ASVAB General Science Practice Test 2
The sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s surface primarily in the form of:
The sun’s energy reaches earth in the form of visible light. Some ultraviolet radiation does reach the Earth’s surface, but much of it is blocked by the ozone layer and particles in the atmosphere.
Plant and animal cells both have cell membranes and nuclear membranes. However, plant cells have a structure that animal cells do not, known as a:
Plants have rigid cell walls composed of cellulose and lignin which are used for support. Animal cells do not have cell walls. Another structure that plants have and animals do not is the chloroplast, which contains chlorophyll.
Water has a heat capacity of 4.2 J/g*C. This means that to heat up 100 mL of water 1 degree Celsius, we need:
The heat capacity tells us how much energy is need to raise the temperature of one gram of substance by one degree. Remember, water has a mass of 1g per cubic centimeter (mL), and thus we have 100 grams of water. Thus, 100g*1 C *4.2 J/g*C = 420 Joules required.
Which of the following is a characteristic of the tundra ecological biome?
The tundra environment is characterized by very low year-round temperatures, low to moderate rainfall, and shrubs and short trees. Countries that are predominantly tundra include Canada and Russia.
Which of the following time periods is the longest?
In the geologic time scale, and eon encompasses 500 million years, whereas an era encompasses 100-150 million years. Periods and ages are much shorter, in the range of 1-10 million years.
The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. About many years ago did life first appear?
There are many arguments about when life first appeared on Earth, with some estimates placing life starting as long ago as 3.8 billion years. The generally accepted estimate is 3.5 billion years ago, and these first life forms were single celled organisms and RNA molecules that could self replicate.
If one tectonic plate slides under another, the process is known as:
The process of one tectonic plate sliding under another is known as subduction. When neither plate moves under the other, the result is compression, and the two colliding plates will form mountains (a process known as orogenesis).
If a bowling ball is pushed with 20 Newtons of force and has a mass of 4 kg, what is its initial acceleration?
The equation to calculate acceleration from force is F = ma. Given a force of 20 N, and a mass of 4 kg, we can find that 20 N/4kg = 5m/s^2 acceleration.
When a human cell divides in mitosis, the two daughter cells will each have:
The human genome has 23 pairs of chromosomes, meaning that each cells has a total of 46 chromosomes. In mitosis, each daughter cell has a full copy of the parents DNA, and will also have 46 chromosomes.
A train travels at 25 mph for 3 hours. How far did the train move?
If a train is moving at 25 mph, then each hour it will travel 25 miles. If it travels for 3 hours, then it must have gone 25 x 3 = 75 miles.
Muscles in the human body require what energy compound to function?
Muscles consume ATP in order to function, which is the primary energy molecule found in the body. ATP can be produced from many sources, but the most common one is ATP production from glucose (sugar).
Which of the following statements about the Earth is true?
The mantle is the largest segment of the Earth’s structure, and takes up the most space by volume. The crust is interestingly not the only solid part of Earth, the inner core is also solid, and is believed to be made up of a mixture of iron and nickel.
Plants are autotrophs, meaning that they:
Autotrophs are organisms that are able to produce their own food. On the other hand, heterotrophs are organisms that must consume other organisms to survive.
A solution contains 0.1 molar hydrogen ions (H+). This means the solution is likely:
If a solution contains hydrogen ions, then it will be acidic, which means low pH. We can calculate the pH with the pH equation, where pH = -log (H+), or we can use our intuition. 0.1 molarity of ions is quite strong, and we would expect it to be a strong acid, which would mean it must be below pH 2.0.
If an unbalanced force acts on an object, then the object will begin to accelerate according to:
Newton’s second law states that if an unbalanced force acts on an object, it will begin to move according to Force = mass x acceleration. On the other hand, Newton’s first law states that an object will remain at rest unless acted upon by a force. Kepler’s laws are related to planetary motion!
Muscles in the human body require what energy compound to function?
Muscles consume ATP in order to function, which is the primary energy molecule found in the body. ATP can be produced from many sources, but the most common one is ATP production from glucose (sugar).
In an electromagnetic wave, as the frequency of the wave becomes greater, what becomes shorter?
In wave physics, ? = v/f, where ? is the wavelength and f is the frequency. As a result, as frequency increases, the wavelength must decrease if the velocity stays the same (which it does, because velocity is an independent property in this equation).
In the lily flower, the red color is dominant and the white color is recessive. This means that if you cross a homozygous red flower with a white one, the offspring will be:
If a gene is dominant, then that means the crossing of a homozygous red flower with a white flower will result in all red offspring (who will be heterozygous).