2024 MIT Science Bowl High School Invitational

Round 1
TOSS UP

1) EARTH AND SPACE Multiple Choice Which of the following silicate classes best
describes quartz?

W) Nesosilicate (Ness-o-silicate)
X) Cyclosilicate
Y) Inosilicate (Eye-no-silicate)
Z) Tectosilicate (tech-to-silicate)

ANSWER: Z) Tectosilicate (tech-to-silicate)

BONUS

1) EARTH AND SPACE Short Answer What technique do astronomers often employ
in order to correct for atmospheric distortion when observing distant stars?
ANSWER: Adaptive Optics

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2) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Which of the following hydrocarbons contains the

most carbon atoms per molecule?

W) Methane
X) Ethane
Y) Propane
Z) Butane

ANSWER: Z) Butane

BONUS

2) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice On a phase diagram, a negative slope for the phase
boundary between liquid and solid indicates which of the following?

W) The solid has greater heat capacity than the liquid

X) The liquid has greater heat capacity than the solid
Y) The solid has greater density than the liquid
Z) The liquid has greater density than the solid

ANSWER: Z) The liquid has greater density than the solid

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3) BIOLOGY Short Answer Hibernation and estivation are both examples of what
physiological state of decreased activity and metabolism?
ANSWER: Torpor

BONUS

3) BIOLOGY Short Answer Identify all of the following three amino acids that are
most likely to be stable in the hydrophobic regions of a plasma membrane protein:

1) Tyrosine
2) Threonine
3) Tryptophan

ANSWER: 3 only

TOSS UP

4) MATH Multiple Choice Katelyn makes the following remark: "if A = 10, then I
like chemistry." Which of the following sets of conditions, if met, makes Katelyn’s
remark false?

W) A does not equal 10 and Katelyn likes chemistry

X) A equals 10 and Katelyn does not like chemistry
Y) A does not equal 10 and Katelyn does not like chemistry
Z) Katelyn’s remark is always false because the statements are not logically related

ANSWER: X) A equals 10 and Katelyn does not like chemistry

BONUS

4) MATH Short Answer There are 120 distinct five-digit numbers that can be formed
by using each of the digits 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 exactly once. What is the average of the
least and greatest of these numbers?
ANSWER: 65556

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5) ENERGY Short Answer Researchers at the Davis Lab have been studying ribo-
some biogenesis. Place the following three cell compartments in the order that a
newly forming ribosome would pass through as it moves to it’s final location:

1) Nuclear pore
2) Nucleolus
3) Cytoplasm

ANSWER: 2, 1, 3

BONUS

5) ENERGY Multiple Choice MIT Scientists at the Ribbeck Lab are studying bac-
terial autoinducers that allow bacteria to communicate with each other. Which of
the following processes, which involves autoinducers, are they studying?

W) Taxis
X) Quorum sensing
Y) Horizontal gene transfer
Z) Endospore formation

ANSWER: X) Quorum sensing

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6) PHYSICS Short Answer Two stars with masses M and 4M circularly orbit a
common center of mass. If the smaller mass has centripetal acceleration a, what is
the acceleration of the larger mass, in terms of a?
ANSWER: a/4

BONUS

6) PHYSICS Short Answer The hydrogen fluoride molecule has a bond length of 95
picometers. To one significant figure, the center of mass of hydrogen fluoride is how
many picometers away from the hydrogen atom? Assume the masses of the hydrogen
and fluorine atoms are 1 atomic mass unit and 19 atomic mass units, respectively.
ANSWER: 90

TOSS UP

7) EARTH AND SPACE Short Answer What rock would be formed from limestone
due to partial replacement of calcium with magnesium?
ANSWER: Dolomite (ACCEPT: Dolostone)

BONUS

7) EARTH AND SPACE Multiple Choice Which of the following constellations does
NOT intersect the ecliptic?

W) Taurus
X) Sagittarius
Y) Aries
Z) Aquila

ANSWER: Z) Aquila

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8) MATH Short Answer What is the side length of a cube with surface area numer-
ically equivalent to one-sixth of its volume?
ANSWER: 36

BONUS

8) MATH Short Answer Line l divides the area of parallelogram ABCD in half. Iden-
tify all of the following three statements that must be true about this configuration:

1) l is parallel to two sides of ABCD

2) l passes through the intersection between AC and BD
3) l divides the perimeter of ABCD in half

ANSWER: 2 and 3 (ACCEPT: All but 1)

TOSS UP

9) BIOLOGY Short Answer What amino acid, a metabolic product of cysteine, is

encoded by the RNA triplet AUG?
ANSWER: Methionine

BONUS

9) BIOLOGY Multiple Choice Which of the following families of viruses has a single
stranded RNA genome?

