General Awareness and General Science
General Awareness and General Science blends static GK (polity, history, geography, economy), basic physics, chemistry and biology, plus awareness of Indian defence and space organisations. Science items are usually class-10 level and concept-based rather than numerical.
Core areas
- Physics: SI units, motion, force, work-energy, heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism.
- Chemistry: atomic structure, periodic trends, acids-bases-salts, common compounds, metals and alloys.
- Biology: cell, human body systems, vitamins and deficiency diseases, plant physiology.
- Polity: Constitution, fundamental rights, Parliament, President, Panchayati Raj.
- Defence and space: DRDO laboratories, missiles, radar, ISRO missions.
Worked example
An astronaut of mass 60 kg stands on the Moon, where g is about 1.6 m/s2. Weight = mg = 60 x 1.6 = 96 N, against 588 N on Earth. The mass stays 60 kg because mass is the quantity of matter; only the gravitational force changes. This single distinction answers many 'weight on the Moon' questions.
Traps
Do not confuse mass with weight, speed with velocity, or atomic number with mass number. Deficiency diseases are easily mixed up: scurvy is vitamin C, rickets is vitamin D, beri-beri is vitamin B1. Watch 'first Indian to...' and founding years. For current affairs, use the latest official review rather than memory of old events.
Key points
- Weight = mg changes with location; mass does not.
- Scurvy = vitamin C, rickets = vitamin D, beri-beri = vitamin B1.
- SI unit of force is newton; of pressure, pascal.
- Fundamental rights are in Part III of the Constitution.
- DRDO is the defence research agency; ISRO handles space.