UNSA Medicine Entrance Exam key terms

The tendency of a living organism to keep its internal conditions, such as temperature, pH, and blood sugar, within narrow limits despite changes in the outside environment.

The movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration, until concentrations equalize.

The spontaneous net movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration, driven by random molecular motion rather than by an external force.

A protein that speeds up a specific biochemical reaction by lowering its activation energy, without being consumed, and whose activity depends on temperature and pH.

A type of nuclear division producing two genetically identical daughter cells, used for growth and repair in multicellular organisms and for asexual reproduction in some others.

A reduction division that halves the chromosome number and produces four genetically varied gametes, involving one round of DNA replication and two successive nuclear divisions.

A long molecule of DNA combined with proteins, carrying many genes in a linear order; human body cells contain 46, arranged in 23 pairs.

One of the alternative forms of a gene that may occupy the same position on a chromosome, and which may be dominant, recessive, or codominant in its effects.

The particular combination of alleles an organism carries for a given gene or set of genes, which together with environmental influences helps determine observable traits.

The observable characteristics of an organism, such as height or blood type, resulting from the interaction between its genetic makeup and its environment.

The amount of substance containing as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12, that is, about 6.022 times ten to the twenty-third particles.

The mass of one mole of a substance, expressed in grams per mole and obtained by adding the atomic masses of all atoms in its chemical formula.

The calculation of the quantities of reactants and products in a chemical reaction, based on the balanced equation and the mole ratios it expresses.

The reactant that is completely consumed first in a chemical reaction, thereby determining the maximum amount of product that can be formed.

A substance that increases the rate of a reaction by providing an alternative pathway of lower activation energy, while remaining chemically unchanged at the end.

The minimum energy that colliding particles must possess for a reaction to occur; lowering it increases the fraction of collisions that lead to products.

A logarithmic scale from 0 to 14 expressing the acidity of a solution, defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration in moles per litre.

A solution containing a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its conjugate acid, that resists large changes in pH when small amounts of acid or alkali are added.

A chemical change in which a substance loses electrons, often observed as the gain of oxygen or the loss of hydrogen; it is always accompanied by reduction.

A chemical change in which a substance gains electrons, often observed as the loss of oxygen or the gain of hydrogen, and which always occurs alongside oxidation.

The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass, expressed as force equals mass times acceleration.

The energy transferred to or from an object when a force acts on it and it moves along the direction of that force, calculated as force times displacement.

The energy an object possesses because of its motion, equal to one half of its mass multiplied by the square of its speed.

The principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only converted from one form to another, so the total energy of an isolated system stays constant.

A vector quantity equal to the product of an object's mass and its velocity; in the absence of external forces the total momentum of a system is conserved.

For a conductor at constant temperature, the current flowing through it is directly proportional to the potential difference across it, the constant of proportionality being resistance.

A rule that assigns to each element of one set exactly one element of another set; it may be described by a formula, a table, or a graph.

The domain of a function is the set of all input values for which it is defined; the range is the set of all output values it actually produces.

The instantaneous rate of change of a function with respect to its variable, equal to the slope of the tangent line to its graph at a point.

The limit of a sum of many small contributions; geometrically, the definite integral gives the signed area between a curve and an axis.

The exponent to which a fixed base must be raised to produce a given number; for example, the base-ten logarithm of 1000 is 3.

A number between zero and one expressing how likely an event is, computed for equally likely outcomes as the number of favourable outcomes divided by the total number of outcomes.

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something it does not literally denote, to suggest a resemblance, as in calling a person a rock.

A comparison between two unlike things introduced explicitly by words such as like or as, for example, cheeks as red as roses.

A figure of speech that gives human qualities or actions to non-human things, such as animals, objects, or abstract ideas, as when the wind whispers.

The voice or persona that tells a story; the narrator is not the author and may be first-person, participating in the action, or third-person, observing from outside.

The central idea or insight about life that a literary work conveys, usually implied through characters, events, and imagery rather than stated directly.

A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning rather than from an explicit statement; in reading, it means working out meaning implied by the text.

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches, so that no single branch holds all power and each can check the others.

The principle that everyone, including government officials, is subject to the same publicly known laws, which are applied equally and fairly by independent courts.

A system of government in which political authority derives from the consent of the people, typically exercised through free elections, protected rights, and accountable institutions.