Q26

[LenaC504]

Why is B incorrect? There appears to be support for B in lines 36-40 and the first sentence of the final paragraph.

Additionally, while lines 32-33 indicate that a "small, hot, and dense universe" has low entropy, C describes "a hot and dense state." I eliminated C because I did not think I could make inferences about all "hot and dense states" based on claims about a "small, hot, and DENSE universe."

Will someone help me understand how to eliminate B and justify C?

Thank you!

[Laura Damone]

Hi there!

Lines 36-40 attribute the empty space theory to Carroll and Chen. There isn't any indication that our author agrees with their theory, and Q26 asks specifically for what the author presumes to be true. That allows us to eliminate B!

Q26 is also an inference question. This means the author doesn't have to explicitly state the correct answer choice. The right answer can be something that is implied. So let's think about the implications of a hot dense universe having low entropy. If this is the case, could a hot dense state have high entropy? Or medium entropy? Not unless we're told that being a universe somehow overrides the normal relationship between heat, density, and entropy! Therefore, even though the passage was about hot dense universes, it implies that heat and density are correlated with low entropy generally.

Hope this helps!

[JasonH302]

(B) is incorrect for: Although based on the second law of T author infers that our initial universe has to be in a low-entropy state, namely, a cold and empty one, "the multiverse hypothesis" clearly makes a case for the low possibility of having a dense and hot universe. So the author is no longer committed to a cold, empty universe.