Poetry : Practice test

Below is a short poem by Irish poet, John Montague

No Music
I’ll tell you a sore truth, little understood
It’s harder to leave, than to be left:
To stay, to leave, both sting wrong.
You will always have me to blame,
Can dream we might have sailed on;
From absence’s rib, a warm fiction.
To tear up old love by the roots,
To trample on past affections:
There is no music for so harsh a song.


1. The above poem implies a number of reasons why it is harder for someone to leave than to be left. Which of the following does the poem not imply about the one who is leaving?

• A      They will have nobody to blame for their actions
• B      They might regret their choice, rather than being the subject of someone else’s
• C      They will deprive themselves of idyllic daydreams
• D      There exists plenty of songs about being left, but no music which empathises with the one who is leaves

Passage Practice test

The passage below is an extract from Hannibal by Thomas Harris. 
The memory palace was a mnemonic system well known to ancient scholars and much information was preserved in them through the Dark Ages while Vandals burned the books. Like scholars before him, Dr. Lecter stores an enormous amount of information keyed to objects in his thousand rooms, but unlike the ancients, Dr.Lecter has a second purpose for his palace; sometimes he lives there. He has passed years among its exquisite collections, while his body lay bound on a violent ward with screams buzzing the steel bars like hell’s own harp.
Hannibal Lecter’s palace is vast, even by medieval standards. Translated to the tangible world it would rival the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul for size and complexity.
We catch up to him as the swift slippers of his mind pass from the foyer into the Great Hall of the Seasons. The palace is built according to the rules discovered by Simonides of Ceos and elaborated by Cicero four hundred years later; it is airy, high-ceilinged, furnished with objects and tableaux that are vivid, striking, sometimes shocking and absurd, and often beautiful. The displays are well spaced and well lighted like those of a great museum. But the walls are not the neutral colors of museum walls. Like Giotto, Dr. Lecter has frescoed the walls of his mind.
He has decided to pick up Clarice Starling’s home address while he is in the palace, but he is in no hurry for it, so he stops at the foot of a great staircase where the Riace bronzes stand. These great bronze warriors attributed to Phidias, rased from the seafloor in our own time, are the centerpiece of a frescoed space that could unspool all of Homer and Sophocles.
Dr. Lecter could have the bronze faces speak Meleager if he wished, but today he only wants to look at them.
A thousand rooms, miles of corridors, hundreds of facts attached to each object furnishing each room, a pleasant respite awaiting Dr. Lecter whenever he chooses to retire there.
Fearfully and wonderfully made, we follow as he moves with a swift stride along the corridor of his own making, through a scent of gardenias, the presence of great sculpture pressing on us, and the light of pictures.
His way leads around to the right past a bust of Pliny and up the staircase to the Hall of Addresses, a room lined with statuary and paintings in a fixed order, spaced wide apart and well lit, as Cicero recommends.
Ah… The third alcove from the door on the right is dominated by a painting of St. Francis feeding a moth to a starling. On the floor before the painting is this tableau, life-sized in painted marble.
A parade in Arlington National Cemetery led by Jesus, thirty three, driving a ’27 Model-T Ford truck, a “tin lizzie,” with J. Edgar Hoover standing in the truck bed wearing a tutu and waving to an unseen crowd. Marching behind him is Clarice Starling carring a .308 Enfield rifle at shoulder arms.


1. It can be inferred from the context of the passage that the ‘objects and tableaux’ (3^rd paragraph, line 11) are designed primarily to be:

• A      disturbing
• B      artistic
• C      intangible
• D      unforgettable

2. Based on the information provided in the passage it can be deduced that Cicero was most likely a(n):

• A      architect
• B      interior designer
• C      philosopher
• D      mathematician

3. Dr. Lecter stores Clarice Starling’s address on a mnemonic tableau beneath a painting. Which of the following addresses might he decode from the tableau?

• A      3327 Tindal, Arlington, VA 11308
• B      3300 Tintin, Richmond, VA 30800
• C      3327 Norfolk, Hampton Roads, VA 00308
• D      3327 Tindal, Arlington, VA 22308

Answers:
Q1: D
The palace is an intangible figment of Lecter’s imagination designed to enable him remember huge amounts of information. The objects in the palace are all mnemonics for facts he wants to remember. He therefore only has to remember the objects themselves. “vivid, striking, sometimes shocking and absurd, and often beautiful” could all be said to be properties of something that is memorable – which is the goal. Unforgettable is closest in meaning to memorable.
Q2:C
Based on info from the passage we know that Cicero helped develop the idea for the memory palace, and wrote some rules for those wishing to construct one. Architect and interior designer are wrong because the palace is not a literal construction. Cicero was definitely a scholar of some sort and more likely to have been a philosopher than a mathematician, given his work with theoretical and imaginary concepts which involve no maths at any point.
Q3:D
Arlington Cemetary – suggests the place is more likely in Arlington than Richmond or Hampton
Jesus – 33
Ford – 27
Tin Lizzie – Tindal or Tintin (Tindal if Arlington)
J. Edgar Hoover – perhaps some connection to a specific part of America, but we are not given any information about him in the piece and it cannot be inferred from context, so we ignore this. His presence is probably a mnemonic for VA (Virginia) in some way, which is fine because there are no other possible answers.
Hoover wearing a ‘tutu’ – 22
Starling carrying a .308

How To Get Success In GAMSAT Test

• Look around on the forums for advice before planning how you are going to tackle the GAMSAT. Use newmediamedicine.com and pagingdr.net. The GAMSAT is tough but a good score is achievable. Use the previous experience of others to help you maximise your chances.
• Start studying early. If you have any decent level of english the essay section will be fine.
• Don’t waste your money on the preparation courses, there are plenty of free online resources and also get all the sample papers from acer off their website, well worth paying for.
• Use Khan academy online videos, really helped me through.
• You have to want it. If you want it badly enough then the study, the stress, the cost, the grinds and the time it takes up won’t matter. I sat the GAMSAT 4 times. The only difference in the last time I sat it, I just wanted it more than anything. I gave up everything for an entire summer and just focused on it. On a side note get the Guru Method books. I know 5 people including myself that used these books to prepare for the GAMSAT and they are all now in medicine. Once each person used them, they got in. I used mine on the 4th time I sat the exam and got more than enough to get in anywhere. All 5 individuals got over 60 too. I know they’re expensive but they are definitely worth it. Grinds in areas you are weak in will definitely help too. I got grinds in chemistry and it without doubt got me through the science section. I know I’ve rabbeted on a bit but main piece of advice is just want it more than anything.
• Don’t stress!
• Practice tests under time pressure, over and over and over again!!!!
• Practice questions for all sections. way more important than learning stuff off.
• Study the EXAM ITSELF first and what’s on it second. Doing well is more to do with a way of thinking rather than what you know. Learning all of science will NOT help you. You cannot learn the entire syllabus because there isn’t one therefore train yourself to know the kind of answers they are expected.
• Focus on the ESSAYS. Although obviously very subjective it is easy to see the right buttons to push. I simply read AC Grayling who might as well have been writing essays intended for the GAMSAT and he covers all the topics. Plus being aware of what is going on politically helps to give examples. You can also learn generic quotes which can work. Plus, we are all human, no matter what they throw at you, you will have something to say. When you think about it, it’s actually a lot more formulaic than the other sessions.
• Practice lots.
• Try to mentally prepare yourself for it as best you can because the day is such a mind fuck, just practice practice practice questions to become familiar with the style of question and also similar questions seem to pop up every year so if youv’e seen a similar type of question before you will know exactly how to tackle it giving you a quick answer and a boost in confidence.
• Start your study early, unless you are incredibly intelligent/lucky it is not possible to pass this exam without proper preparation. Personally I took a year out after college and studied 4-5 hours, 5 days a week for 5 months leading up to the exam. Practicing the essay samples is also integral for doing well. Reading articles from broad sheet news papers also gave me an upper hand in expressing my opinion in the essay section.
• Go to the toilet beforehand, they’re real scabby on pee breaks.
• Be confident and relaxed on the day. If you’ve been studying for it you’re at a huge advantage compared to the rest of the entrants. You only have to beat the people in the room. The other thing I would say is go through the science questions and answer them in order of preference. I did all the biology first, then physics and lastly Chemistry.
• Read as much as you can-newspapers, magazines and books.
• There’s a book called the Gold Standard by Ferdinand M.D. and he does a two day course in Dublin too. The book explains that there’s only 5 types of questions that they can ask you. I scored really highly in this section cause of the way it’s explained in that chapter. As for essays just practice writing comparative ones and one or two on friendship or love. As long as your essay is structured you should get a decent mark. Also, lucozade tablets…are a must!!! Or you can even bring in the clear lemonade lucozade in a plastic water bottle. It’s a long day and you need the sugar to keep focused.
• Section 2 pulls everyone up. Practice 30 minute essays everyday. Quote Nietzche, Darwin, Dawkins, Freud. Write a short anecdote for the 2nd essay, make it interesting, it’s not an essay, it’s a serious of interesting thoughts.
• ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS!!! I cannot stress this enough, there is only so far you can go with the science, most people score averagely enough on it. The essays are where the easy marks are. And just because you’ve been good at essays before doesn’t mean you’re set for this. You need to practice doing 2 well-structured, engaging, effective and easily-read essays in an hour. Practice practice practice. Decide what structure your essays are going to take well in advance and practice writing all your essays from that point onwards with that structure. Know how you plan to use the quotes you are supplied too, before you ever see them. Its all about method. The markers don’t want to discover a new Hemingway, they want to see that you can compose an argument or opinion and convey it succinctly in half an hour. So keep it simple. I scored 64, 76, 54 in s1 s2 s3 respectively with 62 overall. Note the 76, that pulled me up and into the course I wanted. So in closing, essays, easy to practice, and highly profitable if executed right.
• Do a brilliant essay! They make it much easier than the other sections so practice that and read lots
• Prepare well on essays. Easy marks.
• Prepare well. start prep early. use papers, they are as close as you can get. do as many questions based on gamsat as possible. play to your strengths and work to cover your weaknesses TIMING!
• Go with your strengths! So many people neglect their essay because they think it’s ‘easy’ but it can bring you up to a high score if it’s good enough. Practice timing too, it’s a very long day and you will be exhausted by the beginning of the science paper. Good luck!
• Do practice papers. I used Ozimed which are easier than the actual exam but still helped a great deal. I didn’t do much study at all considering I’ve no science background. 1 month science study and then for 1 month prior to the exam I did an exam routine each day using practice papers, i.e. section 1 and 2, then a break, then section 3. The essay practice is most beneficial in terms of a time spent studying:gamsat score ratio.
• Allow enough time to really familiarise yourself with what the exam entails. No less than six months preparation, in my opinion.
• Focus on chemistry (organic chem mostly), if you can crack that you’ll crack the gamsat as long as you keep tipping along practicing some essays on the side too. Also, don’t let a poor early section put you off for the rest of the exam. I did a very poor section 1 but kept the head and did well in the next two which pulled me up and got me in to med school. keep calm and you’ll be fine, very straight forward, don’t listen to the hype of anyone else on the day, just do your own thing.
• 11 hours of sleep the night before and DO NOT read anything on boards people are nut jobs and they will try to scare the crap out of you. It’s jut a test and you can take it again. Cliched or not if you are meant to do it you’ll get there so chill out !!
• Read newspapers and brush up on your science! Also when you’re actually sitting the exam: Do all the questions that you can and dont waste your time thinking for Ages on one. Come back to it later.
• Persevere. If you want it you will get it. It takes time and hard work. There is no shortcut around the hard work for 90% of people so work hard and persevere. Do a full simulation of the exam day. Do the past papers. Do everything you can get your hands on. Read read read. The Irish Times, The Independent, the New York Times, Time magazine, New Scientist, NewsWeek, The Economist and get good at the essays – they are many peoples saving grace and are easier than the other sections to score a high mark in. Use the Khan Academy on YouTube for science revision and #bananaiscool (organic-chem-guy) for learning organic chemistry. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and do it!
• Do the past papers several times – to learn science from more or less scratch, use CGP’s AS/A Level revision guides for Phys/Chem/Bio; gaps can be filled in with Gold Standard GAMSAT (sorry, it’s expensive, and the other sections on eg verbal reasoning are truly shite). Do this and you’ll see nothing in the exam you don’t at least vaguely recognise from before – for the sociopolitical essay, get a copy of The Spirit Level and learn a couple choice factoids. Choose 5 and you’ll get at least one in – for the emotional/cultural/philosophical essay, forget your pride and self-respect – don’t waste your money on ridiculously expensive courses.
• Practice papers! The exam is designed to make you feel defeated it doesn’t mean you did badly, everyone feel that way.
• Go into the exam armed with 5 or 6 interesting anecdotes that can be tweaked slightly to fit just about any theme that comes up in the essay writing section and you won’t go far wrong, clever anecdotes that address a theme in an abstract manner are received better than standard opinion-based essays.
• There’s no need to do any courses just practice as many questions as possible. Watching TedTalks really helped with the essay questions.

