Based on the description of the equipment used in the studies, the flux of microbeads was most likely increased by doing which of the following?
The correct answer is (A).
Getting to the Answer: Flux is defined in the passage as the "rate of release from the funnel opening." Review the description of the equipment and the diagram of equipment setup to determine how the flux of microbeads might have been increased. According to the passage, "[t]he diameter of the funnel opening could be varied as could the angle of the inclined plane". Microbeads were placed in the funnel, and "[w]hen released from the funnel, the microbeads flowed down the incline". Thus, varying the diameter of the funnel would most likely vary the flux of microbeads.
(A) Correct: increasing the diameter of the funnel opening would increase the rate at which the microbeads were released from the funnel and flowed down the incline
(B) Incorrect: decreasing the diameter of the funnel opening would decrease, not increase, the rate at which the microbeads were released from the funnel
(C) Incorrect: flux is the rate of release from the funnel opening, so increasing the angle of the inclined plane would not increase the flux of microbeads
(D) Incorrect: flux is the rate of release from the funnel opening, so decreasing the angle of the inclined plane would not decrease the flux of microbeads
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