W) Adenoviridae (AH-den-oh-veer-uh-day)
X) Herpesviridae (HER-pees-veer-uh-day)
Y) Poxviridae (POX-veer-uh-day)
Z) Coronaviridae (CORE-oh-na-veer-uh-day)

ANSWER: Z) Coronaviridae (CORE-oh-na-veer-uh-day)

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10) ENERGY Short Answer Engineers at MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics

are developing cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries. Which electrode in a lithium-ion
battery uses a cobalt oxide to help convert lithium cations into neutral metallic
lithium?
ANSWER: Cathode

BONUS

10) ENERGY Short Answer Computer scientists at MIT CSAIL are using a method
called Adam to train large language models. Adam is a stochastic variant of what
general algorithm in machine learning that iteratively minimizes the objective func-
tion?
ANSWER: Gradient Descent

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11) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Which of the following 0.1 molar aqueous solutions
will not form a precipitate upon addition of hydrochloric acid?

W) Ammonium nitrate
X) Silver (I) nitrate
Y) Lead (II) nitrate
Z) Mercury (I) nitrate

ANSWER: W) Ammonium nitrate

BONUS

11) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Which of the following real gases has the highest
molar volume at room temperature and standard pressure?

W) Helium
X) Neon
Y) Argon
Z) Krypton

ANSWER: W) Helium

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12) PHYSICS Multiple Choice Jacob is throwing darts at a board, with the goal
of hitting as many darts at the center of the board. However, all of Jacob’s darts
land erratically across the dartboard! Which of the following best describes Jacob’s
throwing pattern?

W) Accurate and precise

X) Inaccurate and precise
Y) Accurate and imprecise
Z) Inaccurate and imprecise

ANSWER: Z) Inaccurate and imprecise

BONUS

12) PHYSICS Short Answer Rank the following three metallic mediums at room
temperature by increasing speed of sound:

1) Aluminum
2) Mercury
3) Gold

ANSWER: 2, 3, 1

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13) ENERGY Short Answer Scientists at MIT’s Kavli Institute are studying the
expansion of the universe by observing distant high-redshifted galaxies. In general
relativity, the accelerating expansion of the universe is parametrized by what con-
stant?
ANSWER: Cosmological constant (ACCEPT: Lambda, Dark energy constant)

BONUS

13) ENERGY Multiple Choice Researchers at the MIT Methane Network are re-
searching ways to remove methane from the atmosphere using special low-cost sili-
cate microfilters. Which of the following best describes how these microfilters trap
methane from the atmosphere?

W) Acidic sites inside the microfilters bond with methane molecules

X) Basic sites inside the microfilters bond with methane molecules
Y) Small pores inside the microfilters trap methane molecules
Z) Grooves etched onto the microfilters’ surface capture methane molecules

ANSWER: Y) Small pores inside the microfilters trap methane molecules

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14) PHYSICS Short Answer The plates on a parallel plate capacitor are brought
apart to twice their initial distance of separation without changing the plates or
charge stored on either plate. By what factor does the capacitance stored by the
capacitor change?
ANSWER: 0.5 (ACCEPT: 21 )

BONUS

14) PHYSICS Short Answer Laurie is driving at 30 meters per second and sees a
deer ahead of her. It takes 300 milliseconds for her to react before she brakes, after
which she begins decelerating at 5 meters per second squared. How far, in meters,
does she travel after first seeing the deer before she comes to a stop?
ANSWER: 99

TOSS UP

15) MATH Multiple Choice Three letters are picked at random without replacement
from a scrabble bag containing two Ms, two Is, and two Ts. What is the probability
the letters to form MIT are drawn in order?

