I read this background article the other day: The Hawaiian Islands ( Figure above ) are in the central Pacific Ocean. The islands are volcanoes that increase in age from southeast to northwest. The youngest island is the Big Island of Hawaii at the southeast end of the chain. The volcanoes get older through Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau Islands through the northwest. The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii has been erupting almost continuously since 1983. There are also eruptions at an underwater volcano called Loih I am facing a new situation today: Melinda lived on The Big Island of Hawaii. One day she invited her Australian friend Janice over to visit the islands. Janice was very excited about the invitation. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Which person lived far from Kahoolawe island?
Ans: Janice

I read this background article the other day: Farsightedness, or hyperopia, is the condition in which distant objects are seen clearly, but nearby objects appear blurry. It occurs when the eyeball is shorter than normal (see Figure below ). This causes images to be focused in a spot that would fall behind the retina (if light could pass through the retina). Hyperopia can be corrected with convex lenses. The lenses focus images farther forward in the eye, so they fall on the retina instead of behind it. I am facing a new situation today: Kathy and Jacob are two coworkers out having a drink at a bar after a day at the office. They both wear glasses and Kathy comments that she hates that she is so farsighted and wishes there was a surgery to fix it. Jacob says that he finds it amusing she is farsighted because he himself is nearsighted. They both laugh at the opposite nature of their eye condition, and then both look at the menu on the other side of the room to decide what drinks to order next. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Who will have a harder time reading the menu?
Ans: Kathy

I read this background article the other day: Each radioactive isotope has a characteristic decay time periodthe half-lifethat is determined by the amount of time needed for half of a sample to decay. This is an exponential decay process that steadily decreases the proportion of the remaining isotope by 50% every half-life. Hence after two half-lives have passed only 25% of the isotope is present, and so forth. I am facing a new situation today: David was working in his chemistry lab. He selected two isotopes, sample A and sample B. Sample A had longer half-life, but sample B had shorter half-life. After some time he checked sample A when its one half-life had passed. He noted it as sample A1. Then he came back to see it again when two half-lives had passed. He noted it as sample A2. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: After certain time, which sample would have more isotopes, sample A or sample B?
Ans: sample A

I read this background article the other day: Saturated hydrocarbons are given the general name of alkanes . The name of specific alkanes always ends in - ane . The first part of the name indicates how many carbon atoms each molecule of the alkane has. The smallest alkane is methane. It has just one carbon atom. The next largest is ethane, with two carbon atoms. The chemical formulas and properties of methane, ethane, and several other alkanes are listed in Table below . The boiling and melting points of alkanes are determined mainly by the number of carbon atoms they have. Alkanes with more carbon atoms generally have higher boiling and melting points. I am facing a new situation today: Scientists are performing experiments on two different alkanes, Dipophane and Jothane. The scientists put each alkane into a beaker and begin heating each one at the same time to see which will melt first. During this experiment it is discovered that Dipophane melts before Jothane does. Using the knowledge I acquired from the background article, how should I answer correctly the following question regarding my new situation: Is Jothane larger or smaller than Dipophane?
Ans: larger