General Science
General Science stays at Class 9–10 level: basic physics, chemistry and biology, human physiology and health, plus a few applied everyday-science questions.
Core areas
- Physics: SI units, motion and Newton's laws, work–power–energy, light (reflection, refraction, lenses), sound, electricity and magnetism, simple machines.
- Chemistry: atomic structure, periodic trends, acids–bases–salts and pH, metals and non-metals, alloys, common compounds such as baking soda, washing soda, plaster of Paris and bleaching powder, and carbon compounds.
- Biology: cell organelles, plant versus animal cell, photosynthesis, respiration, human digestive, circulatory and nervous systems, blood groups, vitamins and deficiency diseases, hormones, disease vectors.
- Everyday science: why the sky is blue, why ice floats, the working of a pressure cooker, optical fibres, vaccines versus antibiotics.
Worked example
A force of 20 N acts on a 4 kg mass. Find the acceleration. Using F = ma, a = F/m = 20/4 = 5 m/s². Write the formula, substitute with units, then state the unit with the answer - step marks survive an arithmetic slip.
Traps
Confusing mass and weight (weight = mg, measured in newtons) and writing "kg" for weight. Mixing mirror and lens formulae. In health questions, malaria is spread by the female Anopheles mosquito and dengue by Aedes aegypti. Deficiency pairs go wrong most often: scurvy is vitamin C, rickets vitamin D, beriberi vitamin B1. Remember that antibiotics act on bacteria, not viruses.