Who Are They?

The class itself is a diverse group of people, ranging in age from early twenties up to early/mid thirties. Some have come straight from their primary degree, and many have spent several years working in the ‘real world’ before returning to university. They are not robots. Many of the physicians and surgeons who come in to give tutorials to the class comment on their maturity, ingenuity, dedication and social skills which is characteristic of many classes of graduate-entry medical students. Of those who wrote down the above advice, 19 came from a science background (half of which were biological or medical science), 3 were business, 1 computer science, 1 law, 1 engineer and 6 were from humanities and social sciences.

A Challenging Question

GMAT Practice Question

At a carnival a patron can purchase an admission ticket plus 20 rides for $29.50 or an admission ticket and 8 rides for $14.50. Assuming the carnival operators price consistently, what is the cost of the admission ticket only?

A)	$1.75
B)	$3.5
C)	$4.5
D)	$6
E)	$7.5

Correct Answer: C

Ticket Cost = (Admission Cost) + (Ride Cost)(Number of Rides)

1. The basic equation for this problem is:
   Ticket Cost = (Admission Cost) + (Ride Cost)(Number of Rides)
2. Let A = the cost of admission
   Let R = the cost per ride
3. Taken together:
   Ticket Cost = A + R(Number of Rides)
4. From the information given, derive two equations:
   29.5 = A + 20R
   14.5 = A + 8R
5. Subtract the lower equation from the upper equation:
   29.5 - 14.5 = A - A + 20R - 8R
   15 = 12R
   R = 15/12 = 5/4
6. Substitute R back into one of the two equations:
   14.5 = A + 8(5/4)
   14.5 = A + 10
   4.5 = A

Making the grade: A* students share their revision secrets

By Nik Taylor(Community Editor, The Student Room)|19 April 2015|4 min read

 A good revision plan is essential – we all know that – but actually knuckling down to revise will test your willpower as much as your planning and intellectual ability.

All too soon, there's the familiar feeling that something – anything – is more interesting than turning to the next page of your book. “Hmm, I really do need to go over the French Revolution again, but I just won't be able to concentrate on it until I've made a really motivational playlist on Spotify. Then I’d better help clear out the loft...”

A* revision tips

So begins the road to last-minute panicky revision – that night-before feeling where your heart sinks into your boots as you stare at everything still left to learn. But it doesn’t have to be this way. To help out, we've turned to the people who really know – the students who aced last year’s A-levels.

Community site The Student Room (TSR) is packed with students ready and willing to lend a hand. We asked TSR members who had received at least one A* in their A-levels last summer to share their revision secrets...

Read the examiners' reports

My number-one gold-star advice (and I genuinely believe this is the only reason I got my A* in English Language) is this: read the examiners' reports. Then read them again.

What baffles me is that, year upon year, the exam boards make public a document that is, wait for it, written by the people who are going to mark your papers. And in it, they tell you what they like to read. They also give you examples of what not to do.

Exam-technique wise, this is the most useful and important resource you have. Utilise it. Be all fancy and print it off and highlight key points and make spider diagrams. Stick it on your fridge. Memorise it, then eat the paper. Whatever. Just make sure, if you're doing an essay subject, you walk into that exam knowing that, for the last five years in a row, examiners have given high marks to pupils who offer criticisms to viewpoints, or who relate to personal research, or whatever. Thompsonic7 | The Student Room Member

Check past papers

Practice is key, so getting your hands on past paper questions and answers is very important. You're able to make connections between different areas of the syllabus. This is very important when it comes to A / A* questions.

So put down those revision cards and mind-maps once you've learned them. There's no point going over something a million times; you need to be able to apply it. At least two weeks before exams, start concentrating on past papers. Do each one at least twice. With each one, trawl through the  scheme and ensure you understand everything there. This gives you a better idea of how to think through an exam question.

I rarely just know the answer. In the harder questions I have to think about it and work it out. That's what you need to be able to do to get the high grades. Dmccririck | The Student Room Member

 

 

Be prepared

If you're unsure what will come up in an exam, get a copy of the syllabus off the internet and literally tick off every single thing on the list. Britchick | The Student Room Member

 

 

Make it more manageable 

Break down your subject into ordered sections. Breaking down the exam into lots of little sections makes revision less daunting, and you'll know exactly where you stand in terms of how much you've done.

For my exams I broke down a module into 20 sections or topics. It meant it didn't seem like much of a chore to start the next one, as they didn't last long. Then, before I knew it, I'd whizzed through the module without it being much work. Britchick | The Student Room Member

Don't be tempted to cram

Revise continually. Don't leave it a few weeks before an exam. Revise the stuff you're learning as you learn it.

Go home from school and make flash cards and posters and so on. That way, when you come to the exam period, you already know most of it and it's just brushing up on final details. Don't frantically cram for an exam. There's no point - it won't go in. Davidmroper | The Student Room Member

Create a plan

The best thing my Mum ever did for me was make me set up a revision timetable. I wrote out every topic within every subject I needed to revise then guesstimated how many sessions of 50 minutes I would need to revise that topic.

