Q8 - Winds, the movement of gasses

[Laura Damone]

Question Type:
Explain a Result

Stimulus Breakdown:
No argument for this question type, so we just need to understand the facts. Wind happens because of differences in atmospheric temperature. On Earth, the Sun's heat it what controls the temperature of the atmosphere. On Jupiter, the Sun's heat doesn't reach the atmosphere. But, Jupiter has really strong wind.

Answer Anticipation:
Explain a Result questions usually have this pattern: X happens in spite of Y. Your task is to reconcile X and Y. In this question, wind happens on Jupiter in spite of the fact that the Sun isn't causing the atmospheric temperature changes necessary for wind. To reconcile these two things, we should predict some other source for those necessary temperature changes.

Correct answer:
A

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Bingo! An alternative source of atmospheric temperature change that applies to Jupiter but not to Earth.

(B) So what? This doesn't help us figure out why Jupiter is windy.

(C) This might tempt folks because it establishes a correlation between being gaseous and being windy. But that still doesn’t explain why Jupiter is windy despite being too far from the Sun to have Sun-induced atmospheric temperature shifts.

(D) Again, so what? This one doesn't even deal with Jupiter!

(E) If anything, this does the opposite of what we need. It doesn’t explain how Jupiter gets the temperature shifts necessary for wind, and it gives us even more planets that are paradoxical in this way.

Takeaway/Pattern:
So many LSAT questions hinge on alternatives. Whenever you see causal reasoning in a stimulus, even a stimulus without an argument, "could it be something else?" should always be a question on your mind. And when evaluating answer choices, beware the irrelevant comparison (B, C, and D)!

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