NUMS — Medical & Dental Entry Test
Take the NUMS Full-Length Mock Test 4 (180 MCQs): 180 multiple-choice questions (190 minutes) with instant scoring and a full answer review. Covers 81…
What this test covers
The first 5 questions of this test, with the correct answer and explanation.
Q1. At the isoelectric point of an amino acid in solution, the molecule exists mainly as:
Answer: B. a zwitterion with no net charge
Explanation: At the isoelectric pH the amino group carries + and the carboxyl group − charge, giving zero net charge, a dipolar ion.
Q2. A student stains tissue and finds a highly branched polysaccharide stored in liver cells. It is most likely:
Answer: C. glycogen
Explanation: Glycogen is the branched α-glucose storage polymer in animal liver and muscle; amylose is unbranched and cellulose is structural.
Q3. The high specific heat capacity of water is important for living organisms because it:
Answer: A. helps buffer cells against sudden temperature changes
Explanation: Hydrogen bonds absorb heat before temperature rises, keeping cell and body temperature stable.
Q4. A DNA double helix contains 2000 nucleotides in total and 30% of the bases are guanine. How many hydrogen bonds hold the two strands together?
Answer: A. 2600
Explanation: G = C = 30% = 600 each (A = T = 20% = 400 each); hydrogen bonds = 600 × 3 + 400 × 2 = 2600.
Q5. In the presence of a competitive inhibitor, an enzyme's Vmax and Km change as follows:
Answer: C. Vmax is unchanged and Km increases
Explanation: A competitive inhibitor can be overcome by high substrate, so Vmax is the same, but more substrate is needed for half Vmax, so Km rises.
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Q6. An enzyme that joins two molecules using energy from ATP hydrolysis, for example in DNA ligation, belongs to the class of:
Q7. A heat-stable enzyme from a hot-spring bacterium keeps working at 80 °C, whereas a human enzyme does not. The difference is most likely due to:
Q8. In a pathway A → B → C → D, each step is catalysed by a different enzyme. A drug inhibits the enzyme converting C to D. Which change is expected?
Q9. Pepsin is secreted as an inactive precursor, pepsinogen. The biological advantage is that:
Q10. Cells treated with a drug that blocks nuclear pores would first fail to:
Q11. In the secretion of a glycoprotein, the correct order of organelles is:
Q12. Which structure is present in a plant cell but absent from an animal cell?
Q13. A plant cell has solute potential −1.2 MPa and turgor (pressure) potential +0.7 MPa. When placed in pure water at equilibrium its net water uptake stops once pressure potential equals:
Q14. White blood cells engulf bacteria by extending their cell membrane around them. This process is called:
Q15. A cell in the G₂ phase has 46 chromosomes in a human cell. How many DNA molecules does it have?
Q16. Which respiratory substrate gives the highest yield of ATP per gram when completely oxidised in the Krebs cycle and chain?
Q17. For each glucose molecule fully oxidised aerobically, how many NADH molecules are formed in the link reaction and Krebs cycle combined?
Q18. A researcher exposes a chloroplast suspension only to far-red light (700 nm) and finds that ATP forms but no NADPH or oxygen. This indicates:
Q19. In a graph of photosynthesis rate against light intensity at constant CO₂, the rate levels off at high light intensity. The most probable limiting factor at that point is:
Q20. Which statement correctly compares chemiosmosis in mitochondria and chloroplasts?
Q21. Compared with aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration in yeast yields:
Q22. A mould grows on bread by secreting enzymes and absorbing the digested products. This mode of nutrition is:
Q23. A plant shows alternation of generations, produces spores in capsules, has no vascular tissue and requires water for fertilisation. It belongs to:
Q24. An animal has a segmented body, a hard exoskeleton of chitin, jointed legs and an open circulatory system. It belongs to phylum:
Q25. A hospital finds a bacterial strain resistant to many antibiotics. Resistance genes are often located on plasmids mainly because plasmids:
Q26. A bacterium that obtains energy by oxidising inorganic compounds like ammonia and uses CO₂ as its carbon source is:
Q27. In the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage, which step occurs immediately after the phage injects its DNA into the bacterial cell?
Q28. Which disease is caused by a virus?
