Question 16 Answer and Explanation _ACT April 2019 Form Z15 Science Section

Passage III

A consumer safety laboratory conducted 3 studies of vehicle braking performance under various conditions.

Study 1

Each of 3 identical vehicles was equipped with a different braking system (System X, System Y, or System Z). Each vehicle was subjected to 10 trials on a dry road and 10 trials on a wet road. In each trial, the following steps were performed:

1. The vehicle was accelerated to 30 m/sec.

2. The braking system was fully engaged, and the vehicle's stopping distance, S (the distance required for the vehicle to come to a stop), was measured.

3. The vehicle's braking deceleration, B (the average rate at which the vehicle's speed decreased while the braking system was engaged), was calculated using the equation

The results of each set of 10 trials were then averaged to obtain an average S (in m) and an average B (in m/sec²) for each braking system on each type of road. Table 1 shows the results.

Study 2

Three hundred kilograms of cargo was placed into each of the vehicles that were tested in Study 1, and the procedures of Study 1 were repeated. Table 2 shows the results.

Study 3
System X was installed in a compact car, a sedan, a minivan, and a truck. The procedures for determining average S in Study 1 were then repeated for each vehicle, without cargo, on both the dry and wet roads (see Figure 1).

16. The table below gives the masses of the vehicles tested in Study 3.

For a given road type, as vehicle mass increased, the average S:

F. increased only.

G. decreased only.

H. did not vary.

J. varied, but with no general trend.

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is F

Explanation

It can be seen from Figure 1 that whether it is a dry road or a wet road, the average S corresponding to different types of cars, from compact to sedan to trunk to minivan, gradually increases. The table given in the question stem also shows that the order of mass from small to large is compact, sedan, trunk, minivan, indicating that the greater the mass of the car, the greater the average S

Study 3 System X was installed in a compact car, a sedan, a minivan, and a truck. The procedures for determining aver­age S in Study 1 were then repeated for each vehicle, with­out cargo, on both the dry and wet roads (see Figure 1).

Study 3
System X was installed in a compact car, a sedan, a minivan, and a truck. The procedures for determining average S in Study 1 were then repeated for each vehicle, without cargo, on both the dry and wet roads (see Figure 1).