Free GED-SCIENCE sample questions

Correct answer: Polyester, a synthetic polymer fiber.

Synthetic fibers like polyester are derived from petroleum and are essentially plastics. When burned, they melt and form a hard bead, produce black smoke, and have a chemical smell. Natural fibers like cotton burn to a fine ash, and wool sizzles and smells like burning hair, leaving a brittle ash.

Correct answer: 1 red : 2 roan : 1 white

A cross between two heterozygous roan cattle (RW x RW) can be visualized with a Punnett square. The possible genotypes are RR, RW, and WW. The phenotypic ratio will be 1 red (RR), 2 roan (RW), and 1 white (WW) because R and W are codominant, meaning both traits are expressed in the heterozygote.

Correct answer: The windward side is wet and cool; the leeward side is dry and warm.

This phenomenon is known as the rain shadow effect. Moist air from the ocean is forced to rise up the windward side of the mountain, causing it to cool and condense, leading to precipitation (rain or snow). As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms and becomes very dry, creating a desert-like or arid climate.

Correct answers: Increase the rate of the reaction.; Decrease the activation energy.

A catalyst's primary function is to speed up a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.

Catalysts increase the reaction rate by providing an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy, which is the minimum energy required to start the reaction.

Correct answer: False

This statement is false for two reasons. First, energy flows from producers (like plants) to consumers (like herbivores and carnivores). Second, matter is not destroyed; it is conserved and recycled within the ecosystem by decomposers.

Correct answer: Runoff from agricultural fields containing excess nutrients from fertilizers is causing the algae to overpopulate.

The case study provides strong evidence for this conclusion. The high levels of nitrates and phosphates (key components of fertilizer) in the lake, the timing after rainfall (which causes runoff), and the location of the stream running through fertilized fields all point to agricultural runoff as the cause. This process is called eutrophication.

Correct answer: 11,460 years

After one half-life (5,730 years), 50% of the Carbon-14 would remain. After a second half-life, half of the remaining 50% would decay, leaving 25%. Therefore, the fossil has undergone two half-lives. The age is 2 * 5,730 years = 11,460 years.

Correct answer: A mid-ocean ridge where new crust is created.

Divergent boundaries are where tectonic plates pull apart from each other. This process allows magma from the mantle to rise to the surface, cool, and form new oceanic crust, creating features like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Folded mountains form at convergent boundaries, and subduction zones also occur at convergent boundaries.

Correct answer: The cells would swell and potentially burst as water rushes into them.

Pure water is a hypotonic solution compared to the cytoplasm inside red blood cells. Due to osmosis, water moves from an area of higher water concentration (the pure water) to an area of lower water concentration (inside the cell) across the semi-permeable cell membrane. This influx of water would cause the cells to swell and likely burst (a process called hemolysis).

Correct answer: Acceleration

Newton's Second Law of Motion is mathematically stated as F = ma, where F is the net force, m is the mass of the object, and a is its acceleration. Therefore, acceleration is the correct term to complete the formula.