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🇺🇸 High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) · flashcards
High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) Science Flashcards
63 question-and-answer cards covering Science as it is examined in High School Equivalency Test (HiSET). 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the Science deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
What are the three subatomic particles and their charges?
Protons (positive) and neutrons (neutral) in the nucleus, and electrons (negative) orbiting it.
What does the atomic number of an element tell you?
The number of protons in the atom's nucleus, which identifies the element.
What distinguishes a physical change from a chemical change?
A physical change alters form but not identity (e.g., melting); a chemical change forms new substances (e.g., burning).
What is the law of conservation of mass?
In a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed; the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products.
In a chemical equation, what are reactants and products?
Reactants are the starting substances (left of the arrow); products are the substances formed (right of the arrow).
On the pH scale, what values indicate acids, bases, and neutral?
Below 7 is acidic, exactly 7 is neutral, and above 7 is basic (alkaline).
What is Newton's first law of motion (the law of inertia)?
An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion at constant velocity unless acted on by an unbalanced (net) force.
State Newton's second law of motion as a formula.
Force = mass × acceleration (F = ma).
What is the formula for speed?
Speed = distance ÷ time.
What is the difference between kinetic and potential energy?
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion; potential energy is stored energy due to position or condition (e.g., gravitational PE).
What is the law of conservation of energy?
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another; total energy stays constant.
What are the three main types of rocks and how does each form?
Igneous (cooled magma/lava), sedimentary (compacted/cemented sediments), and metamorphic (existing rock changed by heat and pressure).
What are the three layers of Earth's interior from outside to center?
Crust, mantle, and core (the core has a liquid outer core and solid inner core).
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
Earth's lithosphere is broken into plates that move on the mantle, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building at their boundaries.
What are the main steps of the water cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection/runoff (with transpiration from plants).
What is weathering versus erosion?
Weathering is the breaking down of rock in place; erosion is the transport of those weathered materials by wind, water, or ice.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere; climate is the average weather pattern of a region over many years.
What gas in the atmosphere is most responsible for protecting Earth from harmful UV radiation?
Ozone (O3), found in the stratosphere's ozone layer.
What causes the greenhouse effect?
Greenhouse gases (like CO2, water vapor, and methane) trap heat radiated from Earth's surface, warming the atmosphere.
What causes Earth's seasons?
The tilt of Earth's axis (about 23.5°) as it orbits the Sun, changing the angle and duration of sunlight received by each hemisphere.
What causes the phases of the Moon?
The changing relative positions of the Moon, Earth, and Sun, which change how much of the Moon's sunlit side we see from Earth.
What is the difference between rotation and revolution for Earth?
Rotation is Earth spinning on its axis (one day); revolution is Earth orbiting the Sun (one year).
List the planets of the solar system in order from the Sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
What force keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun?
Gravity, the attractive force between masses.
What this deck covers
The Science deck follows the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) Science syllabus — 4 chapters and 17 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 15.8 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 99 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
Science flashcards FAQ
How many Science flashcards are in this High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) deck?
63 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 63-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the Science cards cover?
They follow the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) Science syllabus — 4 chapters and 17 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.