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Question

Difficulty: HardIdentifying Implied Meanings

Passage:
During the precision lens manufacturing process, newly molded optical glass blanks undergo a multi-day annealing cycle inside an insulated kiln. While outer surfaces naturally shed heat rapidly when exposed to ambient room air, quick exterior cooling causes localized surface contraction while the interior core remains expanded and molten. To prevent internal stress fractures that permanently distort optical clarity, technicians lower the kiln temperature by less than half a degree per hour until the entire glass blank reaches thermal equilibrium.

Statement: Optical glass blanks fracture during rapid cooling because unequal rates of temperature change create conflicting physical strain between the interior and exterior layers.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True
The statement is correct because the text explicitly contrasts the rapid contraction of the surface with the expanded state of the core, implying that internal fractures are the direct consequence of opposing physical forces generated across the material.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage description of what happens during rapid exterior cooling.
The text notes that rapid cooling causes localized surface contraction while the core remains molten and thermally expanded.
Understanding the physical state of each layer is essential to identifying why fracturing occurs.
2
Connect the physical condition of the glass layers to the resulting defect.
The text states this uneven thermal state results in internal stress fractures, which technicians prevent by slowly bringing the entire blank to thermal equilibrium.
Deducing the implied mechanical cause requires recognizing that differential contraction rates between the outer and inner sections produce the stress.
3
Evaluate the statement against the deduced implied meaning.
The statement accurately expresses the implied cause-and-effect relationship that unequal cooling rates between layers produce the destructive strain.
Confirming the logical equivalence validates that the statement is True.

Key Concept

Identifying unstated cause-and-effect relationships from technical descriptions of physical processes.
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Identifying Implied Meanings

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