Q29. A patient with a peptic ulcer is treated with antibiotics because the stomach lining damage is often associated with the bacterium:
Q30. The presence of acidic chyme in the duodenum stimulates the release of secretin, which:
Q31. The inner lining of the small intestine has villi and microvilli, which mainly:
Q32. Glucose and galactose are absorbed faster than fructose in the small intestine because they:
Q33. Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) occurs when the bile duct is blocked because:
Q34. A cow can obtain energy from grass cellulose, while humans cannot, because the cow:
Q35. Guard cells open the stomatal pore when they:
Q36. At a high altitude the body responds over weeks by increasing:
Q37. During an asthma attack, a patient finds exhaling much more difficult. The main change in the airway is:
Q38. A person inhales air at sea level. If the atmospheric pressure is 760 mmHg and oxygen makes up 21% of dry air, the partial pressure of O₂ in dry air is closest to:
Q39. Inside a red blood cell in the tissue capillaries, the enzyme carbonic anhydrase causes:
Q40. A patient has swollen legs after surgical removal of lymph nodes in the groin. The most likely explanation is that:
Q41. During ventricular systole, which valves are closed and which are open?
Q42. Which blood component is chiefly responsible for transporting antibodies and hormones?
Q43. An Rh-negative mother carrying an Rh-positive fetus has her first baby safely, but later pregnancies are at risk. The cause is that, after the first birth, the mother:
Q44. Plaques in the coronary arteries reduce blood flow mainly because they:
Q45. A major advantage of the four-chambered human heart over the two-chambered fish heart is:
Q46. Proteins and blood cells are normally absent from glomerular filtrate because of:
Q47. A person who has lost a lot of water through sweating releases more ADH. The urine produced is:
Q48. Hyperventilation causes the blood pH to rise, a condition called respiratory alkalosis. This happens because:
Q49. Kidney stones are usually formed by crystallisation of salts such as calcium oxalate in the:
Q50. A person's body temperature rises on a hot day. The hypothalamus activates mechanisms that include:
Q51. A neuron releases a neurotransmitter that opens Cl⁻ channels in the postsynaptic membrane. The effect on the postsynaptic cell is:
Q52. In multiple sclerosis the myelin sheath of neurons is destroyed. A resulting symptom is:
Q53. A person who has difficulty seeing distant objects clearly but sees near objects well has myopia. It can be corrected with a:
Q54. A person with a diet lacking iodine develops a goitre. The swelling of the thyroid occurs because:
Q55. In a prolonged stress response, cortisol from the adrenal cortex acts to:
Q56. A seedling placed near a window bends towards the light. The bending is due to auxin that:
Q57. A chrysanthemum flowers only when the night is longer than a critical length. Such a plant is called:
Q58. Which of these is a non-specific defence mechanism against pathogens?
Q59. In type 1 diabetes the immune system destroys the insulin-producing β cells. This is an example of:
Q60. A patient receives a kidney transplant and is treated with drugs to suppress T cells. This is done because:
Q61. Which protein in a muscle fibre binds calcium ions and thereby allows myosin heads to attach to actin?
Q62. Cartilage in the nose, ear and trachea rings is mainly useful because it is:
Q63. A child's long bones grow in length at the:
Q64. When you bend your forearm at the elbow, the biceps contracts and the triceps relaxes. These two muscles are described as:
Q65. After ovulation, the ruptured follicle becomes the corpus luteum, which secretes mainly:
Q66. Which substance is NOT normally able to cross the placenta from the mother's blood to the fetal blood in significant amounts?
