Question

what is a sphere made up of?
A. two flat surface and one curved surface
b. circular cross section
c. two curved surfaces and a flat curface
d. the great circle

Answer 1

\[\circ\]

Answer 2

Imagine a sphere and try to find those features on/in it.

Answer 3

a

Answer 4

Dodgy question, is this topology, differential topology or what?

(It's clearly not b or d)

Answer 5

its A

Answer 6

two flat surface and one curved surface

Answer 7

I heard you the first time

Answer 8

@nana458

Answer 9

i thought a would make a cylinder

Answer 10

No its a

Answer 11

hold up

Answer 12

ok its b

Answer 13

ok thank you

Answer 14

yea No problem

Answer 15

why not b @estudier

Answer 16

even i thought b

Answer 17

A is false @ObeyChris{~}

Answer 18

I don't think the question is asking for the entire make-up of a sphere, just a particular feature.
A sphere does have a great circle, but it has other circles as well.

Answer 19

I already corrected myself and said its b u idiot so dont mention my name on anything

Answer 20

@ObeyChris{~} I didn't notice your correction. I don't think that is sufficient for me to be an idiot

Answer 21

@ObeyChris{~} sorry also for mentioning your name.

Answer 22

@ObeyChris{~} sorry again for mentioning your name again.
;-)

Answer 23

u good

Answer 24

I'll accept that as an apology for calling me an "idiot." Thank you.

Answer 25

yea and i apologize for callin u a idiot

Answer 26

i think we can rule out A, and c. because a sphere does not have three surfaces

Answer 27

and one can think of a sphere as a(n infinite) sum of (infinitesimal) circular cross-sections, the largest of which are great circles

Answer 28

As far as I am concerned, a sphere has 1 curved surface and that isn't an option, so I am satisfied with what I said to begin with, dodgy question.....

Answer 29

a sphere made up of circular cross-sections

Answer 30

Maybe, but that is not an option.

Answer 31

what do you think the most likely option is @estudier

Answer 32

I think the question is misconceived @UnkleRhaukus

Answer 33

I would also like the original poster to answer my question.

Answer 34

i agree that in the exact wording , none of the answers make sense

Answer 35

Maybe they didn't mean sphere but something else.

Or maybe there is another option, I don't know.

Answer 36

The best option still remains that a sphere has a circular cross-section. That is true and general enough.

Answer 37

Nobody is denying that a sphere has a circular cross section.

The question says that a sphere IS made up of a circular cross section, false.

Answer 38

Why can't you make a sphere out of circular cross-sections?

Answer 39

The question doesn't say that, either.

Answer 40

The question is worded poorly, but I think it has a meaning analogous to "What is the human body made up of?" and one of the options is "water." That is true, water is a constituent part of the human body, so it is made up of it (not entirely, but at least in part.

Some implicit reasoning is always required when interpreting the meaning of linguistic phrases.

Answer 41

Not worded poorly, just a rubbish question (perhaps the poster has not transcribed it properly, who knows?)

Answer 42

I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to reword the question as, "What could you make a circle from?"
(a) and (c) are still ruled out of course, and (d) remains viable if you consider a rotation of the great circle until it describes the entire sphere, but stacking up infinite circular cross-sections (including those degenerate circles called points) will make up a sphere.

Answer 43

All well and good but now you are just rewriting the question to suit the answer.

Which is a pov, but I prefer to answer the question asked.

Answer 44

If it is a multiple-choice question, and we reasonably assume that one of the choices is correct, what process do you use to make the best guess?

Answer 45

I can also assume that the poster has transcribed it incorrectly or the question is just a mistake.

It is not my job to make assumptions, that is the job of the person who posted the question.

Answer 46

I agree, but put yourself in the shoes of the person asking the question.
What if you saw this question on a quiz, and you weren't allowed to ask anybody for help; the clock is ticking and you just want to make a guess and move on. What would you guess to be the correct answer?

Answer 47

This is just hypothetical, I am not in that position so I cannot speculate on what I would do.

I might cross it all out and write "This is wrong" next to it....

Or mark every answer correct

Or mark none correct

Or come back to it later if I had time

Or waste time thinking about what it might mean....

Answer 48

What if it was an online test (as are common these days, and there is no 'crossing out' or the ability to mark every answer?
It's a situation where you have to make your best guess at what the question means to answer it and move on.
I wouldn't recommend wasting time thinking about what it means, an answer has to be given, and a course grade depends on it.
Would you guess at random because you didn't like the phrasing of the question, or would you increase your odds by reinterpreting the question in a form that makes more sense given the answer choices.
I understand your philosophy of not assuming what is meant and to only go with what is given, and to call a poorly-posed question a poorly posed question. I agree completely with that philosophy, but as one who is trying to help others answer questions, I want to give them all the tools available, including thinking about the questions in different ways.

Answer 49

More hypotheticals and more philosophy, I'm afraid.

Your argument boils down to recommending to the original poster that he (possibly) give a wrong answer to a problematic question.

My argument boils down to "It's not my problem" and it isn't.

Answer 50

in multi-choice,
choose the best answer

Answer 51

Or don't waste time with nonsense and just move on...:-)

Answer 52

multichoice is usually nonsense but that dosent mean i can avoid it if i wish to achieve my goals

Answer 53

"multichoice is usually nonsense" -says who?

How does wasting time with nonsense help you to achieve your goals?

Answer 54

well the university will give a bit of paper that will make it easier to get into the career i would like,
multi-choice is not something that will be a component of my career