ACT Science Practice Test: Mixed Practice
- Data, Experiments and Viewpoints
- 12 questions
- 12 minutes
Two sets of six questions, as on the ACT Science section: a research summary with three experiments and tables, then a passage in which three students explain the same observation differently. For the viewpoints passage, note what each student claims before you read the questions.
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Question 1
Passage I
Students studied how high a solid rubber ball bounces. In each trial the ball was dropped from rest, and the bounce height was the greatest height its bottom reached after the first bounce. Each trial was done 5 times, and the tables give the average results.
Experiment 1
The ball, at 20°C, was dropped onto a wooden floor from 5 different heights.
Table 1 Drop height (cm) Bounce height (cm) 50 38 100 76 150 113 200 151 250 189 Experiment 2
The ball, at 20°C, was dropped from 100 cm onto 5 different surfaces.
Table 2 Surface Bounce height (cm) Concrete 81 Wood 76 Carpet 52 Foam mat 23 Sand 9 Experiment 3
The ball was kept in a water bath at a set temperature for 30 minutes, dried, and then dropped from 100 cm onto the wooden floor.
Table 3 Ball temperature (°C) Bounce height (cm) 0 61 10 69 20 76 30 81 40 84 Based on Experiment 1, if the ball had been dropped from 175 cm, its bounce height would most likely have been closest to:
Correct answer: B
175 cm is halfway between 150 cm and 200 cm, so the bounce height should be about halfway between 113 cm and 151 cm, which is 132 cm. A bounce of 175 cm would mean the ball lost no energy, which never happens in Table 1.
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Question 2
Passage I (see above):
Which variable was changed in Experiment 1 but kept the same in Experiment 2?
Correct answer: C
Experiment 1 used 5 drop heights, while every trial in Experiment 2 used 100 cm. The surface was changed only in Experiment 2, the ball temperature was 20°C in both, and the bounce height was the measured result.
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Question 3
Passage I (see above):
If the pattern in Table 1 continues, a drop from 300 cm onto the wooden floor would most likely give a bounce height closest to:
Correct answer: A
In Table 1 the bounce height is always about 0.76 of the drop height and rises by about 38 cm for every 50 cm of drop height, so 189 + 38 = 227 cm. The value 189 cm is the result for 250 cm, and 300 cm would mean a perfect bounce.
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Question 4
Passage I (see above):
In Experiment 2, on which surface was the bounce height closest to one-fourth of the drop height?
Correct answer: D
One-fourth of the 100 cm drop height is 25 cm, and the foam mat gave 23 cm. Carpet gave 52 cm, about one-half, and sand (9 cm) is much less than one-fourth.
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Question 5
Passage I (see above):
According to Table 3, as the ball temperature increased from 0°C to 40°C, the bounce height:
Correct answer: C
The bounce heights 61, 69, 76, 81 and 84 cm rise at every step, but the increases are 8, 7, 5 and 3 cm, so they get smaller. The data never decrease.
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Question 6
Passage I (see above):
Suppose the ball, after 30 minutes in a 40°C water bath, were dropped onto the wooden floor from 200 cm. Based on Experiments 1 and 3, its bounce height would most likely be:
Correct answer: B
At 20°C a 200 cm drop gave 151 cm. Experiment 3 shows that a 40°C ball bounces higher than a 20°C ball (84 cm instead of 76 cm from 100 cm), so the bounce should be above 151 cm, about 0.84 × 200 = 168 cm. A ball cannot bounce higher than the 200 cm it was dropped from.
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Question 7
Passage II
A metal spoon and a wooden spoon have been lying on the same kitchen table for several hours at a room temperature of 21°C. When a person picks up both spoons, the metal spoon feels colder. Three students explain why.
Student 1
The metal spoon really is at a lower temperature than the wooden spoon. Metal objects lose heat to the surrounding air faster than wooden objects do, so the metal spoon cools to a temperature below room temperature and stays there.
Student 2
Both spoons are at room temperature. Skin is warmer than room temperature, so heat flows from the hand into each spoon. Metal conducts heat much faster than wood, so the metal spoon draws heat away from the skin faster. Skin senses how fast it is losing heat, not the temperature of the object it touches, so the metal spoon feels colder.
Student 3
Both spoons are at room temperature. Metal has a higher specific heat than wood, meaning each gram of metal must absorb more heat than a gram of wood to warm by 1°C. The metal spoon therefore keeps absorbing heat from the hand for longer, so it feels colder.
Which of the students claimed that the two spoons are at the same temperature?
Correct answer: A
Students 2 and 3 both begin with "Both spoons are at room temperature." Student 1 claims the metal spoon is actually colder than the wooden one.
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Question 8
Passage II (see above):
A thermometer probe held against each spoon reads 21.0°C for both, the same as the air. This result is inconsistent with the explanation(s) of:
Correct answer: D
Only Student 1 says the metal spoon is below room temperature; equal readings at 21.0°C contradict that claim. Students 2 and 3 both predict that the spoons are at room temperature, so the measurement agrees with them.
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Question 9
Passage II (see above):
According to Student 2, the metal spoon feels colder mainly because metal:
Correct answer: B
Student 2 says metal conducts heat much faster, so it draws heat from the skin faster, and skin senses that rate. The specific heat idea belongs to Student 3, and losing heat to the air is Student 1's argument.
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Question 10
Passage II (see above):
Suppose both spoons were left for an hour in an oven at 60°C, which is warmer than skin, and then touched briefly. Student 2 would most likely predict that:
Correct answer: C
Now heat flows from each spoon into the skin, and by Student 2's reasoning metal moves that heat faster, so the skin warms faster when it touches the metal spoon and the metal feels hotter. Student 2 would not expect equal sensations, because the rate of heat flow still differs.
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Question 11
Passage II (see above):
The specific heat of stainless steel is about 0.5 J/(g·°C), and that of dry wood is about 1.7 J/(g·°C). This information most directly weakens the explanation of:
Correct answer: D
Student 3's argument rests on metal having a higher specific heat than wood, but these values show the opposite: steel's specific heat is much lower. Students 1 and 2 do not mention specific heat.
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Question 12
Passage II (see above):
Students 1 and 2 would most likely both agree that, when the person picks up the metal spoon:
Correct answer: A
Student 1 says the spoon is below room temperature and Student 2 says it is at room temperature, but in both cases the warmer hand loses heat to the spoon. Being at air temperature is only Student 2's claim, being colder than the air is only Student 1's claim, and specific heat is Student 3's idea.
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