W) 1/27
X) 1/15
Y) 1/9
Z) 1/6

ANSWER: X) 1/15

BONUS

15) MATH Short Answer Phoebe is thinking of a number that has three positive
integer factors, including itself. When she subtracts four from this number, it has
two positive integer factors. What was Phoebe’s original number?
ANSWER: 9

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16) CHEMISTRY Short Answer In the molecule carbon monoxide, what is the formal
charge on the oxygen atom?
ANSWER: +1

BONUS

16) CHEMISTRY Short Answer The nuclear fission of uranium-233 is triggered by

the capture of a neutron, producing xenon-137, 3 more neutrons, and an unknown
nuclide. What is the atomic mass in atomic mass units of the unknown nuclide?
ANSWER: 94

TOSS UP

17) BIOLOGY Short Answer Imbibition in seeds causes a certain hormone that
inhibits germination to be washed out. When isolated and tested on a mature plant
cell, this hormone was responsible for closing stomata and is acidic in nature. What
is the likely identity of this hormone?
ANSWER: Abscisic Acid (ABA)

BONUS

17) BIOLOGY Short Answer Identify all of the following three genetic diseases that
display an autosomal recessive form of inheritance:

1) Albinism
2) Phenylketonuria (read: feh-nuhl kee-tuh-nur-ee-uh)
3) Huntington’s

ANSWER: 1 and 2

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18) EARTH AND SPACE Multiple Choice Which of the following gases would NOT
contribute to the greenhouse effect?

W) Homonuclear diatomic gas

X) Heteronuclear diatomic gas
Y) Homonuclear triatomic gas
Z) Heteronuclear triatomic gas

ANSWER: W) Homonuclear diatomic gas

BONUS

18) EARTH AND SPACE Multiple Choice Astrophysicists predict that recombina-
tion between electrons and protons occurred when the universe had cooled to about
3000 kelvin. To the nearest power of ten, by what factor has the universe’s surface
red-shifted since then?

W) 10−3 (read: Ten to the power of negative three)

X) 10−1 (read: Ten to the power of negative one)
Y) 101 (read: Ten to the power of one)
Z) 103 (read: Ten to the power of three)

ANSWER: Z) 103 (read: Ten to the power of three)

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19) BIOLOGY Multiple Choice Which of the following is NOT characteristic of most
K-selected species?

W) Semelparous
X) Limited by density dependent factors
Y) Type 1 survivorship curve
Z) Optimized for living near carrying capacity

ANSWER: W) Semelparous

BONUS

19) BIOLOGY Short Answer Identify all of the following three pairs of animal groups
in which the first group of animals contains the second group:

1) Echinodermata (eh-KY-no-derm-ought-ah) and Asteroidea

2) Protostomia and Bilateria (bye-la-TUHR-ee-ah)
3) Pancrustacea and Myriapoda (MEER-ee-ah-pode-ah)

ANSWER: 1 only (ACCEPT: All but 2 and 3)

TOSS UP

20) MATH Short Answer Mitchell writes an increasing arithmetic sequence with
integer terms that has its first term equal to 2. If the unit digits of the sequence
cycle between two values, what is the smallest possible value for the fourth term?
ANSWER: 17

BONUS

20) MATH Short Answer How many space diagonals are in a regular dodecahedron,
which has 12 faces, 20 vertices, and 30 edges?
ANSWER: 100

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21) PHYSICS Short Answer A particle travels through the three-dimensional poten-
tial V (x, y, z) = 17 + 5x (read : V of x, y, z equals 17 plus 5 x). Using i j k notation,
what is the unit vector of the particle’s acceleration?
ANSWER: −i (DO NOT ACCEPT: (−1, 0, 0))

BONUS

21) PHYSICS Short Answer A large tank is filled with water up to a height of 2.5
meters and a small hole is poked in the bottom of the tank. What is the speed, in
meters per second to one significant figure, at which water leaves the tank through
the hole?
ANSWER: 7

TOSS UP

22) CHEMISTRY Short Answer The vapor pressures of liquid water and ice are
equivalent at what point on the phase diagram of water?
ANSWER: Triple point

BONUS

22) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Yufei has designed a boat and would like to utilize
cathodic protection in order to prevent its hull from corroding. If the boat is made
of steel, which of the following metals could be used as a sacrifical anode?

W) Nickel
X) Copper
Y) Zinc
Z) Tin

ANSWER: Y) Zinc

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23) EARTH AND SPACE Short Answer In refracting telescopes, what term describes
the unequal bending of different colors due to their differing wavelengths, which can
often distort images?
ANSWER: Chromatic Aberration

BONUS

23) EARTH AND SPACE Short Answer Identify all of the following three factors
that would increase the likelihood of mass wasting:

1) Three days of heavy rainfall

2) Rounder sediment grains
3) An extreme cold snap after an afternoon of light rain

ANSWER: All

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