Q67. The early divisions of a zygote that produce a ball of cells without any overall increase in size are called:
Q68. A flower that is pollinated by wind is usually expected to have:
Q69. After menopause, ovarian secretion of oestrogen falls. The level of FSH in the blood then:
Q70. A tall pea plant of unknown genotype is crossed with a dwarf plant, giving 52 tall and 48 dwarf offspring. The genotype of the tall parent was:
Q71. Two genes control coat colour in a rodent: one allele at gene C is needed to make pigment, and gene B controls whether it is black or brown. CcBb × CcBb gives, in a 9:3:4 ratio, black, brown and albino. The albino phenotype is due to:
Q72. A deletion of one base from the middle of a gene causes a frameshift mutation. The result is that:
Q73. Phenylketonuria is a recessive disorder. A couple who are both carriers have a child. The probability that the child is affected is:
Q74. Klinefelter syndrome (47, XXY) occurs due to nondisjunction. The sex chromosome complement of the resulting sperm or egg could be:
Q75. During transcription, RNA polymerase reads the template DNA strand 3′ to 5′ and synthesises mRNA in the direction:
Q76. A small isolated island population has a harmful allele that becomes common by chance after a few individuals found the colony. This is an example of:
Q77. Wings of a bat and the arm of a human are:
Q78. A fossil is found in older rock strata than another. According to the principle of superposition, the older fossil is:
Q79. Human insulin is produced by bacteria carrying the human insulin gene. For the gene to be expressed in bacteria, it must be joined to:
Q80. A population of 200 deer in a reserve has 30 births and 10 deaths in a year, with no migration. The population growth rate per year is:
Q81. Excess fertiliser washing into a lake causes algal blooms and the death of fish. The sequence responsible is:
Q82. How many ions are present in total in 5.85 g of sodium chloride (M = 58.5 g mol⁻¹)? (Nᴀ = 6.022 × 10²³ mol⁻¹)
Q83. A compound contains 40.0% C, 6.7% H and 53.3% O by mass and has a molar mass of 180 g mol⁻¹. What is its molecular formula? (C = 12, H = 1, O = 16)
Q84. 2.4 g of magnesium (Ar = 24) is added to 100 cm³ of 1.0 M hydrochloric acid: Mg + 2HCl → MgCl₂ + H₂. What volume of hydrogen forms at STP (molar volume 22.4 dm³)?
Q85. What is the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a subshell with azimuthal quantum number l = 3?
Q86. Which statement about a filled 2p orbital violates the Pauli exclusion principle?
Q87. Carbon dioxide has polar C=O bonds but is a non-polar molecule. What explains this?
Q88. What is the density of oxygen gas (M = 32 g mol⁻¹) at 2.0 atm and 27 °C? (R = 0.0821 dm³ atm K⁻¹ mol⁻¹)
Q89. A sealed rigid cylinder holds gas at 3.0 atm and 27 °C. What is the pressure when it is heated to 127 °C?
Q90. How many atoms belong to one body-centred cubic (bcc) unit cell, and what is the coordination number of each atom?
Q91. 1.0 mol each of A and B are placed in a 1.0 dm³ vessel and react by A + B ⇌ 2C, with Kc = 4.0 at the temperature used. What is the equilibrium concentration of C?
Q92. The solubility product of PbI₂ is 4.0 × 10⁻⁹ mol³ dm⁻⁹ at 25 °C. What is its molar solubility in pure water?
Q93. 100 cm³ of 0.20 M HCl is mixed with 100 cm³ of 0.10 M NaOH. What is the pH of the mixture? (log 5 = 0.70)
Q94. What is the pH of 0.10 M of a weak monobasic acid HA with Ka = 1.0 × 10⁻⁵? (Assume that ionisation is small.)
Q95. The aqueous solution of which salt has a pH above 7?
Q96. A first-order reaction has a rate constant of 0.0231 min⁻¹. How long does it take for the concentration of the reactant to fall to one-eighth of its initial value? (ln 2 = 0.693)
Q97. A graph of ln k (y-axis) against 1/T (x-axis) is a straight line for a reaction. What does its slope equal?
Q98. For N₂(g) + 3H₂(g) → 2NH₃(g) at 300 K, what is ΔH − ΔE? (R = 8.314 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹)
Q99. Given N₂(g) + 2O₂(g) → 2NO₂(g), ΔH = +66.4 kJ and N₂O₄(g) → 2NO₂(g), ΔH = +57.2 kJ, what is ΔH for N₂(g) + 2O₂(g) → N₂O₄(g)?
Q100. A galvanic cell uses Mg²⁺/Mg (E° = −2.37 V) and Fe²⁺/Fe (E° = −0.44 V) half-cells. What is the standard cell potential and which electrode is the anode?
Q101. Concentrated aqueous sodium chloride is electrolysed in a diaphragm cell with inert electrodes. Which substance accumulates in the solution around the cathode?
Q102. Which of these aqueous solutions of equal molality (0.1 m) freezes at the lowest temperature?
Q103. The first ionisation energy of aluminium is lower than that of magnesium. What is the reason?
Q104. Which oxide is amphoteric?
Q105. Chlorine water is added to aqueous potassium bromide solution. What is observed?
Q106. Which metal ion imparts a brick-red colour to a Bunsen flame?
Q107. Carbon dioxide is a gas at room temperature, but silicon dioxide is a hard solid with a very high melting point. What is the reason?
Q108. What is the oxidation state of chromium in potassium dichromate, K₂Cr₂O₇?
Q109. Which of these can act as a bidentate ligand?
