Problem: I have a new situation: Rob was in his chemistry lab, experimenting with different states of matter. He had a liquid substance that he labeled as state A. He then transformed half of the liquid substance to gaseous state. He labeled it as state B. Finally, he froze the remaining half of the liquid to solid state. He labeled it as state C. But I can use this background: There are many examples in the chemical world of changes in entropy. Phase transitions are one obvious example. When a substance makes a transition from the liquid state to the gaseous state, the particles have many more possible arrangements, because they are no longer confined to a specified volume in which they are close to each other; gas particles can move freely throughout their container. Vaporization represents an increase in entropy. In the opposite direction, a liquid loses entropy when it freezes to a solid. Because solids have very ordered structures, there are fewer possible arrangements of particles that would result in the properties associated with a solid. What is an answer for this question: Which does not represent an increase in entropy, state A or state B?

A: state A

Problem: I have a new situation: Keith has four plants in his backyard, plant A, plant B, plant C, and plant D. Plant A is very large, but plant B is smaller. Plant C and D are the same size. He applied some gibberellins to plant C, but didn't apply anything to plant D. He got curious about why some plants are bigger, while others are not. But I can use this background: Gibberellins are hormones that cause the plant to grow. When gibberellins are applied to plants by scientists, the stems grow longer. Some gardeners or horticulture scientists add gibberellins to increase the growth of plants. Dwarf plants (small plants), on the other hand, have low levels of gibberellins ( Figure below ). Another function of gibberellins is to stop dormancy (resting time) of seeds and buds. Gibberellins signal that it's time for a seed to germinate (sprout) or for a bud to open. What is an answer for this question: Which plant would have higher levels of gibberellins, plant A or plant B?

A: plant A

Problem: I have a new situation: Greg and Paul were two neighbors. They were both into mycology. Greg researched AM fungi, while Paul studied other types of mycorrhizal fungi. But I can use this background: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi vary across many environmental gradients. Their tolerance to freezing and drying is known to shift between AM fungal taxa. AM fungi become less prevalent and diverse at higher soil nutrient and moisture concentrations, presumably because both plants allocate less carbon to AM fungi and AM fungi reallocate their resources to intraradical hyphae in these environmental conditions. Over the long term, these environmental conditions can even create local adaptation between plant hosts, AM fungi and the local soil nutrient concentrations. What is an answer for this question: Which researcher learned more about the prevalence of AM fungi at lower soil nutrient concentrations?

A: Greg

Problem: I have a new situation: Two colleagues studied human evolution, Dan studied early humans, from around 200,000 years ago, while Bob studied human settlements from 10,000 years ago. But I can use this background: The earliest members of the human species evolved around 200,000 years ago in Africa. Early humans lived in small populations of nomadic hunters and gatherers. Human beings remained in Africa until about 40,000 years ago. After that, they spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. By 10,000 years ago, the first human beings colonized the Americas. During this long period of time, the total number of human beings increased very slowly. Birth rates were fairly high but so were death rates, producing low rates of population growth. What is an answer for this question: Which student learned less about high birth rates?

A:
Dan