#19 - Except

[emilyrk]

Hi there! I am confused as to why A is correct and E is not.

(A) From "Neutrinos, which come in three types, are by far the most numerous kind of particle in the universe" I inferred that Nuetrinos, because they are the most numerous kind of particle, they are more numerous than non-Nuetrinos.

For (E), I cannot find where in the article it explicitly says or implies that dark matter accounts for a "large portion" of the universe's gravitational force. The last paragraph says that the Nuetrinos theory would only account for 20% of the universe's missing mass and that is not a large portion.

Can you please tell me where I am going wrong? Thanks!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Emily!

For (A), you are correct that the passage tells us that neutrinos are the most numerous kind of particles in the universe, but that doesn't necessarily mean they outnumber non-neutrinos. Let's say that there are 4 types of particles in the universe (this is not actually true, but thankfully the LSAT is not testing our science knowledge!): neutrinos, electrons, photons, and quarks. If the universe consists of 40 neutrinos, 20 electrons, 20 photons, and 20 quarks, then the neutrinos would be the most numerous kind of particle because there are 40 of them but only 20 of each of the other types. But neutrinos would not outnumber non-neutrinos because the non-neutrinos altogether add up to 60. So you're have 60 non-neutrinos (20 electrons + 20 photons + 20 quarks) but only 40 neutrinos. This is a common numbers and percentage concept that is tested on the LSAT. You can have a plurality (more than any other single entity) without having an absolute majority (more than half of whatever is being split among those entities).

For (E), as you found, the last paragraph tells us that neutrinos could only account for about 20 percent of the universe's "missing" mass. But it goes on to say "Nevertheless, that is enough to alter our picture of the universe even if it does not account for all of dark matter." So that 20 percent seems like a "large portion" of the universe's gravitational force. Note that there is not a precise definition for a term like "large." It is much more vague than a term like "most," which means "more than half." Twenty percent can be considered a large portion, especially if it is enough to alter our picture of the universe.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey