temperature change would be between those two substances' temperature changes as well.

Example Question #32 : Chemistry

The rate of a reaction is defined as the rate at which the products of a reaction are produced. A researcher wants to investigate the rate of reaction of the combustion of theoretical compound . The researcher combusts different amounts of starting material (the theoretical compound and oxygen gas ) and measures how the rate of reaction is affected by changing the amounts of starting material. Because the researcher is concerned about how the conditions of his lab may change, the researcher repeats trial 1. The researcher finds that the results of repeating trial 1 were identical each time.

The results of the experiment are shown in the table below. The brackets ([]) indicate concentration measured in mol/L. 

Rates

According to the data in the table, what is the apparent relationship between the starting concentration of the theoretical compound and the rate of the reaction?

Possible Answers:

Positive and linear

Negative and linear

Negative and non-linear

Positive and non-linear

There is no discernible relationship.

Correct answer:

Positive and non-linear

Explanation:

This question is a little bit tricky because we first need to sort through what is going on between trials 1 and 2. When the researcher doubles the oxygen concentration for trial 2, the rate appears to double exactly. Then, when the oxygen concentration is held steady between trials 2 and 3, doubling the concentration of the theoretical compound results in a rate that is more than double of the rate in trial 2. This should indicate to us that the relationship is not just positive, it is non-linear. Although the question does not ask, the relationship is exponential.

Example Question #713 : Act Science

The rate of a reaction is defined as the rate at which the products of a reaction are produced. A researcher wants to investigate the rate of reaction of the combustion of theoretical compound . The researcher combusts different amounts of starting material (the theoretical compound and oxygen gas ) and measures how the rate of reaction is affected by changing the amounts of starting material. Because the researcher is concerned about how the conditions of his lab may change, the researcher repeats trial 1. The researcher finds that the results of repeating trial 1 were identical each time.

The results of the experiment are shown in the table below. The brackets ([]) indicate concentration measured in mol/L. 

Rates

According to the data, what is the apparent relationship between oxygen concentration and the rate of the reaction?

Possible Answers:

Positive and non-linear

Negative and non-linear

Negative and linear

There is no discernible relationship.

Positive and linear

Correct answer:

Positive and linear

Explanation:

The correct answer is a positive, linear relationship. Although more data would be helpful in order to make this claim with certainty, it would appear that between trials 1 and 2, doubling the oxygen concentration exactly doubled the rate of reaction. This is a positive linear correlation.

Example Question #711 : Act Science

Gases can be described by their average molecular speeds. Gases are made up of huge numbers of molecules which vary greatly in speed. The average speeds of those molecules is related to the mass of the gas particles. For example, a heavy gas will have a much lower average molecular speed than a lighter gas. 

The rate of effusion of a gas is defined as the rate at which a gas in a chamber can escape through a pinhole. A gas molecule with a higher average molecular speed is more likely to exit a pinhole and therefore has a higher rate of effusion. 

Speed

The above diagram is a graph of the different speeds of the molecules of Gas Z and their different frequencies. Higher on the y-axis implies higher frequency while lower implies lower frequency. Which point most likely represents the average speed of Gas Z?

Possible Answers:

Point B

Point C

Point D

Point A

Point B

Correct answer:

Point C

Explanation:

The correct answer is point C. The average is most likely to be closest to the most frequent speed which in this graph is point C.

Example Question #715 : Act Science

Gases can be described by their average molecular speeds. Gases are made up of huge numbers of molecules which vary greatly in speed. The average speeds of those molecules is related to the mass of the gas particles. For example, a heavy gas will have a much lower average molecular speed than a lighter gas. 

The rate of effusion of a gas is defined as the rate at which a gas in a chamber can escape through a pinhole. A gas molecule with a higher average molecular speed is more likely to exit a pinhole and therefore has a higher rate of effusion.

Speed2

The above graph displays the speeds of the molecules of two gases (Gas A and Gas B) and their relative frequencies. Higher on the y-axis corresponds with higher frequency. If we know that Gas A or Gas B could either be hydrogen gas (weight = 1amu) or carbon dioxide (weight = 44amu) what could the identities of the gases be?

Possible Answers:

More information is necessary.

Gas A and Gas B are both carbon dioxide.

Gas A is hydrogen and Gas B is carbon dioxide.

Gas A and Gas B are both hydrogen.

Gas B is hydrogen, and Gas A is carbon dioxide.

Correct answer:

Gas B is hydrogen, and Gas A is carbon dioxide.

Explanation:

The correct answer is that Gas B is hydrogen and Gas A is carbon dioxide. Since carbon dioxide is heavier, we would expect its average speed to be lower than that of hydrogen. If we take the peak of these curves to correspond roughly to the average speed, Gas B shows a higher average speed and is therefore most likely hydrogen.

Example Question #31 : How To Find Data Representation In Chemistry

During digestion, the energy in food is converted to energy the body can use. Scientists use calorimetry experiments to measure the calories, or energy, provided by food when it is digested or burned. 

The relationship used to find the heat transferred energy  is given by , where  is the mass of the material,  is the given specific heat capacity, and  is the change in temperature of the material. 

In this experiment, food was burned over a Bunsen burner under a can of 200 ml of water. The temperature change of the water and mass change of the food can be used to determine the calories in four different food items.

Table 1 shows the values of the change of mass of the food items, the change in temperature of the water and the energy. Table 2 shows the energy to mass ratio of three of those food items.

                                                    Table 1

                                  Roasted Peanut  Peanut    Cracker    Cheese Puff

Water Temp. Initial         23.9 °C           33.2 °C     40.3 °C      53.9 °C

Water Temp. Final           30.0 °C           40.9 °C     55.9 °C      62.8 °C

Food Mass Initial             0.69 g             0.61 g       3.21 g        1.22 g

Food Mass Final               0.38 g             0.21 g       0.91 g        0.48 g

Energy                            1.22 Cal          1.54 Cal     3.12 Cal     1.78 Cal

 

                           Table 2

Sample         Energy to Mass Ratio (Cal/g)

     1                                 1.36

     2                                 3.93

     3                                 2.40

Based on the information in Tables 1 and 2, Sample 2 is most likely which of the following food items?

Possible Answers:

Peanut

Cracker

Cheese puff

Roasted peanut

Correct answer:

Roasted peanut

Explanation:

The roasted peanut is the correct answer. This can be estimated by finding change in mass of the items and dividing the energy by these results.

Example Question #37 : Chemistry

Nanoparticles are fabricated by vigorously mixing the constituent components of the particle in solution. A scientist has four different compositions that she has tested: Composition A, Composition B, Composition C, and Composition D. All of these compositions were observed under similar laboratory conditions using different mixing times. The average particle size for each scenario was recorded in the provided table. 

Act 3

A component used in nanoparticle synthesis is polyethylene glycol, or PEG. It is known that larger concentrations of PEG create nanoparticles with smaller radii. Based on this information, which composition is most likely to contain the largest amount of PEG?

Possible Answers:

Composition C

Composition A

Composition B

It cannot be determined from the information that is given

Composition D

Correct answer:

Composition D

Explanation:

It is not important to know what PEG is exactly; it is important to know that an increase in PEG will cause nanoparticles' radii to decrease in size. Looking at specific mixing times, it can be seen that Composition D always has nanoparticles with smaller radii than the other compositions. Therefore, it can be concluded that Composition D contains the largest amount of PEG.

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