GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test) · Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences

Biological and Physical Science Reasoning

36 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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All 36 questions

  1. Which structure in a eukaryotic cell is the main site of ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation?
  2. A competitive inhibitor is added to an enzyme-catalysed reaction. Compared with the uninhibited reaction, which change is seen in the kinetic constants?
  3. In a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, an autosomal recessive condition affects 1 person in 2500. Approximately what proportion of people are unaffected carriers?
  4. What is the pH at 25 degrees C of a 0.0010 M solution of barium hydroxide, Ba(OH)2, assuming complete dissociation? (log 2 = 0.30)
  5. A fixed mass of ideal gas in a rigid container is heated from 300 K to 600 K. What happens to its pressure?
  6. 2.0 mol of an ideal gas occupies 4.1 L at 300 K. What is its pressure? (R = 0.0821 L atm per mol per K)
  7. A carboxylic acid reacts with an alcohol in the presence of a strong acid catalyst. Which functional group forms?
  8. Which of these compounds is the strongest acid in water?
  9. A 2.0 kg block on a bench is pushed by a 12 N force while a constant friction force of 4.0 N opposes motion. What is its acceleration?
  10. A ball is launched from level ground at 20 m/s at 30 degrees above the horizontal. Taking g = 10 m/s squared and ignoring air resistance, what is its horizontal range? (sin 60 degrees = 0.87)
  11. Two 6.0 ohm resistors are connected in parallel, and this pair is in series with a 3.0 ohm resistor across a 12 V battery. What is the battery current?
  12. A 2.0 kW electric kettle with no heat loss warms 10 kg of water by 20 K. (specific heat of water 4200 J per kg per K) About how long does this take?
  13. Which blood vessel carries oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart?
  14. In a healthy nephron, where is nearly all of the filtered glucose reabsorbed?
  15. At which stage of meiosis does crossing over between homologous chromosomes take place?
  16. Genes A and B are 10 map units apart. A plant with genotype AB/ab is test-crossed with ab/ab, producing 1000 offspring. About how many offspring have genotype Ab/ab (a recombinant class)?
  17. Why do vigorously exercising muscle cells convert pyruvate to lactate when oxygen is limited?
  18. During DNA replication, why is the lagging strand made in Okazaki fragments?
  19. In a neuron, what causes the rapid depolarising phase of an action potential?
  20. 25.0 mL of sulfuric acid is neutralised exactly by 20.0 mL of 0.100 M sodium hydroxide. What is the concentration of the acid?
  21. The Haber process N2 + 3H2 <-> 2NH3 is exothermic. At constant pressure, what is the effect of raising the temperature?
  22. A sample of 80 mg of a radioisotope has a half-life of 6.0 hours. How much remains after 18 hours?
  23. Rate of reaction A + B -> products doubles when [A] is doubled and quadruples when [B] is doubled. If both concentrations are doubled together, the rate changes by what factor?
  24. An object is placed 30 cm from a converging lens of focal length 10 cm. Where is the image formed?
  25. A sound wave has a frequency of 500 Hz and a wavelength of 0.68 m in air. What is its speed?
  26. A 1000 kg car increases its speed from 10 m/s to 20 m/s. How much work does the net force do?
  27. Which bond links two amino acids in a protein?
  28. Why does a second exposure to the same pathogen usually cause a faster and larger antibody response than the first?
  29. A drug with a half-life of 4 hours is given as 200 mg every 4 hours and is absorbed instantly. At steady state, about how much drug is in the body immediately after a dose?
  30. Under which conditions is a reaction spontaneous at all temperatures?
  31. In both galvanic and electrolytic cells, which process always occurs at the anode?
  32. 4.0 g of hydrogen gas reacts with 16 g of oxygen gas to form water (2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O). What mass of water forms at most? (H = 1, O = 16)
  33. Energy transfer between trophic levels is about 10 percent. A producer level fixes 10 000 kJ. About how much reaches the secondary consumers?
  34. Why does a tertiary alkyl halide mainly react with a weak nucleophile by an SN1 mechanism?
  35. Which statement correctly describes the action of insulin after a carbohydrate-rich meal?
  36. A weak acid with pKa 4.76 is in a buffer containing ten times as much conjugate base as acid. What is the pH?

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