A Guide to the GRE/Hard Science Passages

= Hard Science Passages =

The GRE also contains passages with “hard science” concepts, often which are difficult to understand.

It was not until the early 20th century 	that the energy convective properties of 	matter were extensively studied, but 	during this era, physicists began to explore 5	the manner in which particles behaved 	when exposed to light, electricity, or other 	forms of energy. To their surprise, they 	found that matter tended to convect energy 	at fixed numeric intervals - a minimum 10	“unit” of measurement which was 	proposed and calculated by German 	physicist Max Planck. Planck, and 	ultimately the entire scientific community, 	came to except the “quantum theory” - 15	that energy is exchanged in certain basic 	units which correspond to basic particles 	of matter. 1. What does “quantum theory” mean?

2. What is the evidence for “quantum theory”?

Answers to Practice Questions
1. “Quantum theory” refers to the idea that energy is “quantized” or transmitted in numerical values. According to quantum theory, there is a basic “unit” or “package” in which energy is transmitted.

2. As explained in lines 4-9, scientists found that when energy was exposed to matter, it gave off (“convected”) the energy at particular intervals. This implied that there were numerical “packages” in which the energy was transmitted.