General Science

What the official syllabus says

HCS Preliminary Examination, Paper I: General Studies:

General Science.

Questions on General Science will cover general appreciation and understanding of science including matters of everyday observation and experience, as may be expected of a well educated person who has not made a special study of any particular scientific discipline.

Topics in detail

The paper asks for the science an educated person meets in daily life, not laboratory specialisation. Class VI to X NCERT science is the right depth; each line below is a concept to understand and to connect with an everyday example.

Physics

• Units and measurement: SI base units, common derived units, conversions
• Motion: distance and displacement, speed, velocity, acceleration; Newton's three laws of motion; inertia and momentum
• Gravitation: universal law of gravitation, acceleration due to gravity, mass and weight, free fall, satellites and orbits in outline
• Work, energy and power; kinetic and potential energy; conservation of energy; simple machines
• Pressure in fluids, buoyancy and Archimedes' principle, floating and sinking, atmospheric pressure
• Heat and temperature: temperature scales, conduction, convection and radiation, expansion, specific heat, everyday uses (thermos flask, pressure cooker)
• Sound: production and propagation, speed in different media, echo, frequency and pitch, audible range, ultrasound and its uses
• Light: reflection and plane and spherical mirrors, refraction, total internal reflection, lenses, dispersion and the spectrum, scattering (blue sky, red sunset), rainbow
• The human eye: defects of vision (myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia) and their correction
• Electricity: charge, current, potential difference, Ohm's law, resistance in series and parallel, heating effect, electric power and household wiring, fuses and earthing
• Magnetism and electromagnetism: magnetic field, electromagnets, electric motor and generator, AC and DC
• Modern physics in outline: radioactivity, nuclear fission and fusion, semiconductors in everyday devices

Chemistry

• Matter and its states; elements, compounds and mixtures; methods of separation
• Atomic structure in outline: protons, neutrons, electrons, atomic number and mass number, isotopes
• Chemical reactions and equations: combination, decomposition, displacement, oxidation and reduction, corrosion and rancidity
• Acids, bases and salts: indicators, the pH scale, neutralisation, pH in the body, soil and tooth decay
• Everyday chemicals: common salt, baking soda, washing soda, bleaching powder, plaster of Paris
• Metals and non-metals: properties, reactivity series, extraction in outline, alloys (steel, brass, bronze), prevention of rusting
• Carbon and its compounds: allotropes of carbon, hydrocarbons, soaps and detergents, polymers and plastics
• Fuels: fossil fuels, LPG, CNG, biogas, calorific value, products of combustion and air pollution
• Water: hardness of water, purification and chlorination

Biology

• The cell: cell organelles, plant and animal cells, cell division in outline
• Tissues and the classification of living organisms in outline
• Human body systems: digestive, respiratory, circulatory, excretory, nervous and endocrine, reproductive, skeletal and muscular
• Blood: its components, blood groups and transfusion, the heart and blood pressure
• Nutrition: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals; deficiency diseases (scurvy, rickets, night blindness, beri-beri, anaemia, goitre)
• Hormones and their functions (insulin, thyroxine, adrenaline, growth hormone)
• Diseases and their causes: bacterial, viral, fungal and protozoan diseases; communicable and lifestyle diseases; immunity and vaccination
• Heredity in outline: genes, chromosomes, DNA, sex determination, genetic disorders
• Plant life: photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, plant hormones, reproduction in plants
• Microorganisms in daily life: fermentation, antibiotics, nitrogen fixation

Science in everyday life and technology

• Space: the solar system, the Indian space programme and its launch vehicles and satellite types (communication, remote sensing, navigation)
• Information and communication technology: computers, the internet, mobile communication, digital payments in outline
• Biotechnology in outline: genetically modified crops, DNA fingerprinting, stem cells
• Health technology: diagnostic tools (X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI), common medicines and antibiotic resistance
• Energy: renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, biomass) and nuclear power
• Environment science basics: ecosystems, food chains, ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, waste management

Overlaps

• Science and technology and environment are taken further, in essay form, in Mains General Studies III.
• Science and technology in the news belongs with the current events part of this paper.