GED Physical Science Practice Questions, Set 3

1.A teacher stretches a coiled spring toy along a table. Pushing one end in and out sends areas of crowded coils along the spring, in the same direction the hand moved. Which kind of wave travels in this same way?

1. A.Light from a desk lamp
2. B.Radio waves from a phone tower
3. C.Sound from a person’s voice
4. D.Ultraviolet rays from the Sun

2.Light travels about 300,000 km each second. The Sun is about 150,000,000 km from Earth. About how long does sunlight take to reach Earth?

1. A.About 5 seconds
2. B.About 50 seconds
3. C.About 5 hours
4. D.About 8 minutes

3.A seesaw balances when weight × distance from the center is the same on both sides. A 300 N child sits 2 m from the center. Where should a 600 N parent sit on the other side to balance it?

1. A.0.5 m from the center
2. B.1 m from the center
3. C.2 m from the center
4. D.4 m from the center

4.On a bicycle, the pedals turn a front gear with 40 teeth. A chain connects it to a rear gear with 20 teeth, which turns the back wheel. Each full turn of the pedals makes the back wheel turn how many times?

1. A.One half turn
2. B.One full turn
3. C.Two full turns
4. D.Twenty full turns

5.Power (watts) = work (joules) ÷ time (seconds). A small freight elevator lifts a load, doing 12,000 J of work in 20 seconds. What is the elevator motor’s power output?

1. A.600 W
2. B.240,000 W
3. C.60 W
4. D.1,200 W

6.The ideal mechanical advantage of a ramp equals its length divided by its height. A loading ramp is 6 m long and rises 1.5 m to a truck bed. What is the ramp’s ideal mechanical advantage?

1. A.1.5
2. B.4
3. C.7.5
4. D.9

7.Kinetic energy = ½ × mass × speed². A driver speeds up from 30 km/h to 60 km/h. The car’s mass does not change. How does the car’s kinetic energy change?

1. A.It stays the same because mass did not change
2. B.It doubles, just as the speed doubled
3. C.It goes up by 30 units, like the speed
4. D.It becomes four times as large as before

8.A child pulls back the band of a slingshot and lets go, sending a small ball into the air. Which energy change happens as the band snaps forward?

1. A.Elastic potential energy becomes kinetic energy
2. B.Kinetic energy becomes elastic potential energy
3. C.Chemical energy becomes nuclear energy
4. D.Sound energy becomes gravitational energy

9.A wind farm sends electricity to a home, where it charges a phone battery. The phone is later used to play music. Which sequence shows the energy changes in order?

1. A.Electrical → kinetic → chemical → sound
2. B.Chemical → electrical → kinetic → sound
3. C.Kinetic → electrical → chemical → sound
4. D.Kinetic → chemical → electrical → light

10.A cleaning concentrate is mixed as 50 mL of concentrate in 1 liter of total solution. A worker pours 1 liter of this solution into a bucket and adds 1 more liter of water. How does the new mixture compare with the original solution?

1. A.It has half the concentration of the original
2. B.It has twice the concentration of the original
3. C.It has the same concentration as the original
4. D.It has no concentrate left in it at all

11.Red cabbage juice changes color depending on pH. Strong acid: red Weak acid: pink Neutral: purple Weak base: green Strong base: yellow A student adds cabbage juice to baking soda dissolved in water, and it turns green. What does this show about the baking soda solution?

1. A.It is a strong acid with a low pH
2. B.It is neutral, like pure water
3. C.It is a weak base with a pH above 7
4. D.It is a strong base with a pH of 14

12.The equation for photosynthesis is: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + ?O₂ What number belongs in front of O₂ to balance the equation?

1. A.3
2. B.9
3. C.12
4. D.6

13.A water treatment lab mixes 120 g of one solution with 80 g of another in a closed flask. A solid forms and sinks to the bottom. What is the total mass of the flask’s contents after the reaction?

1. A.80 g, the mass of the smaller solution
2. B.200 g, the same total as before mixing
3. C.More than 200 g, because a solid formed
4. D.Less than 200 g, because liquid was used up

14.Bananas contain potassium. The most common form of potassium, potassium-39, has an atomic number of 19 and a mass number of 39. How many neutrons does one atom of potassium-39 have?