I then put this into a timetable so when it came down to revising I wouldn’t spend ages just flicking through any book finding something to revise but would know exactly what area I was to cover in that time period. Strawberryjellybaby | The Student Room Member

Class Arthropoda

1. The exoskeleton provides a surface for the muscles to work against, protects against predators and injury, and reduces water loss. During ecdysis a new exoskeleton is grown under the old one, with fluid separating them; then the outer skeleton is shed and the body is expanded by blood circulation and air intake, and the soft new skeleton hardens as it is exposed to air or water. The control for this process involves hormones.
2. The arthropod circulatory system is an open one, with a dorsal, longitudinal heart. The blood flows from the anterior end to the head, through internal body spaces toward the posterior end and back in the dorsal vessel. This one-way flow is maintained by valves in the posterior region of the heart. 3. Malpighian tubules are projections from the digestive tract between the midgut and the hindgut. The wastes are processes as follows: fluid is absorbed from the blood through the walls of the Malpighian tubules, nitrogenous wastes are concentrated, then they are emptied into the hindgut and eliminated. Water loss is regulated because water and salts are reabsorbed by the hindgut and returned to the circulation. 4. The two groups are (1) chelicerates, with mouthparts formed from the most anterior pair of appendages; the second pair of appendages are set pincer-like or feeler-like, and the remaining pairs are legs (examples: spiders, mites, scorpions); and (2) mandibulates, with the most anterior appendages, sensory antennae, and jaws formed by the second or third set of appendages (examples: crustaceans, insects, millipedes, and centipedes). 5. The legs are on the abdomen as well as the thorax. 6. Biramous appendages are double-branched, while uniramous are single-branched. 7. Millipedes and centipedes are both members of Uniramia, with bodies that consist of a head region followed by numerous segments with paired appendages. However, centipedes have one pair of legs per segment and are carnivores. Millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment (actually two segments fused to form one) and are herbivores. 8. Most insects possess a tubular digestive tract that is somewhat coiled. Insects that feed on juices low in protein have a greatly coiled tract to provide greater opportunity to absorb nutrients and to allow their digestive enzymes, which are weaker, more length over which to work. 9. An instar in this context refers to stages between molts. The two different kinds of metamorphosis are (1) simple - if wings are present, they develop externally during juvenile stages with no resting stage before the last molt into adulthood (immature stages - nymphs); and (2) complete - wings develop internally during the juvenile stages and appear only during the resting stage prior to the adult (immature stages - larvae; resting stage - pupa or chrysalis).
• Jointed appendages and an exoskeleton greatly expanded locomotive and manipulative capabilities for the arthropod phyla, the most successful of all animals in terms of numbers of individuals, species, and ecological diversification.
• Traditionally, arthropods have been grouped into three subphyla based on morphological characters but new research is calling this classification of the arthropods into question.
• Like annelids, arthropods have segmented bodies, but some of their segments have become fused into tagmata during the course of evolution. All possess a rigid external skeleton, or exoskeleton. • Chelicerates consist of three classes: Arachnida (spiders, ticks, mites, and scorpions); Merostomata (horseshoe crabs); and Pycnogonida (sea spiders).
• Spiders, the best known arachnids, have a pair of chelicerae, a pair of pedipalps, and four pairs of walking legs. Spiders secrete digestive enzymes into their prey, then suck the contents out.• Crustaceans comprise some 35,000 species of crabs, shrimps, lobsters, barnacles, sowbugs, beach fleas, and many other groups. Their appendages are basically biramous, and their embryology is distinctive.  Centipedes and millipedes are segmented uniramia. Centipedes are hunters with one pair of legs per segment, and millipedes are herbivores with two pairs of legs per segment.
• Insects have three body segments, three pairs of legs, and often one or two pairs of wings. Many have complex eyes and other specialized sensory structures.
• Insects exhibit either simple metamorphosis, moving through a succession of forms relatively similar to the adult, or complete metamorphosis, in which an often wormlike larva becomes a usually sedentary pupa, and then an adult.

Biology questions and notes : Class Arthropoda

• Moments are about the turning effect produced by a force around a pivot point. The further away the force is to the pivot point, the greater the turning effect. As this is linear, the moment of a force about a point can calculated as the product of the magnitude of the force and the distance from the pivot point.

Moment = F × d

• If the distance isn't directly given, it can be worked out with some trigonometry magic.

• The overall turning effect on a body can be calculated as the sum of all the moments about a point choosing clockwise or anti-clockwise as a positive direction.

• In the example above:
  6×17 + 4×11 - (3×10 + 1×9)
  = 107 Nm Clockwise

• Problems relating to bodies in equilibrium can be solved by equating the clockwise and anti-clockwise moments about a point, given that the body will not be moving. It can also sometimes be helpful to resolve the forces horizontally, especially in scenarios where there is a rod resting on supports.

• A uniform rod can be considered as having its weight acting from its centre.

Moments

• Moments are about the turning effect produced by a force around a pivot point. The further away the force is to the pivot point, the greater the turning effect. As this is linear, the moment of a force about a point can calculated as the product of the magnitude of the force and the distance from the pivot point.

Moment = F × d

• If the distance isn't directly given, it can be worked out with some trigonometry magic.

• The overall turning effect on a body can be calculated as the sum of all the moments about a point choosing clockwise or anti-clockwise as a positive direction.

• In the example above:
  6×17 + 4×11 - (3×10 + 1×9)
  = 107 Nm Clockwise

• Problems relating to bodies in equilibrium can be solved by equating the clockwise and anti-clockwise moments about a point, given that the body will not be moving. It can also sometimes be helpful to resolve the forces horizontally, especially in scenarios where there is a rod resting on supports.

• A uniform rod can be considered as having its weight acting from its centre.

Awesome Facts: With MRI technique, brain scientists induce feelin...

With MRI technique, brain scientists induce feelings about faces

Volunteers who started an experiment feeling neutral about certain faces
they saw ended up unknowingly adopting the feelings that scientists
induced via an MRI feedback technique, according to newly published
research.

The study in PLO

Credit: deviantart

S Biology therefore suggests that there is a single region of the
brain where both positive and negative feelings for faces take shape and
provides the second demonstration this year that the MRI technique can
be used to train a mental process in an unknowing subject. This spring,
the team used the same method to associate the perception of color with
the context of a pattern so strongly that volunteers saw the color when
cued by the pattern, even if the color wasn't really there.

In the new study, the researchers sought to determine whether they could
direct feelings about faces -- a more sophisticated brain function that
is closer to their eventual goal, which is to develop the technique to
the point where it could become a tool for psychological therapy, for
instance for anxiety.

"Face recognition is a very important social function for people," said
co-author Takeo Watanabe, the Fred M. Seed Professor of Cognitive and
Linguistic Sciences at Brown University. "Facial recognition is
associated with people's emotions."

Decoded neurofeedback explained

The technique, which the researchers call "DecNef," for decoded
neurofeedback, starts with detecting and analyzing the specific activity
patterns in a brain region that correspond to a mental state. For
example, at the beginning of the new study, while 24 volunteers saw
hundreds of faces and rated their sentiments about each of them (on a
scale of 1 for dislike to 10 for like, with 5 for neutral), the
researchers used MRI to record the patterns of activity in a brain
region called the cingulate cortex.

That step alone was fairly conventional neuroscience except that many
scientists believe that positive or negative feelings about faces are
formulated in separate brain regions. But this team of four researchers
at Brown University and the Advanced Telecommunications Research
Institute International in Kyoto, Japan, wanted to test whether the
cingulate cortex handles both sides of the emotion.

Sure enough, the researchers' software, called a decoder, was able to
analyze the recordings to identify reliable and distinct patterns in
each volunteer's cingulate cortex associated with positive and negative
feelings about faces.

"We found that the cingulate cortex seems to handle both opposing
directions with different activity patterns," said co-author Yuka
Sasaki, associate professor (research) of cognitive, linguistic and
psychological sciences at Brown.

With these signature patterns established for each volunteer, the
participants were then unknowingly divided into two groups of 12 --
either positive or negative -- and were called back in for a few days of
additional research in the MRI machine. In this phase the subjects were
shown a subset of the faces they rated as neutral and were then asked
to perform a seemingly unrelated task: After seeing each face on the
screen, they were then shown a disk and asked to somehow use their minds
to try to make it appear as big as possible. The bigger they could make
the disk, they were told, the more of a small monetary reward they
could receive.

In reality, the tasks weren't unrelated. Participants didn't know this
at the time, but the only way the disk would grow was when the MRI
readings showed that they happened (for whatever reason) to produce
their signature patterns of positive or negative feelings about faces in
their cingulate cortex. In other words, the experiment rewarded
volunteers in the positive group with a larger disk when they produced
the pattern associated with liking the faces after seeing a previously
neutral one. Similarly, the experiment rewarded volunteers in the
negative group with a growing disk the more they happened to produce the
pattern associated with dislike after seeing a neutral one.

In essence, DecNef aims to train people to produce specific feelings or
perceptions in specific contexts by rewarding those moments when they
unknowingly do so.

A third group of six other participants was used as a control group.
They saw faces and rated them, but were not given the DecNef step of
having to enlarge a disk in association with the activation patterns
that represent positive or negative feelings.

Finally, all the participants were then queried anew about their feelings regarding the initially neutral faces.

Facial feelings were affected

When the researchers analyzed the results, they were able to make
several key findings. On average, the positive group's ratings of the
neutral faces moved up mildly but significantly (by about 0.6 on the 1
to 10 scale), while the negative group's ratings of the faces moved down
a bit less but still significantly. Meanwhile the control group's
ratings didn't change significantly at all.

"From all these results we conclude that association of originally
neutrally rated faces with covert induction of activity patterns in the
single brain region, the cingulate cortex, led to changes in facial
preference specifically for those faces, and in a specific preference --
positive or negative -- direction," the authors wrote in the study.

To be as certain as possible about the findings, they did a few more
analyses. In post-experiment interviews, they asked the subjects whether
they knew what was really going on -- none did. Then the researchers
explained what the experiment was really about and asked people to say
whether they thought they were in the positive or negative group. People
were no better than chance at saying which they were in. Together these
results suggest that none of the experimental volunteers changed their
preferences about neutral faces based on their own will or intention.

In another analysis, the researchers crunched the numbers to see if the
degree of activity in the cingulate cortex during the disk-enlargement
phase correlated with the degree of change in preferences. The results
revealed a high correlation (0.78 out of 1). In other words, the amount
of brain activity was proportional to the amount of induced feeling.

Toward a DecNef therapy

While the induced changes in feeling were mild, the training took place
over only a few days, the researchers noted. Training that occurs on the
scale of weeks, as is often required for clinical therapies, might have
induced stronger feelings.

But even a small effect could be beneficial for people if it blunts a
persistently painful feeling associated with a certain trigger, Watanabe
said.

"If someone develops a traumatic memory that makes him or her suffer,
even a small reduction of the suffering would be helpful," Watanabe
said.

The researchers also said they are aware that there could be potential
abuse or misuse of the technique -- a kind of brainwashing -- so it
might be good if it proves at least somewhat limited in its effect.

In addition to Sasaki and Watanabe, the paper's other authors are lead
author Kazuhisa Shibata and corresponding author Mitsuo Kawato.

---

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Brown University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

 

 

 

Upthrust and Viscosity

Density

• Density, ρ is defined as the mass per unit volume. It is measured in
  Kgm^-3.

Density: Mass per unit volume

Upthrust

• A fluid will exert a force upward on a body if it is partly or wholly submerged within it. This is because the deeper into a fluid you go, the greater the weight of it and so the greater the pressure. This difference in pressure between the top and the bottom of the object produces an upward force on it. This is called Upthrust.

• According to Archimedes' Principle, the upthrust on an object in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. So the volume of the object multiplied by the density of the fluid.

Upthrust = Weight of Fluid Displaced

Viscosity

• In a fluid, each 'layer' experts a force of friction of each other 'layer'. This frictional force is also present when solid object moves through a liquid. This force is termed Viscous Drag. Viscous Drag is greater in Turbulent Flow than Laminar Flow.

• The size of the Viscous Drag in a fluid depends on the (coefficient of) Viscosity of that fluid. Viscosity is given the letter η and is measured in Kgm^-2s or Pa s. The greater the Viscosity, the greater the Viscous Drag.

• In most liquids, Viscosity decreases as temperature increases, whereas in most gases, Viscosity increases as temperature increases. It is therefore important to always measure the temperature of a fluid when measuring Viscosity.

• It is possible to calculate the drag force exerted on a spherical object in a fluid using Stoke's Law:

F = 6πηrv

• Stoke's Law assumes Laminar Flow, and so low velocities.

• In this equation, v represents Terminal Velocity. This means that the forces acting on the object are balanced. This means that is it possible to form an equation be equating Weight with Upthrust and Viscous Drag (or, in the case of Upward Motion, Upthrust with Weight and Viscous Drag).

Current, Voltage and Power

• Electricity is the flow of electric charge. We can describe the flow of electric charge in several ways. These include the quantities Current, Voltage and Power.

Current

• Current (I) is the rate of flow of Charge Carriers, such as electrons. Current is usually thought of as moving in the direction of positive charge, so from the positive power supply to the negative. However, since in metals it is electrons that carry electric charge, the actually flow is opposite to the way in which we think of it.