Q110. Excess aqueous ammonia is added to copper(II) sulphate solution. Which species is responsible for the final deep blue colour?
Q111. Name the hydrocarbon CH₂=CH–CH(CH₃)–CH₂CH₃ according to IUPAC rules.
Q112. Which of these alkenes shows cis–trans (geometrical) isomerism?
Q113. Which of these alcohols is optically active?
Q114. In the chlorination of methane by free radicals, which step terminates the chain?
Q115. Propene reacts with hydrogen bromide in the presence of an organic peroxide. What is the major product?
Q116. Ethyne reacts with an excess of hydrogen bromide. What is the final product?
Q117. Benzene reacts with ethanoyl chloride in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride. What is the product?
Q118. Which reagent reacts with phenol but not with ethanol?
Q119. Ethanol is heated with excess concentrated H₂SO₄ at 140 °C with the alcohol in excess. What is the major product?
Q120. Which carbonyl compound gives a secondary alcohol when treated with a Grignard reagent, followed by hydrolysis?
Q121. Which aldehyde undergoes the Cannizzaro reaction with concentrated sodium hydroxide?
Q122. Trichloroethanoic acid is much stronger than ethanoic acid. Which factor explains this?
Q123. A triglyceride (fat) is boiled with aqueous sodium hydroxide. What are the products?
Q124. Glucose is an aldohexose and fructose is a ketohexose, both with the formula C₆H₁₂O₆. How are they related?
Q125. A competitive inhibitor lowers the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction. Which statement is correct?
Q126. Which polymer is produced by condensation polymerisation?
Q127. The radius of a sphere is measured as 2.0 cm with an uncertainty of ±0.1 cm. What is the percentage uncertainty in the volume calculated from this radius?
Q128. Which of the following pairs of physical quantities has the same dimensions?
Q129. Vectors A = 2i and B = i + √3 j are drawn from the same point. What is the angle between them?
Q130. A stone is dropped from rest from a tall tower. How far does it fall during the third second of its motion? (g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q131. A ball thrown at 45° to the horizontal lands on level ground 40 m from the launch point. What was its launch speed? (g = 10 m s⁻², air resistance ignored)
Q132. Masses of 3 kg and 2 kg hang from the ends of a light string passing over a smooth, light pulley. What is the tension in the string once they are released? (g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q133. A 0.2 kg ball hits a wall at 10 m s⁻¹ and rebounds along the same line at 6 m s⁻¹. The contact lasts 0.01 s. What is the magnitude of the average force on the ball?
Q134. A bucket of water is whirled in a vertical circle of radius 0.9 m. What is the minimum speed at the top of the circle for the water not to spill? (g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q135. A skater spinning with arms outstretched pulls them in, halving her moment of inertia. With no external torque, how does her rotational kinetic energy change?
Q136. A body weighs 60 N at the Earth's surface. What is its weight at a height equal to the Earth's radius above the surface?
Q137. A spring of force constant 500 N m⁻¹ is already stretched by 2 cm. How much additional work is needed to stretch it to 4 cm?
Q138. A car travelling at 72 km h⁻¹ stops in 40 m when its brakes apply a constant retarding force. Under the same braking force, what is its stopping distance from 36 km h⁻¹?
Q139. A metal sphere of volume 200 cm³ weighs 5.4 N in air. What is its apparent weight when it is completely submerged in water? (density of water = 1000 kg m⁻³, g = 10 m s⁻²)
Q140. How does the coefficient of viscosity change when a liquid and a gas are each heated?
Q141. A travelling wave is described by y = 0.02 sin(4πx − 200πt), with x and y in metres and t in seconds. What is its speed?
Q142. What length must a simple pendulum have to beat seconds, i.e. to have a time period of 2 s? (take g = π² m s⁻²)
Q143. A stretched wire vibrates in its fundamental mode at 200 Hz. Its length is unchanged and the tension is increased by 21%. What is the new fundamental frequency?
Q144. Using the convention in which real distances are positive, a convex mirror has a focal length of −20 cm. An object is placed 20 cm in front of it. Where is the image?
Q145. A simple magnifying glass has a focal length of 5 cm. Taking the near point as 25 cm, what is its angular magnification when the final image is formed at the near point?
Q146. Unpolarised light is reflected from glass of refractive index √3. At what angle of incidence is the reflected light completely plane polarised?
Q147. 200 g of water at 80 °C is mixed with 300 g of water at 20 °C in an insulated container. What is the final temperature?
