Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though

Question

Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though each snowflake retains a unique and individual structure. Each snowflake has different contours and facets and cannot be tied back to the group from which they originated. Therefore, it is impossible to identify where a snowflake came from if it travels a great distance.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the chemist’s argument?

A. In some groups of snowflakes, not every snowflake is different.
B. Snowflakes have drastically different chemical compositions but identical structures.
C. Whenever a snowflake forms, it inherits a structural trace from the group it originates from.
D. Many snowflakes in different parts of the country have unique physical structures.
E. Chemists can approximate where a snowflake is from based on its chemical composition.

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Deepakjhamb · Answer

Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though each snowflake retains a unique and individual structure. Each snowflake has different contours and facets and cannot be tied back to the group from which they originated. Therefore, it is impossible to identify where a snowflake came from if it travels a great distance.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the chemist’s argument?

A. In some groups of snowflakes, not every snowflake is different.
B. Snowflakes have drastically different chemical compositions but identical structures.
C. Whenever a snowflake forms, it inherits a structural trace from the group it originates from.
D. Many snowflakes in different parts of the country have unique physical structures.
E. Chemists can approximate where a snowflake is from based on its chemical composition.

answer should be b ) as if snowflakes have drastically different chemical compositions it will not be possbile to identify which one is from which group than they fall apart at a greater distance

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation:

Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though each snowflake retains a unique and individual structure. Each snowflake has different contours and facets and cannot be tied back to the group from which they originated. Therefore, it is impossible to identify where a snowflake came from if it travels a great distance.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the chemist’s argument?

A. In some groups of snowflakes, not every snowflake is different. 
 B. Snowflakes have drastically different chemical compositions but identical structures. 
 C. Whenever a snowflake forms, it inherits a structural trace from the group it originates from. 
 D. Many snowflakes in different parts of the country have unique physical structures. 
 E. Chemists can approximate where a snowflake is from based on its chemical composition.

Question Type:   Strengthen
  Boil It Down:   Each snowflake is unique, and their specific design has nothing to do with where they are originally created. Therefore, we can’t tell where snowflakes are formed based on their designs.
  Goal:    Find the option that best strengthens this chemist’s argument.

Analysis:

We have a pretty solid argument here already:

Evidence 1:  Each snowflake is unique in its design.
 Evidence 2:  Snowflake design has nothing to do with where they were formed originally.
 Evidence 3:   *This is what you’re being asked to find!* 
 Conclusion:  It’s impossible to tell where snowflakes originally come from, especially if they travel a great distance before we find them.

Which option would best help further strengthen this conclusion? Let’s take a closer look at each option:

A. In some groups of snowflakes, not every snowflake is different.
 A is incorrect because it implies that some snowflakes have matches.

B. Snowflakes have drastically different chemical compositions but identical structures.
 B is incorrect because snowflakes do not have identical structures.

C. Whenever a snowflake forms, it inherits a structural trace from the group it originates from.
 C is incorrect because there is no inherent structural trace in a snowflake.

D. Many snowflakes in different parts of the country have unique physical structures.
 D is correct because it supports the chemist’s position that all snowflakes are different and that it is impossible to identify where a snowflake originated from.

E. Chemists can approximate where a snowflake is from based on its chemical composition.
 E is incorrect because the passage indicates that scientists cannot approximate a snowflake’s origin.

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

dhwanit2412 · Answer

I understood the reason for D. But D states that many snowflakes have different structures in different parts. So doesn't it mean that let's say the structure A of snowflake occurs in east and structure B occurs in west so on collectively all are distinct. But the option itself says that different parts have different snowflakes. I think it kind of kills the entire argument of chemist cause the option itself also infers that it concluded that different parts have different particular structure so this throws out the conclusion out of the window.

ReetArora · Answer

@sajjid please explain this. Chose option E for the given question. How to eliminate.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

ReetArora

Hi Let me try to help

Conclusion-It is impossible to identify where a snowflake came from if it travels a great distance why? Because each snowflake is different and even from the snowflake they originate.

Option E says Chemists can approximate where a snowflake is from based on its chemical composition- if they can approximate then that means we have a possibility to identify the origin or we can back trace. So it is a weakener however we have to find a strengthener that can make us believe that it is impossible to find.

Hope this helps

egmat · Answer

Hi dhwanit2412,

Great question, and I can see exactly where the misread is happening. Let's look at  D  very carefully:

'Many snowflakes in different parts of the country have unique physical structures.'

The critical word here is  'unique.'  Unique means one-of-a-kind — no two are alike.

D  is  NOT  saying 'Region A has Type-A snowflakes and Region B has Type-B snowflakes.' That interpretation would indeed weaken the argument, as you correctly noted.

Instead,  D  is saying: whether you look at snowflakes in the East, West, North, or South, every single snowflake everywhere has its own individual, unrepeatable structure.

Think of it this way.  If snowflakes in the East all shared some common structural feature that was absent in the West, you COULD trace origin — that would weaken the argument. But  D  tells us the opposite: snowflakes everywhere are individually unique. There is no regional structural fingerprint.

This strengthens the chemist's conclusion because it eliminates the possibility that geography creates recognizable structural patterns.  If every snowflake across the entire country is structurally one-of-a-kind, then finding a snowflake that traveled a great distance gives you zero structural clues about where it came from — you cannot match it to any region.

Key takeaway:  In  CR , the word 'unique' means individually distinct, not categorically different. Always parse answer choices word by word before interpreting their logical impact.

Common mistake: Misreading 'unique' as meaning 'categorically different by region' rather than 'individually one-of-a-kind.'

Answer: D

Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Chemist: Most snowflakes are produced in groups of thousands, though

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