What best describes the challenges of office papers?

Question

Options

• AToner needs to be absorbed by the paper so laser paper has a special porous surface coating.
• BInk is liquid and toner is dry. so office paper needs to be designed for each technology and those
• CInk is absorbed, and toner is heated, so office paper needs to handle both technologies.
• DInk and laser printing have the same paper requirements, so office paper just needs to be cheap.

• A
  4% (1)
• B
  92% (23)
• D
  4% (1)

Explanation

Option B is correct because inkjet printing uses liquid ink that must be absorbed into the paper's surface, while laser printing uses dry toner powder that is electrostatically deposited and then heat-fused onto the paper - two fundamentally different physical processes that place competing demands on paper design.

Option A is wrong because it reverses the technology: it's inkjet paper that requires a porous/coated surface to absorb liquid ink, not laser paper. Toner doesn't get absorbed at all - it gets melted onto the surface.

Option C is misleading because while it correctly describes the mechanisms (ink is absorbed, toner is heated), it implies a single sheet of office paper can adequately handle both - which undersells the actual challenge. The point is that the requirements are in tension, not that one paper solves both.

Option D is wrong because inkjet and laser printing have distinctly different paper requirements; treating them as equivalent leads to poor print quality or paper jams.

Memory tip: Think "wet vs. dry" - wet ink needs to soak in (inkjet = absorb), while dry toner gets dried on with heat (laser = fuse). Because the physics differ, the paper must differ too.

No community discussion yet for this question.