1. A.19
2. B.20
3. C.39
4. D.58

15.Silicon is used to make computer chips. It is shiny like a metal, but it is brittle and conducts electricity only partly, less than a metal and more than a nonmetal. On the periodic table it sits along the line between metals and nonmetals. How is silicon classified?

1. A.As a noble gas
2. B.As a metalloid
3. C.As an alkali metal
4. D.As a halogen

16.In a water molecule (H₂O), the oxygen atom and each hydrogen atom share a pair of electrons, and no electrons are fully transferred from one atom to another. What type of bond holds the water molecule together?

1. A.A covalent bond
2. B.An ionic bond
3. C.A metallic bond
4. D.A nuclear bond

17.A science teacher runs electricity through water, and bubbles of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas form at the two wires. Later, the teacher boils a pot of water, and bubbles of water vapor form. Which statement is correct?

1. A.Both are physical changes, because both make bubbles
2. B.Both are chemical changes, because both make a gas
3. C.The boiling makes a chemical change; electricity is physical
4. D.The electricity makes a chemical change; boiling is physical

18.A family’s silver forks develop a dark coating after months in a drawer. The coating forms when silver reacts with sulfur compounds in the air. Which other change is the same kind of change as this tarnishing?

1. A.A silver bar melting in a hot furnace
2. B.A copper roof slowly turning green outdoors
3. C.A silver wire bent into the shape of a ring
4. D.A copper pipe cut into two shorter pieces

19.A camper bends a plastic glow stick. A thin glass tube inside breaks, two liquids mix, and the stick gives off green light for several hours without getting hot. What is happening inside the glow stick?

1. A.A physical change, because the stick only bends
2. B.A physical change, because no heat is given off
3. C.A chemical change, because the liquids react
4. D.A chemical change, because the plastic melts

20.Two people push a stalled car in the same direction. One pushes with 200 N and the other with 150 N. Friction acts against them with a force of 100 N. What is the net force on the car?

1. A.50 N
2. B.250 N
3. C.350 N
4. D.450 N

21.The head of a hammer has worked loose. A carpenter holds the hammer head up and taps the bottom of the wooden handle hard on the floor. The handle stops suddenly, and the head slides farther down onto it. Which idea explains why the head moves?

1. A.Inertia keeps the head moving after the handle stops
2. B.The floor pushes the head up and off of the handle
3. C.Gravity stops acting on the head when it hits
4. D.The handle pulls the head down by magnetic force

22.Weight (N) = mass (kg) × 9.8. A shipping clerk weighs a box with a mass of 50 kg. What is the weight of the box on Earth?

1. A.5.1 N
2. B.59.8 N
3. C.490 N
4. D.4,900 N

23.A cooking pot has a steel body and a wooden handle. After 10 minutes on the stove, the steel sides are too hot to touch, but the wooden handle is only slightly warm. Which explanation is best?

1. A.Wood is a poor conductor, so it slows heat flow
2. B.Wood is a good conductor, so it loses heat fast
3. C.Steel is a poor conductor, so it traps all heat
4. D.Steel blocks heat, so the heat cannot reach wood

24.Campers sit 2 meters from a campfire. Their faces feel hot, even though the air between them and the fire is cool and a breeze blows the smoke away from them. How does most of the heat reach their faces?

1. A.By conduction through the ground
2. B.By radiation from the hot fire
3. C.By convection in the moving air
4. D.By evaporation of water on skin

25.A worker picks up a cold can of soda from a cooler, and the hand soon feels cold. Which statement correctly describes the heat flow?

1. A.Cold flows from the can into the hand
2. B.Heat flows from the can into the hand
3. C.No heat flows, since both are solids
4. D.Heat flows from the hand into the can

26.A runner completes one full 400-meter lap of a track in 80 seconds and finishes exactly where she started. Which statement is correct?

1. A.Her average speed and average velocity are both 5 m/s
2. B.Her average speed and average velocity are both zero
3. C.Her average speed is 5 m/s, but her velocity is zero
4. D.Her average velocity is 5 m/s, but her speed is zero

27.1 m/s is equal to 3.6 km/h. A high-speed elevator travels at 20 m/s. What is this speed in kilometers per hour?

1. A.5.6 km/h
2. B.23.6 km/h
3. C.56 km/h
4. D.72 km/h