ASVAB · Line scores
General Science
General Science is the ASVAB subtest on the physical and biological sciences, and its score counts toward the line scores, not the AFQT.
- Items
- 15
- Time
- 12 minutes
- Format
- Computer-adaptive
- Answer options
- 4
- Counts toward
- Line scores, not the AFQT
Screens of the trainer
The subtest
Measures
The subtest measures knowledge of the physical and biological sciences and the ability to solve basic science problems.
It does not count toward the AFQT. It counts toward the line scores the services use to qualify applicants for jobs.
Format
The subtest is computer-adaptive: each item is chosen from your earlier answers, and an answer cannot be changed once submitted.
It has 15 items in 12 minutes, each with four answer options.
On paper, the subtest has 25 items in 11 minutes.
Scoring
The subtest is reported as a standard score. The items are scaled for difficulty, so the score is comparable between test-takers who saw different items.
Item types
Science questions and statements to complete
Each item is a short science question or a statement to complete, and you pick the answer among four.
Items cover life science, earth and space science and physical science.
Free practice test
Item 1 of 5
What is the SI (metric) unit of force?
Show the answer
Answer: Newton
The newton is the SI unit of force.
The joule measures energy, the watt measures power, and the pascal measures pressure.
Item 2 of 5
What is the process by which cells release energy from glucose using oxygen called?
Show the answer
Answer: Cellular respiration
Cellular respiration breaks down glucose with oxygen and releases its energy as ATP.
Photosynthesis builds glucose from light, and osmosis moves water across a membrane.
Fermentation releases energy from glucose without oxygen.
Item 3 of 5
The gradual breaking down of rock at or near Earth's surface by wind, water, or ice is called what?
Show the answer
Answer: Weathering
Weathering breaks rock down where it sits.
Erosion carries the broken material away, and deposition drops it somewhere else.
Subduction is one tectonic plate sinking under another.
Item 4 of 5
When a population grows beyond its environment's carrying capacity, what typically happens next?
Show the answer
Answer: The population typically declines sharply afterward
Overshooting the carrying capacity uses up food, water or space, so the population crashes until it fits the resources again.
The carrying capacity is set by the environment and does not rise to meet the population.
Evolution takes many generations, and birth rates cannot keep rising while resources run out.
Item 5 of 5
What generally happens to atomic size moving left to right across a period on the periodic table?
Show the answer
Answer: It decreases
Across a period, each element adds a proton while its electrons fill the same shell, so the nucleus pulls the electron cloud in tighter and the atom shrinks.
Atomic size increases down a group, not across a period.
The trend is regular, not unpredictable, and the size does not stay the same.
The Frontline Forge trainer
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Instant feedback
Training mode shows the correct answer after each item and explains why it is right and why the other options miss. The clock pauses while you read.
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15 items in 12 minutes, ranked
Test mode runs 15 items in 12 minutes, the count and time of the real subtest. Each score is ranked against the scores of other test-takers, and every item can be reviewed at the end.
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Life, earth and space, physical science
The trainer's 600 items are 35% life science, 30% earth and space science and 35% physical science (chemistry and physics). The five items above come from that bank.