Question about discretes

[Raiden2012]

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I was wondering whether one should incorporate knowledge we already know in answering this type of questions.

For example,
Boiling point of pentane is 36 degrees celsius, what state is octane in at room temperature?

From the info given, we can only surmise that the boiling point of octane is >36 degrees, meaning that it can either be a liquid or a solid.

However, I know IRL that octane is a liquid at room temperature. So what answer should it be?

This question came from EK 1001 and the answer is liquid. But the explanation provided is that it can either be liquid or solid because the boiling point is >36. Which is useless to me.

So what's the consensus? Thanks!

 

[Charles Darwin]

You should know that C1-C4 are gases, C5-C15 are liquids.

 

[Raiden2012]

You should know that C1-C4 are gases, C5-C15 are liquids.

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was wondering. Should I have used that information you mentioned? Cos if the answer is to be based on the question stem alone, we wouldn't know if it would be liquid or solid at room temperature.

 

[sciencebooks]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was wondering. Should I have used that information you mentioned? Cos if the answer is to be based on the question stem alone, we wouldn't know if it would be liquid or solid at room temperature.

This is going to sound silly, but when people say "discretes" on here, is it the same thing as "freestanding question"? If so, you won't always be able to use the question stem and then usually test memorized information or even seemingly basic knowledge. (In my experience.)

 

[Raiden2012]

Yep, discretes are same as free standing questions. I guess your statement does make sense. But since they provided the background information, I thought we'd have to use it. I would have picked liquid automatically w/o that question stem. I mean, there must have been a purpose for it right lol

 

[sciencebooks]

Yep, discretes are same as free standing questions. I guess your statement does make sense. But since they provided the background information, I thought we'd have to use it. I would have picked liquid automatically w/o that question stem. I mean, there must have been a purpose for it right lol

Lol, yeah, I get what you mean because I covered the answered and solved it first and thought "based on that, liquid or solid." 😛 Maybe it's one of those traps where it leads to people over-thinking?

 

[Raiden2012]

Lol then I hope we never encounter such ambiguous questions