• Current it the the amount of Charge, Q that passes a point in a set time, t. It is measured in Amps (A), and charge is measured in Coulombs (C). Since Amps are SI base units, Coulombs are defined as A×s, As.

Voltage

• Voltage (V) or Potential Difference (p.d.) is a measure of the Energy transferred per Charge Carrier between two points.

• Voltage is the Energy, E per Charge, Q. Voltage is measured in Volts (V), which is defined as one Joule per Coulomb. Voltage can be defined in base units as Kgm²s^-3A^-1.

Power

• Power (P) is the rate of Energy transfer. It is measured in watts (W), where one watt is defined as one Joule per Second. Hence watts can be expressed in base units as Kgm²s^-3

• From this definition of Power, we can substitute the algebraic definitions above to produce a variety of other formulae, including 'Power = Current × Voltage'

• Ohm's Law states that 'Voltage = Current × Resistance'. We can use this to produce two more definitions of Power.

Top Ten Physics Questions and Answers

Top Ten Science Questions: Physics

Physics is seen as the most difficult of the sciences; my pupils usually greet a new physics module with a groan and "I can't do physics!" Not the greatest atmosphere for learning...
Physics deals with the laws of the universe and time - it ranges from how subatomic particles interact to form atoms, to how these atoms form some of the largest phenomena in the universe: planets, stars and galaxies. But physics plays a huge role in our everyday lives too: mobile phones, wi-fi, electricity, jet engines, gravity and magnetism all fall into the eclectic realm that is physics.
This hub looks at questions asked of me in a year of teaching physics - the questions have come from young and old alike, so there should be something of interest for you here. Hopefully the information here can overturn the image that physics is 'too hard' and 'boring' and instead reveal some of the wonderful mystery of our universe.
 

 

A mix of boomerang and throwing sticks - the latter were never designed to return to the thrower but to be thrown straight and hard to bring down game | Source

1. Why do Boomerangs Come Back?

Boomerangs work on the same principles of aerodynamics as any other flying object; the key to how a boomerang works is the airfoil.
An airfoil is flat on one side but curved on the other with one edge thicker than the other - this subjects the boomerang to lift, keeping it in the air. The lift is generated because the air flowing up over the curve of the wing has further to travel than the air flowing past the flat side. The air moving over the curve travels faster in order to reach the other side of the wing, creating lift.
A boomerang has two airfoils, each facing in a different direction. This makes the aerodyamic forces acting on a thrown boomerang uneven. The section of the boomerang moving in the same direction as the direction of forward motion moves faster than the section moving in the opposite direction. Just like tank tracks moving at different speeds, this causes the boomerang to turn in the air and return to the thrower.
Fast Fact: Most original boomerangs don't come back, and are not intended to do so! The returning variety are thought to have been made to scare birds into hunters nets.

Space Dive

2. When does the Sky become Space?

The official boundary between the Earth's atmosphere (sky) and space is called the Kármán line. This line lies 100km above sea level and is named after aeronautical scientist Theodore von Kármán.
Aircraft generate lift due to the flow of air over their wings; the air thins with increasing altitude meaning aircraft must move faster to remain airborne. von Kármán calculated that at 100km, it was more efficient for vehicles to orbit the Earth than to fly. Above 100km, aircraft would have to move faster than satellites orbiting the Earth to generate sufficient lift to stay airborne.
Fast Fact: The highest skydive in history was from 31,300m made by Joseph Kittinger - still well inside our atmosphere.

3. What is Wi-Fi?

The wireless age has dawned, and Wi-Fi is at the heart of it. Wi-Fi is a wireless network which uses radio frequencies instead of cables to transmit data.
A wireless network in not truly wireless as it is built around a source computer connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable. This computer has a router that changes data into a radio signal that can be picked up by an antenna inside your wireless device. To prevent outside interference, the router uses a precise frequency band - just like a walkie-talkie.
When you try to browse the internet using your laptop, an adaptor within the machine communicates with the router via radio signals. The router decodes the signals and fetches the relevant data from the internet through the wired Ethernet connection. This information is converted into radio signals and beamed to the laptop's wireless adaptor. The laptop then decodes this message and (hopefully) shows you the page you googled!
Fast Fact: Wi-Fi does not actually stand for anything. It is a play on the term Hi-Fi. Many people believe Wi-Fi is short for 'Wireless Fidelity' _{(what does that even mean?)}

Which do you think is the most USEFUL science

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Geology
• Physics
• Psychology

4. What is Electricity?

Electricity is the flow of any particle with a charge - in the case of our household supply, it is the flow of negatively charged particles called electrons (hence electricity).
In a simple circuit, the electrons are provided by the metal in the wires (usually copper). The battery provides a potential difference (voltage) that provides the 'push' to move electrons towards the positive terminal.
There are two types of electrical current available: Alternating Current and Direct Current. The electical current that comes out of your plug sockets is the former. The National grid provides electricity that reverses direction 50 times per second (50Hz) in the UK. You can actually prove this with a slow motion camera - alternating current explains why lights seem to flicker under slo-mo.
Fast Fact: A current of just 0.1 - 0.2 amps is sufficient to kill a person.

5. What is Radioactivity?

Radioactivity involves the spontaneous decomposition of an unstable atomic nucleus into a more stable form, in one of three decays: alpha, beta, gamma. The nucleus becomes more stable by releasing excess energy either in the form of particles (alpha and beta) or as a wave.
Fast Fact: Lead is the heaviest stable element in the periodic table. All heavier elements decay over time.

Sometimes sonic booms are visible: the high pressure area can cause water vapour to condense, briefly forming a cloud around the plane. | Source

6. What is the Sound Barrier?

The sound barrier is broken by any vehicle exceeding the speed of sound: 660mph
Once thought to be an impossible speed, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier with the Bell X-1 rocket plant in 1947. As an object moves through the air, it pushes nearby air molecules causing a domino-effect on surrounding molecules. This causes a pressure wave that can be interpreted as 'sound.' As a plane approaches the speed of sound, its pressure waves stack up ahead of it to form a massive area of pressurized air that we call a shock wave.
These shock waves are heard as sonic booms.
Fast Fact: Felix Baumgartner is planning a skydive from 36,500m - he will fall so fast he will become the first person to break the sound barrier without mechanical help.

7. How long could you survive in Space without a Spacesuit?

Contrary to popular belief, and numerous Hollywood movies, you could survive unprotected in space for over a minute - provided you could get back to medical care immediately after. There are one or two things you need to think about if you found yourself in this situation:

1. Breathe out: Just like an ascending scuba diver, if you hold your breath, the gas expanding in your lungs due to reduced pressure would cause them to rupture.
2. Stay out of the sun: without protection, serious sunburn can ensue.
3. You are going to swell up: In the vacuum of space, your body fluids will vaporise, causing tissues to swell up.
4. You have ten seconds: Of useful consciousness that is. Due to oxygen depletion, you will also start to lose your vision after this time

NASA has limited experience of this phenomenon, but experience from training accidents suggests that injuries can be reversed. if astronauts are returned into a pressurized oxygen environment within 90 seconds.
Fast Fact: 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the few films to deal with vacuum exposure correctly. The film's human protagonist, Dave, jumps out of a space pod to re-enter his spacecraft. At no point does his head explode.

Temperature is a scale by which we measure the heat energy of atoms. | Source

8. What is Temperature?

Temperature is a measure of how hot an object is...but what does that mean?
All atoms have kinetic (movement) energy because all atoms move. Even the atoms in a solid vibrate around a fixed spot. How hot an object is reflects the amount of kinetic energy in its molecules.
You cool an object down by removing some of this kinetic energy. Eventually, you will get to a point where the atoms are not moving at all - this is the lowest theoretical temperature and is called 'Absolute Zero.' This theoretical temperature stands at 0K, or -273.15°C (-459.67°F).
Fast Fact: While the temperature of the Southern Ocean stands between -2°C and 10°C, it contains much more heat energy than a boiling kettle. This is because there are many more water molecules in the ocean; even though their individual kinetic energies are lower than those in a kettle, when taken together the overall energy is much higher.

9. What is Gravity?

Gravity is one of the four fundamental forces that apply in our universe:

1. Gravity
2. Electromagnetism
3. Weak Nuclear Force
4. Strong Nuclear Force

Gravity is the force exerted by anything that has mass. Even sub-atomic particles exert a gravitational pull on nearby objects. Isaac Newton proved that objects with a greater mass exert a stronger gravitational pull. Weirdly, however, gravity is pathetically weak!
"Weak!? But gravity holds planets in orbit around the Sun, and holds us on the Earth's surface" Correct, but look at it this way - a tiny magnet can hold a paperclip against the gravitational pull of our planet. A newborn baby can defeat Earth's gravity by lifting a block off the floor.
Gravity has undergone some modifications since Newton, with Einstein's General Relativity providing an explanation of how gravity worked. Here is a helpful (although flawed) analogy:

• Space and time form a 2-D fabric analogous to a trampoline.
• Stars, and other objects of great mass, are like bowling balls sitting on the trampoline.
• Roll a ball bearing too close to the bowling ball and it will curve around it like a ball in a roulette wheel - this is a smaller mass being caught by the gravity of a greater mass.

Einstein stated that objects of mass bend and warp the fabric of space-time (bowling ball on trampoline). Large masses move in response to this curvature in space time; move too close to the curve and you are forced to move in a new direction. Matter tells space how to curve; curved space tells matter how to move. Gravity is thus the result of all the collective wrinkles in the fabric of the Universe.
Fast Fact: Even on Earth, gravity is not even. The Earth is not a perfect sphere, and its mass is distributed unevenly. This means that the strength of gravity can change slightly from place to place.

Click thumbnail to view full-size

With the force lines moving in opposite directions, the two magnets push against each other and repel. | Source

10. How do Magnets Work?

Magnetism is a property of materials that makes them experience a force in a magnetic field. But what makes a metal magnetic? It is all down to unpaired electrons: moving electrons create magnetism due to their magnetic charge, but in most atoms electrons are paired and so cancel each other out.
Most people know the basics of magnets:

• All magnets have two poles - North and South.
• Like poles repel, opposite poles attract.
• Surrounding every magnet is an area that will exert a force: the magnetic field.
• The closer together the magnetic field lines, the stronger the magnet.

What most people don't know is how this works. Unlike poles attract because the magnetic forces are moving in the same direction. Like poles repel because the forces are moving in opposite directions. Think two people trying to push a revolving door:if you push a door while someone pushes from the other side, the door wont move. If you both push in the same direction the door will swing round.
Fast Fact: The only definitive way to determine if a metal is a magnet instead of just magnetic is to see if it can repel a known magnet.

Resistance and Resistivity

• Resistance it the opposition to the passage of current within a component. The Resistance of a component decides how much voltage will be dropped across it for a particular current.

• Resistance is measured in Ohms (Ω). According to Ohm's Law, voltage is the product of current and resistance. Therefore Ohms can be expressed in base units as Kgm²s^-3A^-2.

 Everything has Resistance, because everything has some opposition to the flow of Electric Charge. Components whose sole purpose is to provide a Resistance of a certain value are called Resistors.

 When Resistors are connected in Series, the total Resistance across them will be equal to the sum of each Resistor value. The total voltage will be equal to the sum of the voltages across each Resistor. This rule will also apply for other components.

 When Resistors are connected in Parallel , the reciprocal of the total resistance will be equal the sum of the reciprocals of each Resistor Resistance. The total voltage dropped will be the same as the voltages dropped across all the individual Resistors.

Resistivity

• Resistance is a Sample Constant, so is specific to individual components. However, there is a Material Constant that can be used to find the Resistance of any component of a specific material. This is Resistivity. Together with the length and cross-sectional area of a sample, it can calculate its resistance.

• Resistivity is given the symbol ρ and is measured in Ohm Meters (Ωm, or Kgm³s^-3A^-2 in base units).

• For example, copper has a Resistivity of 1.68 ×10^-8 Ωm, and Germanium 4.6 ×10^-1 Ωm.

• The Resistance of a material of Resistivity ρ, length l and cross-sectional area A is calculated by the formula:

Exchange Surfaces Importance

Exchange Surfaces

• All living cells need to be able to take up and excrete substances from and to their environment.

• Cells need:
  • Water for many different things
  • Minerals for many different things
  • Oxygen for respiration
  • Glucose for energy
  • Fats for membranes
  • Proteins for growth and repair

• Specialised cells in multicellular organisms may also need to take up other molecules.

