STEM Concepts Flashcards

Which gas law states that, at constant temperature, the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional?

Answer: Boyle's Law

Boyle's Law states that P₁V₁ = P₂V₂ at constant temperature, showing an inverse relationship between pressure and volume.

What is the main purpose of an Operating System (OS) in computing?

Answer: Manage hardware resources and provide services to application software

An OS acts as an intermediary between hardware and software, allocating CPU, memory, and I/O resources.

In the periodic table, elements in the same group (column) share which characteristic?

Answer: The same number of valence electrons

Elements in the same group have identical numbers of valence electrons, giving them similar chemical properties.

Which theorem states that every polynomial of degree n ≥ 1 has exactly n roots (counting multiplicity) in the complex numbers?

Answer: Fundamental Theorem of Algebra

The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra guarantees that any non-constant polynomial has exactly as many complex roots as its degree.

During photosynthesis, what is the primary source of electrons used to reduce CO₂?

Answer: Water (H₂O)

Water molecules are split during the light-dependent reactions (photolysis), releasing electrons that ultimately reduce CO₂ to glucose.

A computer program uses a loop that executes n × (n−1)/2 times. What is its Big-O time complexity?

Answer: O(n²)

n(n−1)/2 simplifies to roughly n²/2, and Big-O drops constants, giving O(n²).

Which principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers?

Answer: Pauli Exclusion Principle

The Pauli Exclusion Principle restricts each orbital to at most two electrons, which must have opposite spins.