After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears do

Question

Competition Mode Question

After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears down. One common theory about why tires wear down contends that the perpetual friction and heat generated by the contact between the tire and pavement erode the material on the surface of the tire. However, a local scientist who is also an avid cyclist proposed a new theory for why bike tires wear down. This scientist contended that chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue wore down the surface of the tire.

Which of the following would best evaluate the veracity of the scientist's proposed theory?

(A) Ride a road bike aggressively through spring rain storms.
(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires.
(C) Ascertain whether chemicals from the road's composition also reside within the bike's frame.
(D) Ascertain whether the bike's frame is made of rust-resistant components.
(E) Determine the number of miles that a bike tire can be used on a wet road before wearing down.

unraveled · Answer

After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears down. One common theory about why tires wear down contends that the perpetual friction and heat generated by the contact between the tire and pavement erode the material on the surface of the tire. However, a local scientist who is also an avid cyclist proposed a new theory for why bike tires wear down. This scientist contended that chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue wore down the surface of the tire.
Which of the following would best evaluate the veracity of the scientist's proposed theory?

(A) Ride a road bike aggressively through spring rain storms. - WRONG. It would bring the first theory into picture thus second scientist's theory can't be verified.
(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires. - CORRECT. No friction no heat would mean only chemicals acting on tires. An ideal condition to check second scientist's claim. 
(C) Ascertain whether chemicals from the road's composition also reside within the bike's frame. - WRONG. Irrelevant.
(D) Ascertain whether the bike's frame is made of rust-resistant components. - WRONG. Irrelevant.
(E) Determine the number of miles that a bike tire can be used on a wet road before wearing down. - WRONG. Irrelevant.

IMO Answer B.

Archit3110 · Answer

IMO B ; Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires
we will get to test both the conditions i.e rain water + pavement

After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears down. One common theory about why tires wear down contends that the perpetual friction and heat generated by the contact between the tire and pavement erode the material on the surface of the tire. However, a local scientist who is also an avid cyclist proposed a new theory for why bike tires wear down. This scientist contended that chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue wore down the surface of the tire.

Which of the following would best evaluate the veracity of the scientist's proposed theory?

(A) Ride a road bike aggressively through spring rain storms.
(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires.
(C) Ascertain whether chemicals from the road's composition also reside within the bike's frame.
(D) Ascertain whether the bike's frame is made of rust-resistant components.
(E) Determine the number of miles that a bike tire can be used on a wet road before wearing down.

madgmat2019 · Answer

it should be the combination of both..........by applying chemicals from rain water and pavement onto a bike's idle tires.

(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires.--------satisfies the both.............CORRECT

OA:B

eakabuah · Answer

B is the answer in my view.

Premise 1: After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears down.
Intermediate Conclusion: One common theory about why tires wear down contends that the perpetual friction and heat generated by the contact between the tire and pavement erode the material on the surface of the tire.
Premise 2: However, a local scientist who is also an avid cyclist proposed a new theory for why bike tires wear down.
Conclusion 2: This scientist contended that chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue wore down the surface of the tire.

The conclusion drawn above is based on two facts: 
1. that chemicals from the road's composition and 
2. chemicals from rain residues
are responsible for wearing out of bike tires.

To evaluate this argument, we need evidence that links the effects of chemicals in rain residues and road surfaces to the wearing out of bicycle tires.

Option B states that place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires. Placing the chemicals from rainwater and pavement on a bike's idle tyres will surely provide us with evidence to evaluate the argument made above. Seeing the effect that these chemicals will have on the bike tires will enable us to conclude if the argument is sound or otherwise. Hence, option B has to be the answer.

exc4libur · Answer

ARGUMENT
 : tires wear down due to friction and heat from the contact between tire and pavement.
 : tires wear down because it comes into contact with chemicals from the pavement and from rain residue.

EVALUATE
 Ans (B)

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo B.

Scientist's theory needs to be evaluated. The reason for the loss of tread on the tire is the chemical composition of road and chemical rain residue. So a statement that would show that there is some relation between two compositions that will be our answer.
It can either strengthen or weaken the theory proposed by the scientist.
So let's begin

A) Riding aggressively in rain will provide us with nothing about the theory proposed by the scientist. Loss of tire treads my be due to excessive friction or chemical composition.
B) correct If bike remains idle then friction and heat will not act on the bike and if then still the tread on the tire is lost then this is the cause. If nothing happens then this is not the cause.
C) Superfluous detail. It does nothing to help us to evaluate the theory of the scientist.
D) This choice is out of scope as the centre of the argument is tread on a tire not frame.
E) This choice is also no good. Number of hours are not going to help us to evaluate the theory.