• Many of these substances can be produced inside the cytoplasm as part of metabolism, but the basic building blocks must still be taken up from the environment.

• Cells may need to excrete:
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Oxygen
  • Ammonia

• Again, specialised cells in multicellular organisms may also need to excrete special molecules.

• Single-celled organisms can exchange all the substances they need to via their outer surfaces; however, most multicellular organisms require special Exchange Surfaces.

• This is because single-celled creatures have a very high surface-area-to-volume ratio, so have lots of available surface to exchange substances. Multi-celled creatures on the other hand tend to have a low surface-area-to-volume ratio, meaning their outer surfaces cannot exchange substances fast enough for all their cells.

• Exchange surfaces have a number of adaptations to make them efficient:
  
  • Thin barriers to minimise the diffusion distance
  • A high concentration gradient to the substance
  • A large surface area

• Exchange surfaces are found in abundance in nature. For example:
  • The Nephron in the Kidney
  • The root hairs of plants
  • The Hyphae of fungi

How to do these STP gas and mass stoichiometry problems in general.
All of the problems in this set are stoichiometry problems with at least one equation participant as a gas at STP. (a) Write and balance the chemical equation. (2) Do the math in DA style using 1 mole gas at STP = 22.4 liters as a factor. In the following problems ALL GASES ARE AT STP.
In this set of problems for the first time you will be using the idea of stoichiometry. These problems always refer to a chemical reaction. The chemical reaction must be first written and balanced. You will be given an amount of one of the materials and be expected to find out how much that corresponds to another one of the materials in that chemical reaction. Because we are beginning with an amount of a material and we are looking for another amount of (another) material, the DA method is standardly used for this type of problem.
Begin each problem with what you know, the GIVEN material and the GIVEN amount in whatever units it is given.
Change the GIVEN amount of material to units of mols. In the case of gases at STP, the conversion factor is: 1 mol of gas = 22.4 liters at STP. In the case of masses, you must use the formula weight of the material to change from mass to mols.
Use the mol ratio to change from one material to another. The mol ratio is the name (or symbol) of the material and the coefficient of that material in the balanced chemical reaction.
Change the mols of the new material to whatever units are asked for.
Back to gas @ STP problems.

---

ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #1, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS STOICHIOMETRY
 
1. How many moles of nitrogen gas is needed to react with 44.8 liters of hydrogen gas to produce ammonia gas?
 
3H₂   +   N₂   2NH₃
GIVEN: 44.8 L of H₂ at STP.
FIND: mols of N₂.
Here the sequence is: GIVEN liters of H₂ at STP, CHANGE liters of H₂ at STP to mols of H₂, MOL RATIO to change from H₂ to N₂. There is no need to go any further to change the N₂ into mols, because the mol ratio leaves the material in that unit anyway.
The MVG is the "molar volume of gas at STP." The MR is the mol ratio. Notice the numbers in blue in the mol ratio. Those numbers come from the coefficients in the balanced chemical equation.
The math is:   44.8 ÷ 22.4 ÷ 3 =
calculator
Back to gas @ STP problems.

---

 
ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #2, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS Stoichiometry
2. How many liters of ammonia are produced when 89.6 liters of hydrogen are used in the above reaction?
The "above reaction" from problem #1 is: N₂   +   3H₂   2NH₃
GIVEN: 89.6 L of H₂ at STP.
FIND: Volume of ammonia (in liters at STP)
Take the GIVEN quantity, use the Molar Volume of Gas at STP (MVG) to change it to mols, change the material with the mol ratio (MR), and change the mols of new material to the requested liters at STP using the MVG again.
The math is:   89.6 ÷ 22.4 ÷ 3 x 2 x 22.4 =
or, if the MVG's cancel,   89.6 ÷ 3 x 2 =
calculator
Back to gas @ STP problems.

---

 
ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #3, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS STOICHIOMETRY
3. Ten grams of calcium carbonate was produced when carbon dioxide was added to lime water (calcium hydroxide in solution). What volume of carbon dioxide at STP was needed?
CO₂   +   Ca(OH)₂     CaCO₃   +   H₂O
GIVEN: 10.0 g = mass of calcium carbonate
FIND: Volume of carbon dioxide (in liters at STP)
Take the GIVEN quantity, a mass, use the Formula Weight of the given quantity to change it to mols, change the material with the mol ratio (MR), and change the mols of new material to the requested liters at STP using the MVG. Find this pathway on the Stoichiometry Roadmap
The math is:   10 ÷ 100.1 x 22.4 =
calculator
Back to gas @ STP problems.

---

 
ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #4, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS STOICHIOMETRY
4. When 11.2 liters of hydrogen gas is made by adding zinc to sulfuric acid, what mass of zinc is needed?
Zn   +   H₂ SO₄     H₂   +   ZnSO₄
GIVEN: 11.2 L of H₂ at STP
FIND: mass of Zn
Take the GIVEN quantity, a volume at STP, use the MVG to change it to mols, change the material with the mol ratio (MR), and change the mols of new material to the mass using the formula weight of the new material. Find this pathway on the Stoichiometry Roadmap
The math is:   11.2 ÷ 22.4 x 65.4 =
calculator
Back to gas @ STP problems.

---

 
ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #5, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS STOICHIOMETRY
5. What volume of ammonia at STP is needed to add to water to produce 11 moles of ammonia water?
The balanced chemical equation is:
NH ₃   +   H₂ O     NH₄ OH
GIVEN: 11.0 mols of ammonia water (NH₄OH)
FIND: Volume of ammonia gas (NH₃) in liters at STP.
Take the GIVEN quantity, a number of mols, and directly use the mol ratio (MR) to change to the other material. The mols of FIND material can be changed to the requested liters at STP using the MVG. Find this pathway on the Stoichiometry Roadmap

---

 
ANSWER AND DISCUSSION
PROBLEM #6, SET 2 - STP GAS AND MASS STOICHIOMETRY
6. How many grams of carbonic acid is produced when 55 liters of carbon dioxide is pressed into water?
There is no such thing as solid carbonic acid. It only exists in ionic form in solution, but we can consider this exercise anyway.
The balanced chemical equation is:
CO ₃   +   H₂ O     H₂ CO₃
GIVEN: 55.0 mols of carbon dioxide (CO₂)
FIND: mass of carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).