Q148. A refrigerator operates ideally (reversibly) between an interior at 270 K and a room at 300 K. What is its coefficient of performance?
Q149. An ideal gas expands isothermally while in contact with a heat reservoir. What is true of the heat absorbed by the gas?
Q150. A point charge of 6 nC is fixed in air. How much work is needed to bring a 2 nC charge from infinity to a point 0.30 m from it? (k = 9 × 10⁹ N m² C⁻²)
Q151. A 5 μF parallel-plate capacitor is connected to a 12 V battery. A dielectric slab of constant 4 completely fills the gap while the battery stays connected. What is the final charge on the capacitor?
Q152. A conducting sphere of radius 10 cm carries a charge of 4 nC. What is the magnitude of the electric field just outside its surface? (k = 9 × 10⁹ N m² C⁻²)
Q153. A heater coil dissipates 800 W when connected to a fixed-voltage supply. The coil is cut to half its length and one half is connected to the same supply. What power does it now dissipate?
Q154. A copper coil has resistance 10 Ω at 0 °C. Taking the temperature coefficient of resistance as 4 × 10⁻³ °C⁻¹, what is its resistance at 100 °C?
Q155. A 12 V battery of internal resistance 0.5 Ω is being charged by a current of 4 A. What is the potential difference across its terminals?
Q156. A proton moving at 2.0 × 10⁶ m s⁻¹ enters a uniform magnetic field of 0.20 T at right angles to the field. What is the radius of its circular path? (m = 1.67 × 10⁻²⁷ kg, q = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C)
Q157. A 200-turn coil is linked with a magnetic flux that falls uniformly from 0.05 Wb to 0.01 Wb in 0.1 s. What emf is induced in the coil?
Q158. The north pole of a bar magnet is moved towards a coil. How does the face of the coil nearest the magnet behave, according to Lenz's law?
Q159. Both inputs of a NAND gate are connected together to a single input A. What does this arrangement act as?
Q160. Light of wavelength 200 nm falls on a metal of work function 4.2 eV. What is the stopping potential? (hc = 1240 eV nm)
Q161. A radioactive isotope has a decay constant of 0.0231 min⁻¹. What is its half-life? (ln 2 = 0.693)
Q162. An X-ray tube operates at 40 kV. What is the shortest wavelength in its continuous X-ray spectrum? (hc = 1240 eV nm)
Q163. Choose the correct option: The train ___ by the time we reached the platform.
Q164. Choose the correct option: Had she studied harder, she ___ the examination.
Q165. Choose the word closest in meaning to FASTIDIOUS.
Q166. Choose the word opposite in meaning to VERBOSE.
Q167. Identify the part of the sentence that contains an error: Hardly had he (A) / reached the station (B) / than the train (C) / departed (D).
Q168. Choose the correctly written sentence.
Q169. Choose the correct option: He is ___ honest man who holds ___ MBA from a reputed university.
Q170. Choose the correct option: The patient recovered ___ pneumonia within a week.
Q171. Choose the correct indirect speech of: He said, "I am tired."
Q172. Statements: Some doctors are researchers. All researchers are writers. Conclusions: I. Some doctors are writers. II. All writers are doctors. (Assume that every group named is non-empty.) Which option is correct?
Q173. Statements: No bird is a mammal. All bats are mammals. Conclusions: I. No bat is a bird. II. Some birds are bats. (Assume that every group named is non-empty.) Which option is correct?
Q174. Find the next number in the series: 1, 3, 7, 13, 21, ?
Q175. Find the next letter in the series: Y, W, T, P, K, ?
Q176. Six friends A, B, C, D, E and F sit around a circular table facing the centre. A and B are neighbours. C sits opposite B. D is not next to A. E sits next to B. Who sits opposite A?
Q177. Five departments P, R, L, S and E occupy floors 1 to 5 of a building (1 is the ground floor, one department per floor). L is directly above S. R is below S. E is directly above R. P is not directly above L. Which department is on the top floor?
Q178. Argument: "Hospital X should adopt the scheduling software, because it reduced waiting times at Hospital Y." Which assumption does the argument rest on?
Q179. Read the three statements. A: Sales of umbrellas rose sharply in a city in August. B: Sales of raincoats rose sharply in the same city in August. C: The city had unusually heavy monsoon rain throughout August. Which is most likely?
Q180. A man faces east, turns 90° clockwise and then 180° anticlockwise. Which direction does he face now?