PAAET Nursing and Health Sciences Aptitude Test flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Mitochondrion

Double-membraned organelle whose inner folds, the cristae, host oxidative phosphorylation and produce most of the cell's ATP from glucose and oxygen.

Osmosis

Net movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration.

Mitosis

Nuclear division that produces two daughter cells with the same diploid chromosome number as the parent cell, used for growth and tissue repair.

Cardiac output

Volume of blood pumped by one ventricle per minute; it equals heart rate multiplied by stroke volume and is about five litres at rest.

Resting membrane potential

Voltage across a neuron's membrane when it is not firing, about minus seventy millivolts, maintained mainly by potassium leak and the sodium-potassium pump.

Codominance

Condition in which both alleles are fully expressed in a heterozygote, as in AB blood type, rather than one allele masking the other.

Mole

Amount of a substance containing 6.022 times ten to the twenty-third particles; its mass in grams equals the substance's molar mass.

Molarity

Concentration expressed as moles of solute per litre of solution; diluting with solvent changes the volume but not the number of moles.

pH

Negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration; values below seven are acidic, seven is neutral, and above seven is basic at 25 degrees Celsius.

Neutralization reaction

Reaction between an acid and a base that produces a salt and water, because hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions combine to form water.

Alkane

Saturated hydrocarbon containing only single carbon-carbon bonds, with general formula CnH2n+2, such as methane, propane, and butane.

Avogadro's law

Equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules, so one mole occupies 22.4 litres at STP.

Quadratic formula

x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c, all divided by two a, for ax squared plus bx plus c equals zero.

Median

Middle value of a data set arranged in order; when the count is even, it is the mean of the two central values.

Standard deviation

Measure of how far data values typically lie from the mean of the set; it is the square root of the variance.

Compound interest

Growth calculated as A equals P times one plus r over n raised to nt, so that accumulated interest itself earns interest.

Direct proportion

Relationship in which two quantities increase together at a constant ratio, so that y equals k times x for some fixed constant k.

Slope of a line

Change in y divided by change in x between two points; parallel lines share the same slope and perpendicular slopes multiply to minus one.

Ohm's law

The current through a conductor is directly proportional to the voltage across it, V equals I R, provided the temperature stays constant.

Archimedes' principle

The buoyant force on a submerged or floating object equals the weight of the fluid that the object displaces.

Density

Mass per unit volume, rho equals mass divided by volume; an object floats in a fluid when its average density is lower than the fluid's.

Newton's second law

The acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass, F equals m a.

Pascal

SI unit of pressure equal to one newton per square metre; normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is about 101 kilopascals.

Subject-verb agreement

A verb must match its subject in number; phrases inserted between them, such as 'along with the nurses', do not change the subject.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from evidence in a passage rather than stated directly; it must be supported by the text, not by personal opinion.

Active voice

Sentence pattern in which the subject performs the action, as in 'the nurse recorded the data', rather than receiving it.

Comma splice

Fault in which two independent clauses are joined by only a comma; it is corrected with a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction.

Fewer versus less

Use 'fewer' with countable plural nouns such as tablets, and 'less' with uncountable nouns such as fluid, time, or pain.

Average speed

Total distance travelled divided by total time taken for the whole journey; it is not the simple mean of the separate speeds.

Ratio

Comparison of two quantities by division, written a to b; the whole is split into a plus b equal parts.

Syllogism

Logical argument with two premises and a conclusion; the conclusion is valid only if it must follow whenever the premises are true.

Probability

Number of favourable outcomes divided by the total number of equally likely outcomes; for independent events the individual probabilities are multiplied.