MCAT PREPARATION – QUANTITATIVE REASONING/PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Mr. Carlos Ortiz | VICTORIA POPP

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 PP
OKAY Victoria, this PART 2 of PrePacket 1 – it picks up where Part 1 left off. Again,
you’ll find varying levels of difficulty. When we meet for our first session tomorrow, I’ll
know what you’ve found EASY and what you’ve found CHALLENGING. As before:
You will find a bit of physics along with some chemistry and biology
questions. While the focus is on the fundamentals of physics units,

1.2
dimensional analysis, and basic conversions, we need to start addressing the
core chemistry and biology topics and now is not too soon to do just that.
Read through the following pages carefully and best of luck answering the
questions.
NOTA BENE (NB): Several BLANKS are left for you to fill – the correct words for
MOST OF THESE BLANKS are all provided in a WORD BANK at the top of each page.
NB is Latin shorthand
Bring the completed packet along with you on Thursday. Best of luck, Vic!
for “take notice, pay
special attention.”

# of Questions: 9
Topics: PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY
Time: Will vary: Anywhere from 60-180 minutes
TBCB: NEXT SESSION
Notes/Instructions: MCAT BIOLOGY – WARM UP (WU) QUESTSIONS!
Check these off as we
complete them. PHYSICS: Units

BIOLOGY: Functional Organization of the Human

Body and Control of the “Internal Environment”

PHYSICS: Conversions & Continuity

CHEMISTRY: Ideal Gas Law

CHEMISTRY: Boyle’s Law

PrePacket 1.2

11 Metabolic Processes: The End Result

a As metabolic processes increase in frequency and speed inside tissue cells, which of the following
occurs?

A. A CO2 concentration gradient builds inside the tissue cells. The CO2 then diffuses across the space

MCAT PREPARATION – QUANTITATIVE REASONING/PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Mr. Carlos Ortiz | VICTORIA POPP
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 between tissue cells and capillaries, crosses capillary cell membranes, enters an RBC, and is
subsequently combined with water and turned into carbonic acid by carbonic anhydrase;
eventually, the CO2 is transported to the lungs in the form of bicarbonate anion.
B. A CO2 concentration gradient is diminished inside the tissue cells. Intracellular CO2 is then picked
up by carbonic anhydrase which combines it with water and turns it into carbonic acid; the carbonic
acid breaks up into hydrogen cation and bicarbonate anion inside tissue cells and the bicarbonate
anion subsequently diffuses across the space between the tissue cells, across the capillary
membrane, into the plasma, and across the RBC membrane into the RBC for transport to the lungs.
C. The pH inside tissue cells drops, resulting in an acidic interior that will eventually lead to cell death.
This is known as programmed cell death or apoptosis.
D. Both A and B
E. A, B, and C

12 The Alveolus (managing CO2)

a Exhalation is necessary for CO2 waste gas to make it into the alveolus for disposal. Which of the
following is likely the reason why exhalation facilitates this CO2 movement?

A. Exhalation leads to an increase in the alveolar concentration of carbonic anhydrase enzyme. The
additional enzyme draws CO2 across the intermembrane space and across the alveolar membrane
so that it builds in the alveolus from where it is eventually exhaled.
B. Exhalation is a dynamic process that regulates CO2 levels in the pulmonary capillaries by increasing
the capillary membrane permeability. This increased permeability, in turn, allows for greater
amounts of CO2 to be passed into the alveolus for disposal.
C. Exhalation reduces the effective amount of CO2 in the alveolus, creating a concentration gradient
that favors CO2 diffusion from the more highly concentrated RBC and capillary plasma locations to
the less concentrated alveolus location where it accumulates until the next exhalation occurs.
D. Both A and B
E. A, B, and C

13 Viruses and Prokaryotes

a Microbiology has brought about several significant advances in methodologies used for identification
of microbes. The Gram stain is the most common bacteriologic stain used in any clinical laboratory.
The procedure for Gram staining is straightforward. It consists of:
1) the application of a crystal violet solution to a heat-fixed bacterial smear on a glass slide for
60 seconds.
2) the slide is then rinsed gently in distilled water, and an iodine solution is added for 30
seconds.
3) the slide is again rinsed, and held under a primarily ethanol wash for 10–15 seconds.
4) the slide is again rinsed, and a solution of safranin is added for one additional minute.
5) after the slide is rinsed a final time and dried, it is then observed with a microscope at 1000 ×
magnification.
What category of cells would appear blue after this staining process?

A. Cells with thick cell walls D. Cells that lack a cell wall.
B. Cells that contain peptidoglycan in their call walls E. none of these would appear blue
C. Cells with thin cell walls.

MCAT PREPARATION – QUANTITATIVE REASONING/PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Mr. Carlos Ortiz | VICTORIA POPP
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PHYSICS: Conversions & 17 Continuity
a Consider the equation
Continuity f = Av
14 Minutes to Seconds where f is the flow rate of a fluid (think
a A bullet is shot upward in the air and is found water or air) through a tube or pipe, A is the
to take 0.7 min to hit the ground. How long, in cross-sectional area of the tube or pipe, and
seconds, was it in the air? v is the velocity or speed of the fluid as it
(no calculator, please) travels through the pipe.

A. 75 There is a fluid dynamics concept called

B. 42 continuity which holds that f must be
constant ALONG ALL LOCATIONS in a closed
C. 35
tube, regardless of variations in diameter:
D. 15
E. 0.75

15 Toy Rockets
a A toy rocket is launched straight upward and
is observed to climb to a peak height of 500
meters. Of course, it then momentarily stops,
and then falls back to the ground. What
approximate total distance has it traveled in
feet by the time it strikes the ground?
(Recall: 1 m = 3.28 ft) (no calculator, please)

A. 180
Law of Continuity
B. 533
f = constant
C. 1,000
D. 1,600
If the cross-sectional area, A, has units of
E. 2,800 square meters (m2), and the velocity, v, has
units of meters per second (m/second),
16 Comparison then the units for flow rate would be meters
cubed per second (m3/s).
a For this question, recall: 1 m = 3.28 ft
Consider the diagram above again and think
How much longer is 5 meters than 10 feet
of water flowing into the tube at the bottom
in: (with calculator, please)
left end and emerging at the top right end. If
the bottom left end has a cross-sectional area
a) feet? b) meters?
A1 = 0.4 m2 and the water flows through that
(show work, please) (show work, please)
end at a rate v1 = 10 m/s, how fast must it
flow out the top right end which has a larger
3.28 ft 1m area A2 = 1 m2? Assume no leaks along the
5 m � 10 ft �
1 m 3.28 ft tube. (no calculator, please)
= 16.4 ft = 3.05 m (hint: two answers can be eliminated right away)

A. 1 m/s
So, to answer "how So, to answer "how
much longer ," we much longer ," we B. 4 m/s
substract: substract: C. 5 m/s
= 16.4 ft - 10 ft = 5 m - 3.05 m D. 10 m/s
= 6.4 ft = 1.95 m E. 12 m/s

MCAT PREPARATION – QUANTITATIVE REASONING/PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Mr. Carlos Ortiz | VICTORIA POPP
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 WORD BANK a “multiplier” indicates the word is used THAT MANY TIMES throughout the page.

decreases nRT larger halved volume (x2) constant

inversely torr pressure (x2) pushed P2V2 expands

18 Chemistry Connection: Ideal Gas Law

a In the equation PV = nRT where P = pressure (in atm), V = volume (in L), and T = temperature
(in K). What is the unit for n? (Use the gas constant R = 0.08206 L atm mol-1 K-1)

A. L K
B. L mol
C. mol-1
D. mol2
E. mol

19 Chemistry Connection: Boyle’s Law

a If we were to observe an inflated weather balloon rise after being released
from the surface of the Earth (Vic, the surface is where you and I stand
each day – see the figure to the right), we’d notice it expands, which is
to say its volume increases. This occurs because the pressure of the
surrounding atmosphere decreases with increasing elevation. This
leads to a simple conclusion:

gas volume INCREASES as the

pressure exerted on the gas DECREASES.
British chemist Robert Doyle (1627-1691) is credited with investigating
and elucidating this relationship for us. In a simple, yet elegant
experiment, Boyle used a J-shaped tube with mercury in it. Here’s what
he did:
 He initially put some mercury in the tube and measured the
volume of gas at the closed end. This was the volume remaining
after the atmospheric air had “pushed” down on the mercury via
the OPEN END of the tube with a pressure equal to 760 torr
causing the Hg to rise into the closed end.
 He then added enough mercury via the OPEN END to effectively DOUBLE the pressure
(atmospheric 760 torr PLUS 760 torr of the mercury he added). He noticed the volume of gas
at the closed end had halved. Here’s a figure of his setup:
From these results, Boyle formulated his law
which states:
for a fixed quantity of gas at a constant
temperature, T, the volume, V, of the gas is
inversely proportional to its pressure, P
When two measurements are inversely
proportional, one gets smaller as the other gets
larger. An equation of Boyle’s law can take two
forms:
1) PV = constant OR 2) P1V1 = P2V2
From Boyle’s results, it can reasonably be
inferred that 1 mm Hg exerts a pressure of 1
torr.

MCAT PREPARATION – QUANTITATIVE REASONING/PHYSICS, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Mr. Carlos Ortiz | VICTORIA POPP
PLEASE CONTINUE ON THE NEXT PAGE >
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