GATE Chemistry General Aptitude Syllabus

What does the idiom 'once in a blue moon' mean?

Something that happens very rarely.

What does the idiom 'beat around the bush' mean?

To avoid talking about the main point or to speak indirectly instead of being straightforward.

What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb pair functioning as a single unit; a clause contains a subject and a predicate (verb).

What does 'context' help determine when interpreting a word or phrase?

Context (surrounding words and situation) helps determine the intended meaning of a word, especially for words with multiple meanings or for idiomatic usage.

What is a synonym and an antonym?

A synonym is a word with the same or nearly the same meaning as another (happy/glad); an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning (happy/sad).

In reading comprehension, what is the difference between the main idea and a supporting detail?

The main idea is the central point or argument of a passage; supporting details are facts, examples, or reasons that develop or back up the main idea.

What does it mean to infer while reading a passage?

To infer is to draw a logical conclusion from information that is implied but not explicitly stated in the text.

What is narrative sequencing (sentence/paragraph ordering)?

Arranging jumbled sentences or paragraphs into a logical, coherent order based on context, connectives, pronoun references, and chronology to form a meaningful passage.

In para-jumble (narrative sequencing) questions, what clue does a pronoun like 'it' or 'they' usually give?

A pronoun refers back to a noun mentioned earlier, so the sentence introducing that noun must come before the sentence containing the pronoun.

What is data interpretation (DI)?

Data interpretation is the skill of reading, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data presented in tables, charts, or graphs to answer quantitative questions.

What does a bar graph represent and when is it used?

A bar graph uses rectangular bars whose lengths/heights are proportional to the values they represent; it is used to compare discrete categories or quantities.

What does a pie chart represent, and what does the whole circle equal?

A pie chart shows parts of a whole as sectors of a circle; the whole circle represents 100% or a total, equal to $360^\circ$.

In a pie chart, what is the formula for the central angle of a sector representing a value?

$$\text{Angle} = \frac{\text{Value of component}}{\text{Total value}} \times 360^\circ$$

In a pie chart, how do you convert a sector's central angle into a percentage of the whole?

$$\text{Percentage} = \frac{\text{Sector angle}}{360^\circ} \times 100\%$$

What is the formula for percentage change between an old and a new value?

$$\%\text{ change} = \frac{\text{New value} - \text{Old value}}{\text{Old value}} \times 100$$

In a line graph, what does the slope of the line between two points indicate?

The slope indicates the rate of change of the plotted quantity; a steeper slope means a faster rate of increase or decrease over the interval.

What is a histogram, and how does it differ from a bar graph?

A histogram displays the frequency distribution of continuous data using adjacent bars with no gaps; a bar graph compares discrete categories and has gaps between bars.

What is a scatter plot used for?

A scatter plot displays paired numerical data as points on a 2-D plane to reveal the relationship, correlation, or trend between two variables.

In a 2-D Cartesian plot, what do the x-axis and y-axis conventionally represent?

The x-axis (horizontal) typically represents the independent variable, and the y-axis (vertical) represents the dependent variable; a point is written as $(x, y)$.

How is a point located in a 3-dimensional plot?

By three coordinates $(x, y, z)$ along three mutually perpendicular axes, specifying position relative to the origin in space.

What is the formula for the arithmetic mean (average) of $n$ values?

$$\bar{x} = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i = \frac{x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n}{n}$$

What is the median of a data set?

The median is the middle value when the data are arranged in order; for an even count it is the average of the two central values.

What is the mode of a data set?

The mode is the value that occurs most frequently in the data set.

On a map, what does the scale indicate?

The scale indicates the ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding actual distance on the ground (e.g., $1:50000$).

In a data table, how are the values typically organized?

Values are organized in rows and columns; rows usually represent records or categories and columns represent attributes/variables, allowing cross-referencing of data points.

What is the formula to compute the value of a component from its percentage of a total?

$$\text{Component value} = \frac{\text{Percentage}}{100} \times \text{Total value}$$

In data interpretation, what is the ratio of two quantities $a$ and $b$, and how is it expressed?

The ratio compares the relative sizes of the quantities, written $a:b$ or $\dfrac{a}{b}$, usually reduced to lowest terms.

What does a stacked bar graph show that a simple bar graph does not?

A stacked bar graph shows both the total of each category and the contribution of each sub-component within that total, by stacking segments within each bar.

How do you compute the average rate of growth per year from a graph showing a value rising from $V_1$ to $V_2$ over $n$ years?

$$\text{Average annual change} = \frac{V_2 - V_1}{n}$$ (for a percentage growth rate, divide this by $V_1$ and multiply by 100).

When reading any graph or chart for DI, what three elements should you always check first?

The title (what it shows), the axis labels and units (or legend/key for categories), and the scale; misreading units or scale is the most common source of error.