General Science and Technology
General Science and Technology tests basic physics, chemistry, biology, environment, and computer literacy at school-leaving level. Expect unit conversions, body systems, chemical symbols, and everyday technology.
Core rules
- SI units: length metre, mass kilogram, time second, force newton, energy joule, power watt.
- Speed = distance/time; velocity includes direction; acceleration = change in velocity/time.
- Photosynthesis: chlorophyll + CO2 + water + sunlight → glucose + oxygen.
- Acids turn blue litmus red; bases turn red litmus blue; pH below 7 is acidic.
- Computer: hardware is physical; software is instructions; RAM is volatile, ROM is non-volatile.
- Technology: a browser displays web pages; a search engine indexes them; phishing is a social-engineering attack, not a virus.
Worked example
Convert 72 km/h to m/s. 1 km = 1000 m and 1 h = 3600 s, so 72 km/h = 72 × 1000/3600 = 72 × 5/18 = 20 m/s. Reason: multiply by 5/18 to convert km/h to m/s; multiply by 18/5 for the reverse.
Traps
- Confusing mass (kg) with weight (newton).
- Writing velocity when only speed is asked.
- Reversing the litmus test.
- Treating RAM as permanent storage.