Recall across biology, chemistry, physics, earth science and the human body.
General Science measures how much you already know about the natural world and physical principles. Items are single-sentence factual questions - which organelle produces energy, what the symbol for sodium is, which layer of the atmosphere contains the ozone layer - and there is no experiment to interpret.
The breadth is the challenge. GS spans five content areas at a high-school intro level, so a strong candidate is one who has met the material somewhere before rather than one who can reason deeply about any of it. The good news is that the facts tested are standard and finite, which makes GS the most coachable science section.
GS is not part of the AFQT, so it does not affect enlistment eligibility, but it feeds science and technical line scores that matter for many engineering, medical and technical jobs. It is also the first section on the computer-administered test, which makes it the one that sets your pacing for the rest of the morning.
Section 1 of 10 in our timed mock template. This subtest is not part of the AFQT; it feeds service component and line scores used for job qualification.
The shapes below are what our bank is written against, and what the section is built around. None of them are reproduced from the official test.
Specific, not generic: what the items in this topic test, and the one or two moves that solve most of them.
Cell biology, classification, genetics and ecology dominate. Know the organelle jobs (mitochondrion makes ATP, ribosome builds protein, nucleus stores DNA), that mitosis makes two identical cells while meiosis makes gametes with half the chromosomes, and the basic food-chain and photosynthesis equations. Most biology items are one recall step deep.
20 original questions in this topic set.
Focus on the vocabulary of the subject: element versus compound versus mixture, physical versus chemical change, states of matter and the changes between them, atoms as protons plus neutrons plus electrons, and the symbols of the common elements. Learn to read a chemical formula for what it contains before worrying about reactions.
16 original questions in this topic set.
Expect energy forms and their conversions, motion, force and simple machines, light, sound, electricity and magnetism. The useful habit is to translate words into a relationship - speed is distance over time, weight is mass times gravity, and friction opposes motion - and then check the units in the choices.
16 original questions in this topic set.
The recurring set: layers of the atmosphere, the water cycle, rock types and how they form, plate boundaries and what they produce, weather versus climate, and the ordering of the planets plus the reasons for seasons and moon phases. Seasons come from the tilt of the axis, not from the distance to the sun - a standard distractor.
16 original questions in this topic set.
Match each system to its job: circulatory transports, respiratory exchanges gases, digestive breaks down and absorbs, nervous coordinates, skeletal supports and protects, immune defends. Know the organs of each system and a few classic specifics such as the liver filtering blood and the kidneys producing urine.
12 original questions in this topic set.
Sampled from the General Science bank below, spread across its topics so you can see the range. The correct option is marked, the method is written out, and the tempting wrong options are explained - the same format you get in the app the moment you answer.
Which organelle is known as the powerhouse of the cell because it produces most of the cell's ATP?
Mitochondria carry out cellular respiration, converting glucose and oxygen into ATP, the cell's main energy currency. Because they supply most of the cell's usable energy, they are called the powerhouse of the cell.
What is the chemical formula for water?
A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom, written as H2O. This formula is the same whether water is ice, liquid, or steam.
What is the SI unit of force?
Force is measured in newtons (N), named after Sir Isaac Newton. One newton is the force needed to accelerate a 1 kg mass at 1 m/s².
Which layer of Earth's atmosphere contains the ozone layer that absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation?
The ozone layer lies inside the stratosphere, roughly 15 to 30 kilometers above the surface, where ozone molecules take in ultraviolet radiation. This shielding keeps much of the DNA-damaging UV energy from reaching living things on the ground.
On the clock
GS is 15 items in 8 minutes on our template - roughly 32 seconds each, and most items should take far less. If you find yourself deriving something, you are probably treating a recall item as a reasoning item; take your first defensible answer and move on.
Free General Science practice on this site, graded instantly with explanations. Timed sections, wrong-answer review and the full library are in the app.