According to the Laws of Physics, Energy and Mass are the Same Things GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

According to the laws of physics, energy and mass are the same things in two different forms. It is also known that when equal amounts of matter and antimatter (the two known types of mass) collide, they annihilate each other, converting the entire mass into energy (typically in the form of radiation). The process might sound as simple as bringing two objects together. However, it is extremely difficult to find antimatter in the known universe. As a matter of fact, anything and everything that we perceive around us is all ‘matter’. There is no antimatter around us and its absence is for our own good – else, we would be experiencing random explosions around us as matter and antimatter come close together. However, this observation has posed a much more interesting question to physicists.

Considering that the universe must have started out of an explosion – the big bang explosion – from which huge amounts of energy were released, energy that subsequently gave birth to the mass that we know, there must be matter and antimatter in equal amounts in the universe. However, physicists have failed to identify the natural presence of antimatter anywhere in the observable universe. Antimatter can be created artificially in particle colliders, such as the CERN at Geneva, albeit in extremely small amounts – in the order of nanograms. However, the fact that we can create antimatter artificially does not explain its absence at such a humongous scale: the entire mass in the observable universe is estimated to be around 3x10 kilograms and all of this mass is composed of ‘matter’ – not even a gram of ‘antimatter’ to be found. This huge discrepancy has made physicists question constantly – ‘where is all the antimatter?’. This discrepancy is also termed as the ‘Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem’ (M-AAP).

The mere existence of this M-AAP indicates that matter and antimatter are not quite mirrored images of each other contrary to the earlier prediction by particle physicists. Clearly, there must be something different about antimatter (as compared to matter) for it to escape the prying eyes of humans for so long. One idea put forward by the physicists at CERN is that maybe antimatter reacts to gravity differently than normal matter does: matter, as we know, is attracted by gravitational force, whereas antimatter, these physicists say, is, maybe, repelled by gravitational force. In other words, since the matter is attracted by gravitational force, all the observable mass around us – galaxy clusters, the stars, and planets within them – is comprised of matter while antimatter could have been ~ung to the farthest ends of the universe – the parts of the universe that are far beyond the portion observable to us within our current technological limitations. In fact, the boundaries of the universe could be lined with antimatter, these physicists ponder. This idea, if true, can explain why we haven’t been able to detect antimatter as it is too far away for us to detect anything and therefore can provide a solution to the elusive M-AAP.

“According to the Laws of Physics, Energy and Mass are the Same Things” is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates must have a solid grip on English GMAT reading comprehension. There are 4 multiple-choice questions in the above GMAT Reading Comprehension passages. GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions are delineated to evaluate candidates’ abilities to analyze and be conceptual for the answers. Candidates can brace up and take preparation by answering GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation:

1. What is the main point of the passage?

1. To detail a certain discrepancy and elaborate a possible explanation for the same
2. To describe the different types of mass present in the universe
3. To describe the efforts put in by physicists to solve a certain problem
4. To point out that all objects known to man are made of a certain type of mass
5. To highlight a question faced by physicists and present an irrefutable answer to the same

2. Which of the following regarding ‘matter and antimatter’ cannot be inferred from the passage?

1. Their union can create an explosion.
2. When they unite in equal amounts, the entire mass is converted to energy.
3. When they unite in equal amounts, matter and antimatter annihilate each other.
4. In the observable universe, the amount of detected antimatter is not commensurate to that of detected matter.
5. Matter must have been produced in larger quantities than the antimatter in the universe.

3. Which of the following can be attributed as a possible explanation for M-AAP, according to the passage?

1. The fact that matter and antimatter must be produced in equal amounts
2. The fact that matter is present more in the observable universe
3. A possible difference between the characteristics of matter and that of antimatter
4. A possible reaction between matter and antimatter during the big bang explosion
5. The fact that antimatter can be produced artificially in particle-colliders

4. Which of the following was a belief held by particle physicists but had to be discarded after M-AAP surfaced?

1. Matter and antimatter are mirror images of each other.
2. Energy and mass are the same thing in two different forms.
3. There is no antimatter around us.
4. Gravity has a different effect on antimatter.
5. Antimatter is repelled by gravitational force.

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