Posted from my mobile device

Tracy95 · Answer

I choose B.

Common theory: friction & heat created by contact between pavement and tire => eroded tire surface
Local scientist: chemical reaction between rain residue & road's composition => worn down tire surface
 
Which of the following would best evaluate the veracity of the scientist's proposed theory?
(A) Ride a road bike aggressively through spring rain storms. -> the part "ride a road bike" messes up. Riding must be out as we exclusively measure the impact of reaction between rain and road on tires. We don't care about riding because riding causes friction, which is part of the common theory.

(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires. -> correct: this experiment will show whether the rain water reacts with pavement or not. If such a chemical reaction takes place and subsequently the tires are worn down, the scientist's theory holds.

C, D, and E are easy to strike out as those choices do not tackle the sought-after reaction mentioned in choice B.

Shobhit7 · Answer

Test chemicals on idle tire to check whether wear down occurs. If not, then friction and heat from the movement does play a role in tire's wear down.

IMO, Ans B

Posted from my mobile device

chaitralirr · Answer

Stimulus- there scientist have concluded that the bike tires wears out because of the friction and heat generated when the tire hits the road.

A cyclist states that the tires wear out because of the chemicals on the road and in rain water.

To determine if the theory proposed by cyclist is true we need to

We should compare the effect of the chemicals on the tire and the chemicals of the pavement

The comparison will give us the right conclusion to accept the theory

Posted from my mobile device

sukoon9334 · Answer

The correct answer is (A).

Conclusion to be tested: Whether the bike tires wear down because of chemicals of the rain and the road, together reacting with the tire.

(A) Ride a road bike aggressively through spring rain storms.
This will allow us to measure the impact on the tires after the use.

(B) Place chemicals from rain water and pavement on a bike's idle tires.
The placement of this mixture will not help. As the scientist contends that these chemicals wear the tire down. It does not imply that they aggressively react with idle tires and erode them.

(C) Ascertain whether chemicals from the road's composition also reside within the bike's frame.
Even if they did, it would not help us validate whether the road chemicals are playing any significant role here.

(D) Ascertain whether the bike's frame is made of rust-resistant components.
The scientist did not imply that the tires rusted. So, even if it does include such a component, it would not help the conclusion in any manner.

(E) Determine the number of miles that a bike tire can be used on a wet road before wearing down.
A road could be made wet using water from sources other than rain. In such a case, it would not help the experiment as it would not have the necessary chemicals from the rain to validate the results.

Posted from my mobile device

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

There are two different proposed causes of tire decay on bikes: (1) "contact between the tire and pavement" (2) "chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue"

In order to ascertain which theory is correct, we must separate the two proposed causes. This can be done by applying chemicals from rain water and pavement (theory 2) onto a bike's idle tires. It is important that the bike is idle as this rules out theory 1.

A. This method does not isolate the new and proposed theory for why bike tires wear down as the testing method exposes the tires to both potential causes (i.e.: (1) tire and pavement contact (2) chemicals from the road's composition and rain residue).

B. This method isolates the two competing sources of explanations for the tires' erosion. If the tires erode under this scenario, we know that it was not riding on the pavement that caused the erosion but rather it was the exposure to chemicals.

C. This method does not account for both the potential influence of chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue on the surface of the bike tire. Simply because the manufacturer used or did not use chemicals from the road's composition within the bike's frame does not enable us to conclude that the same chemicals will or will not have a corrosive effect if applied to the bike's tires. In other words, testing effects on the bike's frame is entirely unrelated to testing effects on the bike's tires as these two components (i.e., frame and tire) are made of entirely different materials.

D. This method does not account for the potential influence of chemicals from the road's composition and chemicals from rain residue on the surface of the bike tire. Simply because the manufacturer used or did not use rust-resistant components for the bike's frame does not enable us to conclude what effect water may have on the bike's tires. In other words, testing effects on the bike's frame is entirely unrelated to testing effects on the bike's tires as these two components are made of entirely different materials.

E. Without any useful frame of reference (such as the number of miles a tire can be used on a dry road or the number of miles a tire can be used in a grass field without the chemicals of a typical road), it is impossible to make any logical conclusion about whether friction or chemicals are causing the decay of the tire.

After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears do

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

After thousands of miles of use, the tread on many bike tires wears do

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards