Static GK: Science
Static GK: Science is a frequently tested area in CUET General Test. Work through these free NTA-style sample questions with full answers and explanations, then attempt all 40 in a timed practice test to build exam-day speed.
Snapshot
- Static science GK in the General Test is school-level physics, chemistry and biology facts plus "who discovered what" and Indian science and space milestones.
- Questions are one-line recall: units, symbols, common names of compounds, vitamins and deficiency diseases, body organs, planets, inventors.
- The one idea that cracks it: science GK is a set of pairs (vitamin and disease, compound and common name, scientist and discovery), so learn the pairs in tables and drill them.
- This page gives fact tables for each branch, memory hooks, the traps that cost marks, and a rapid-fire quiz with answers.
Part 1 — How CUET tests science GK
Written and reviewed by Devendra Dubey, Mathematics & Commerce faculty at UniDrill (M.Sc. Mathematics, Osmania University · 10 years teaching). Prepared for the CUET UG General Test.
The General Test does not ask you to solve physics problems or balance equations. It asks whether you carry the everyday vocabulary of science: the unit of power, the gas in a fire extinguisher, the gland that makes insulin, the planet with rings. These come from the middle-school science course, so accuracy matters more than depth.
| Pattern | Typical stem | Best approach |
|---|---|---|
| Unit or quantity | "The SI unit of pressure is…" | Table of units in Part 2 |
| Symbol or formula | "Chemical formula of baking soda is…" | Common-names table in Part 3 |
| Vitamin or deficiency | "Scurvy is caused by lack of…" | Vitamin table in Part 4 |
| Organ or function | "The largest gland of the human body is…" | Body facts in Part 4 |
| Discovery | "Who discovered the electron?" | Scientists table in Part 6 |
| Space and planets | "Which planet is known as the Red Planet?" | Planet table in Part 5 |
| Reasoning in a phrase | "Why does the sky look blue?" | Concept lines in Part 2 |
Pause and predict: Pick the odd one out: newton, joule, watt, kilogram. Which one is not a derived unit?
Check your answer: Kilogram is an SI base unit. Newton (force), joule (energy) and watt (power) are derived units.
Part 2 — Physics essentials
Units and quantities
| Quantity | SI unit | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Length | metre | m |
| Mass | kilogram | kg |
| Time | second | s |
| Electric current | ampere | A |
| Temperature | kelvin | K |
| Amount of substance | mole | mol |
| Luminous intensity | candela | cd |
| Force | newton | N |
| Work, energy | joule | J |
| Power | watt | W |
| Pressure | pascal | Pa |
| Frequency | hertz | Hz |
| Electric charge | coulomb | C |
| Potential difference | volt | V |
| Resistance | ohm | Ω |
| Magnetic flux density | tesla | T |
| Capacitance | farad | F |
The seven SI base units are metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole and candela. A light year is a unit of distance, not time.
Key constants and values
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed of light in vacuum | About 3 × 10⁸ m/s |
| Speed of sound in air | About 340 m/s (needs a medium; cannot travel in vacuum) |
| Acceleration due to gravity | About 9.8 m/s² on earth |
| Escape velocity from earth | About 11.2 km/s |
| Time for sunlight to reach earth | About 8 minutes |
| Freezing and boiling point of water | 0 °C and 100 °C (273 K and 373 K) |
| Absolute zero | 0 K, about −273 °C |
| Normal human body temperature | About 37 °C (98.6 °F) |
| Water is densest at | 4 °C |
| Audible sound range | 20 Hz to 20 kHz |
| Domestic supply in India | About 220 to 240 V AC at 50 Hz |
Concepts commonly asked
| Phenomenon | Explanation in one line |
|---|---|
| Blue sky | Scattering of blue light by air molecules (Rayleigh scattering) |
| Red sky at sunset | Longer path through air removes blue light, leaving red |
| Rainbow | Dispersion, refraction and total internal reflection in raindrops |
| Mirage and diamond's sparkle | Total internal reflection |
| Optical fibres | Total internal reflection |
| Concave mirror | Used in shaving mirrors, torches and headlights |
| Convex mirror | Wider field of view; rear-view mirrors |
| Convex lens | Corrects hypermetropia (far-sightedness) |
| Concave lens | Corrects myopia (short-sightedness) |
| Echo | Reflection of sound; needs about 17 m minimum distance |
| SONAR | Uses ultrasound to find underwater objects |
| Heat transfer | Conduction (solids), convection (fluids), radiation (no medium needed) |
| Fuse | Wire of low melting point connected in series to protect the circuit |
| Ammeter and voltmeter | Ammeter in series; voltmeter in parallel |
| Transformer | Changes AC voltage; works on mutual induction |
| Radioactive rays | Alpha (helium nuclei), beta (electrons), gamma (electromagnetic waves) |
| Nuclear reactions | Fission splits a heavy nucleus (uranium); fusion joins light nuclei (Sun's energy) |
Memory hook: Colours of the rainbow are VIBGYOR: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Red bends the least.
Beyond the textbook. For the exam: sound travels fastest in solids, slower in liquids and slowest in gases. In reality: the speed depends on how stiff and dense the medium is, which is why sound moves faster in steel than in air.
Part 3 — Chemistry essentials
Elements and the periodic table
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| Lightest element and most abundant in the universe | Hydrogen |
| Most abundant gas in the atmosphere | Nitrogen |
| Most abundant element in earth's crust | Oxygen (then silicon) |
| Most abundant metal in earth's crust | Aluminium |
| Only metal that is liquid at room temperature | Mercury |
| Liquid non-metal at room temperature | Bromine |
| Hardest natural substance | Diamond (a form of carbon) |
| Allotropes of carbon | Diamond, graphite, fullerene, graphene |
| Periodic table framework | 118 elements, 18 groups, 7 periods |
| Modern periodic law | Based on atomic number (Moseley); Mendeleev gave the first periodic table |
| Noble gases | Helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon |
Symbols from Latin names
| Element | Symbol | From |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium | Na | Natrium |
| Potassium | K | Kalium |
| Iron | Fe | Ferrum |
| Copper | Cu | Cuprum |
| Silver | Ag | Argentum |
| Gold | Au | Aurum |
| Lead | Pb | Plumbum |
| Mercury | Hg | Hydrargyrum |
| Tin | Sn | Stannum |
Common names of compounds
| Common name | Chemical name | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Baking soda | Sodium hydrogen carbonate | NaHCO₃ |
| Washing soda | Sodium carbonate | Na₂CO₃·10H₂O |
| Common salt | Sodium chloride | NaCl |
| Caustic soda | Sodium hydroxide | NaOH |
| Quicklime | Calcium oxide | CaO |
| Slaked lime | Calcium hydroxide | Ca(OH)₂ |
| Limestone, marble | Calcium carbonate | CaCO₃ |
| Gypsum | Calcium sulphate dihydrate | CaSO₄·2H₂O |
| Plaster of Paris | Calcium sulphate hemihydrate | CaSO₄·½H₂O |
| Bleaching powder | Calcium oxychloride | CaOCl₂ |
| Blue vitriol | Copper sulphate pentahydrate | CuSO₄·5H₂O |
| Laughing gas | Nitrous oxide | N₂O |
| Dry ice | Solid carbon dioxide | CO₂ |
| Marsh gas, biogas, main part of CNG | Methane | CH₄ |
| Milk of magnesia | Magnesium hydroxide | Mg(OH)₂ |
Acids, bases and everyday chemistry
| Source | Acid |
|---|---|
| Vinegar | Acetic acid |
| Curd, sour milk | Lactic acid |
| Lemon, orange | Citric acid |
| Tamarind, grapes | Tartaric acid |
| Spinach, tomato | Oxalic acid |
| Ant sting | Formic acid |
| Apple | Malic acid |
| Vitamin C | Ascorbic acid |
On the pH scale, 7 is neutral, below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. Human blood is slightly basic, about 7.4. An antacid is a mild base. Acid rain has pH below about 5.6. Aqua regia, a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid and nitric acid in a 3 to 1 ratio, dissolves gold.
| Alloy | Made of |
|---|---|
| Brass | Copper and zinc |
| Bronze | Copper and tin |
| Steel | Iron and carbon |
| Stainless steel | Iron with chromium, nickel and carbon |
| Solder | Lead and tin |
| Amalgam | Mercury with another metal |
Rusting needs iron, oxygen and moisture; galvanisation coats iron with zinc to prevent it. Plastics like polythene and PVC are polymers; Bakelite is a thermosetting plastic, and nylon is a synthetic fibre. LPG is mainly propane and butane. The greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour. The Montreal Protocol (1987) targets ozone-depleting substances, and the Paris Agreement (2015) addresses climate change.
Part 4 — Biology and the human body
Cells and genetics
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who named the "cell" | Robert Hooke (1665, in cork) |
| Cell theory | Schleiden and Schwann, extended by Virchow |
| Nucleus discovered by | Robert Brown |
| Powerhouse of the cell | Mitochondria |
| Protein factories | Ribosomes |
| Packaging and secretion | Golgi apparatus |
| "Suicide bags" | Lysosomes |
| Photosynthesis site | Chloroplast |
| Father of genetics | Gregor Mendel (pea plant experiments) |
| Structure of DNA | Double helix, described by Watson and Crick in 1953 |
| Human chromosomes | 46 (23 pairs); sex chromosomes XX in females, XY in males |
| Blood groups discovered by | Karl Landsteiner |
| Universal donor, universal recipient | O negative, AB positive |
Human body facts
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Largest organ | Skin |
| Largest gland | Liver |
| Largest bone | Femur (thigh bone) |
| Smallest bone | Stapes (in the ear) |
| Number of bones in an adult | 206 |
| Adult teeth | 32 |
| Normal blood pressure | About 120/80 mm Hg |
| Pumping organ | Heart (four chambers) |
| Haemoglobin is in | Red blood cells (carries oxygen; contains iron) |
| White blood cells | Defence against infection |
| Platelets | Blood clotting |
| Insulin made by | Pancreas |
| Master gland | Pituitary |
| Thyroxine from | Thyroid (needs iodine) |
| Adrenaline from | Adrenal glands |
| Filtering unit of the kidney | Nephron |
| Digestion starts in the mouth | Salivary amylase digests starch |
| Bile is made in | Liver, stored in gallbladder |
| Absorption of food | Small intestine |
Vitamins and deficiency diseases
| Vitamin | Source | Deficiency |
|---|---|---|
| A | Carrot, papaya, liver | Night blindness |
| B1 (thiamine) | Whole grains | Beriberi |
| B3 (niacin) | Cereals, meat | Pellagra |
| B12 | Animal products | Pernicious anaemia |
| C (ascorbic acid) | Citrus, amla | Scurvy |
| D | Sunlight, fish liver oil | Rickets in children |
| E | Vegetable oils | Reproductive problems in animals |
| K | Green leafy vegetables | Delayed blood clotting |
| Mineral | Deficiency |
|---|---|
| Iron | Anaemia |
| Iodine | Goitre |
| Calcium | Weak bones and teeth |
Memory hook: A helps you see in the dark (night blindness), C is the sailors' vitamin (scurvy), and D is for soft, bent bones (rickets).
Diseases and their causes
| Cause | Examples |
|---|---|
| Bacteria | Tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, tetanus, plague |
| Virus | Influenza, polio, measles, dengue, rabies, hepatitis, chickenpox, HIV |
| Protozoa | Malaria (Plasmodium, carried by female Anopheles mosquito), amoebic dysentery |
| Fungi | Ringworm, athlete's foot |
Dengue is carried by the Aedes mosquito. Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine (smallpox, 1796); smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.
Plants and ecology
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| Photosynthesis equation | Carbon dioxide + water, in the presence of light and chlorophyll, gives glucose + oxygen |
| Water carried by | Xylem |
| Food carried by | Phloem |
| Pores in leaves | Stomata |
| Ripening hormone | Ethylene |
| Five kingdom classification | Whittaker: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia |
| Binomial nomenclature | Introduced by Linnaeus |
| Energy flow between trophic levels | About 10 percent passes on (Lindeman's 10 percent law) |
| Ozone layer protects from | Ultraviolet radiation |
Part 5 — Space and the solar system
| Planet (order from the Sun) | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 Mercury | Smallest planet, closest to the Sun |
| 2 Venus | Hottest planet; rotates in the opposite direction |
| 3 Earth | The only planet known to support life |
| 4 Mars | Red Planet |
| 5 Jupiter | Largest planet |
| 6 Saturn | Prominent rings |
| 7 Uranus | Tilted on its side |
| 8 Neptune | Farthest planet from the Sun |
Memory hook: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles" (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).
Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. The Moon is the earth's only natural satellite. The Sun is a star; the galaxy containing our solar system is the Milky Way.
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sputnik 1 (1957) | First artificial satellite, Soviet Union |
| Yuri Gagarin (1961) | First human in space |
| Valentina Tereshkova (1963) | First woman in space |
| Apollo 11 (1969) | Neil Armstrong first to step on the Moon |
| ISRO founded | 1969 (Bengaluru headquarters) |
| Aryabhata | India's first satellite, 1975 |
| Rakesh Sharma | First Indian in space, 1984 |
| Chandrayaan-1 | India's first lunar mission, launched 2008 |
| Mangalyaan | India's Mars orbiter, launched 2013 |
| Chandrayaan-3 | Landed near the Moon's south pole on 23 August 2023 |
Part 6 — Scientists, inventions and Indian science
| Discovery or invention | Scientist |
|---|---|
| Law of gravitation, laws of motion | Isaac Newton |
| Theory of relativity, photoelectric effect | Albert Einstein |
| Electromagnetic induction | Michael Faraday |
| Electron | J.J. Thomson |
| Nucleus | Ernest Rutherford |
| Neutron | James Chadwick |
| X-rays | Wilhelm Röntgen |
| Radioactivity | Henri Becquerel |
| Radium and polonium | Marie and Pierre Curie |
| Periodic table | Dmitri Mendeleev |
| Telephone | Alexander Graham Bell |
| Aeroplane | Wright brothers |
| Dynamite | Alfred Nobel |
| Printing press (movable type) | Johannes Gutenberg |
| World Wide Web | Tim Berners-Lee |
| Theory of evolution by natural selection | Charles Darwin |
| Indian scientist | Known for |
|---|---|
| C.V. Raman | Raman effect (1928); Nobel Prize in Physics 1930; National Science Day on 28 February |
| Homi J. Bhabha | Father of India's nuclear programme |
| Vikram Sarabhai | Father of India's space programme |
| A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | Missile and space programme; "Missile Man" |
| S.N. Bose | Quantum statistics (bosons) |
| J.C. Bose | Plant response, crescograph, early radio research |
| S. Chandrasekhar | Chandrasekhar limit; Nobel Prize in Physics 1983 |
| Srinivasa Ramanujan | Mathematician |
| M.S. Swaminathan | Green Revolution in India |
| Verghese Kurien | White Revolution (Operation Flood) |
Beyond the textbook. For the exam: the Green Revolution means higher crop yields (mainly wheat and rice). In reality: it combined high yielding seeds, irrigation, fertilisers and policy support; the White Revolution did the same for milk.
Part 7 — Memory hooks and traps
Hooks
| Hook | Stores |
|---|---|
| "My Very Educated Mother…" | Planet order |
| VIBGYOR | Colours of the rainbow |
| Na K Fe Cu Ag Au Pb Hg | Latin-derived symbols |
| "A night, B beri, C scurvy, D rickets" | Vitamin and disease pairs |
| Fe for blood, I for neck | Iron and iodine deficiencies |
| Ammeter in series, voltmeter in parallel | Meter connections |
Common traps
| Trap | Why it tempts | The truth |
|---|---|---|
| Mass vs weight | Both use kilograms in daily talk | Mass is in kilograms; weight is a force in newtons |
| Kilogram as a derived unit | It sounds like gram | It is an SI base unit |
| Sound travels fastest in air | Everyday experience | Fastest in solids, slowest in gases |
| Blood and bone | Calcium in bones | Iron in haemoglobin; calcium in bones and teeth |
| Insulin vs thyroxine | Both are hormones | Insulin from pancreas; thyroxine from thyroid |
| Vitamin C vs D | Both linked to disease | C: scurvy; D: rickets |
| Washing soda vs baking soda | Both are sodium compounds | Washing soda is Na₂CO₃·10H₂O; baking soda is NaHCO₃ |
| Pluto as a planet | Older books | Dwarf planet since 2006 |
| Largest planet vs hottest planet | Both extremes | Jupiter largest; Venus hottest |
| Light year as time | It has the word "year" | It is a unit of distance |
Part 8 — Rapid-fire practice (answers in the table)
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| SI unit of force? | Newton |
| SI unit of frequency? | Hertz |
| Which mirror is used in a vehicle's rear-view? | Convex |
| Which colour bends least in a prism? | Red |
| Which gas is called laughing gas? | Nitrous oxide |
| Chemical name of baking soda? | Sodium hydrogen carbonate |
| What is the symbol of potassium? | K |
| Which metal is liquid at room temperature? | Mercury |
| Acid in lemon? | Citric acid |
| Deficiency of vitamin C causes? | Scurvy |
| Deficiency of iodine causes? | Goitre |
| Organ that produces insulin? | Pancreas |
| Powerhouse of the cell? | Mitochondria |
| Who discovered the electron? | J.J. Thomson |
| Who is the father of genetics? | Gregor Mendel |
| The only planet with life? | Earth |
| Largest planet? | Jupiter |
| First Indian satellite? | Aryabhata |
| Who discovered the Raman effect? | C.V. Raman |
| Which vitamin helps in blood clotting? | Vitamin K |
| Malaria is caused by? | Plasmodium (protozoan) |
| Which particles carry the electric current in a metal wire? | Electrons |
Part 9 — Study routine
- Day 1: units and constants (Part 2); say each unit aloud with its quantity.
- Day 2: the common-names table and symbols (Part 3); cover the formula column and recall it.
- Day 3: vitamins, deficiency diseases and body organ facts (Part 4).
- Day 4: planets, space milestones and scientists (Parts 5 and 6).
- Day 5 and beyond: the rapid-fire table daily for five minutes, then 20 timed questions from the question bank.
Part 10 — Where this connects
These chapters build the ideas behind the facts. Use them if you want the reason, not just the pair.
Practice questions
Now test yourself. 8 free sample questions with explanations. 32 more in the timed practice test.
Q1. A student measures the time period of a simple pendulum. According to the physics of the pendulum, its time period depends on which of the following?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
For small oscillations the time period $T = 2\pi\sqrt{\frac{L}{g}}$ depends only on length L and gravity g, not on the mass of the bob.
Q2. Rickets, a disease causing soft and bent bones in children, results mainly from a deficiency that impairs calcium absorption. Which vitamin's deficiency causes rickets?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Vitamin D promotes calcium and phosphorus absorption needed for bone mineralisation; its deficiency causes rickets in children.
Q3. Which blood cells are primarily responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Red blood cells contain haemoglobin, which binds oxygen in the lungs and carries it to body tissues. White cells fight infection and platelets aid clotting.
Q4. Insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, is secreted by which organ?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Insulin is secreted by the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and lowers blood glucose levels.
Q5. The atomic number of an element is defined as the number of:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
The atomic number equals the number of protons in the nucleus, which defines the element's identity. Protons plus neutrons gives the mass number.
Q6. A pressure cooker cooks food faster at high altitudes mainly because it raises the boiling point of water by trapping steam. Which physical quantity is directly responsible for this increase in boiling point inside the cooker?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Trapped steam raises the internal pressure, and a higher pressure raises the boiling point of water, allowing food to cook at a temperature above 100°C.
Q7. The chemical formula of common table salt is NaCl. Which pair of elements combines to form this compound?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), is formed by the combination of the metal sodium (Na) and the non-metal chlorine (Cl).
Q8. Goitre, a swelling of the neck due to an enlarged thyroid gland, is most directly caused by the dietary deficiency of:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
The thyroid needs iodine to make thyroid hormones; iodine deficiency causes the gland to enlarge, producing goitre.
🔒 32 more questions
Attempt all 40 Static GK: Science questions in real NTA exam format with timer and instant scoring.
Start practice test →