WGU C165 – Integrated Physical
Sciences Exam Questions with Rationales
1. Which branch of science studies forces, energy, and motion?
a) Physics
b) Chemistry
c) Earth science
d) Biology
Rationale: Physics focuses on matter, energy, and their interactions, including
forces and motion.
2. Chemistry is the study of:
a) The Earth’s structure and processes
b) Atoms and molecules, their structures, and their interactions to form
substances
c) Forces and energy
d) Living organisms
Rationale: Chemistry examines matter at the atomic and molecular level and how
substances form and react.
3. Which science discipline studies the Earth’s structure, composition, and the
processes that change it?
a) Physics
b) Chemistry
c) Earth science
d) Astronomy
Rationale: Earth science includes geology, meteorology, oceanography, and other
fields that investigate Earth.
,4. Which of the following is an essential attribute of science?
a) Studies the supernatural
b) Uses testable ideas
c) Accepts personal opinions as evidence
d) Does not require peer review
Rationale: Science relies on testable, falsifiable ideas that can be supported or
refuted by evidence.
5. Science relies on data from:
a) Intuition
b) Observations and experiments
c) Popular opinion
d) Tradition
Rationale: Scientific knowledge is built on empirical evidence obtained through
observation or experimentation.
6. What does it mean that scientific ideas are “presented for evaluation by
other scientists”?
a) They are kept secret
b) They undergo peer review and replication
c) They are accepted without question
d) They are never changed
Rationale: Science is a social process; peer review ensures quality and validity.
7. Science leads to further questions/research. This means:
a) Science provides absolute truth
b) Scientific inquiry is ongoing and self-correcting
c) Once a question is answered, science stops
d) Only one answer is possible
Rationale: Each discovery raises new questions, driving continued investigation.
8. In an experiment, the changing quantities are called:
a) Constants
, b) Variables
c) Controls
d) Hypotheses
Rationale: Variables are factors that can change or be changed in an experiment.
9. The independent variable is:
a) The variable that changes because of the experiment
b) What you change on purpose in an experiment
c) A variable that is kept constant
d) The outcome you measure
Rationale: The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher to observe
its effect.
10. The dependent variable:
a) Is kept constant throughout the experiment
b) Is changed by the researcher
c) Changes because of the independent variable
d) Is the same as the control variable
Rationale: The dependent variable is the measured outcome that responds to
changes in the independent variable.
11. Control variables are:
a) Variables that are intentionally changed
b) Variables you do not want to study; they must be eliminated or kept
constant
c) The main focus of the experiment
d) Always dependent variables
Rationale: Controls ensure that the effect measured is due to the independent
variable alone.
12. In an observational study:
a) The researcher actively changes variables
b) Systems are observed as they appear in nature without attempting to
Sciences Exam Questions with Rationales
1. Which branch of science studies forces, energy, and motion?
a) Physics
b) Chemistry
c) Earth science
d) Biology
Rationale: Physics focuses on matter, energy, and their interactions, including
forces and motion.
2. Chemistry is the study of:
a) The Earth’s structure and processes
b) Atoms and molecules, their structures, and their interactions to form
substances
c) Forces and energy
d) Living organisms
Rationale: Chemistry examines matter at the atomic and molecular level and how
substances form and react.
3. Which science discipline studies the Earth’s structure, composition, and the
processes that change it?
a) Physics
b) Chemistry
c) Earth science
d) Astronomy
Rationale: Earth science includes geology, meteorology, oceanography, and other
fields that investigate Earth.
,4. Which of the following is an essential attribute of science?
a) Studies the supernatural
b) Uses testable ideas
c) Accepts personal opinions as evidence
d) Does not require peer review
Rationale: Science relies on testable, falsifiable ideas that can be supported or
refuted by evidence.
5. Science relies on data from:
a) Intuition
b) Observations and experiments
c) Popular opinion
d) Tradition
Rationale: Scientific knowledge is built on empirical evidence obtained through
observation or experimentation.
6. What does it mean that scientific ideas are “presented for evaluation by
other scientists”?
a) They are kept secret
b) They undergo peer review and replication
c) They are accepted without question
d) They are never changed
Rationale: Science is a social process; peer review ensures quality and validity.
7. Science leads to further questions/research. This means:
a) Science provides absolute truth
b) Scientific inquiry is ongoing and self-correcting
c) Once a question is answered, science stops
d) Only one answer is possible
Rationale: Each discovery raises new questions, driving continued investigation.
8. In an experiment, the changing quantities are called:
a) Constants
, b) Variables
c) Controls
d) Hypotheses
Rationale: Variables are factors that can change or be changed in an experiment.
9. The independent variable is:
a) The variable that changes because of the experiment
b) What you change on purpose in an experiment
c) A variable that is kept constant
d) The outcome you measure
Rationale: The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher to observe
its effect.
10. The dependent variable:
a) Is kept constant throughout the experiment
b) Is changed by the researcher
c) Changes because of the independent variable
d) Is the same as the control variable
Rationale: The dependent variable is the measured outcome that responds to
changes in the independent variable.
11. Control variables are:
a) Variables that are intentionally changed
b) Variables you do not want to study; they must be eliminated or kept
constant
c) The main focus of the experiment
d) Always dependent variables
Rationale: Controls ensure that the effect measured is due to the independent
variable alone.
12. In an observational study:
a) The researcher actively changes variables
b) Systems are observed as they appear in nature without attempting to
