Welcome to my Pre-Nursing Exam Prep blog. I hope it will help you prepare very well for the Pre-NLN entrance exam, popularly known as the PAX exam. This is one of the entrance exams required by some schools for those who want to pursue careers in the nursing field in the USA. I will attempt to break down the review materials into manageable parts so that you can systematically and efficiently prepare for the test with less stress. I will guide you to prepare for the entire content of the test. Hopefully, you will be able to pass after going through these series.
BEST OF LUCK!
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SCIENCE REVIEWThe topics that are generally covered in the test have been grouped into twelve instructional modules below. You will be tested only on the basic concepts of physics, chemistry and biology. Click on science topics and select any of the topics listed in the module to review.
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting with the non-living components of the environment (air, water, mineral, soil). The living component is referred to as biotic component and the non-living component is the abiotic component. There is flow of energy through the ecosystem. The energy comes from the sunlight which is used in the process of photosynthesis. The energy trapped in the plants is transferred to other animals through feeding interactions. Once the plants and animal die, the energy is released back into the environment through the process of decomposition.
A population is defined as a group of organisms of the the same species, example, dog or cat population.
A community is a group of different population living within a specific area.
A biosphere is the part of the earth where living organisms exist.
A food chain is a simple linear diagram that shows organisms feeding and being fed upon by another organism.
It looks like this: Organism 1 -----> Organism 2 ------> Organism 3 ------> Organism 4
This means that Organism 1 provides food for Organism 2, and Organism 3 provides food for Organism 4.
This is an example:
It is made up of producers and consumers. Decomposers such as bacteria are important in the food chain but they are not shown on the food chain.
Producers are the first in any food chain. They are the plants. They produce their food using the energy from the sun via photosynthesis.
Consumers can be classified as primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and quartenary consumers, etc.
primary consumers - They are the first to feed on the producers.
secondary consumers - They feed on the primary consumers
tertiary consumers -They feed on the secondary consumers
quaternary consumers -They feed on the tertiary consumers
Producers are also known as autotrophs because they can produce their own food.
Consumers are also known as heterotrophs because they cannot produce their own food.
Consumers can also be classified as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores.
herbivore - Feeds on plants
carnivore - Feeds on other animals
omnivore - Feeds on both plants and animals
A food web is made up of a network of food chains. It is a more complex feeding relationship and interactions. This is an example of a food web.
Start with the producers (plants) and follow the arrows to show the feeding relationships. One organism can be a source of food for more than one organism. In the example above, grass provides food for rabbit which then is feed upon by the hawk. As you can see, the hawk also feeds on the field mouse and sparrow. You can come out with so many relationships in the above diagram.
As you study, think about the effect of eliminating an organism from the food chain or web on the other organisms.
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Mixture Definition:A mixture consists of two or more substances which have been combined such that each substance retains its own chemical identity.That is, a combination of substances which are not chemically joined together. The key characteristics are:
They have the same properties as their components
There is no fixed proportion between the components
The components can be separated from the mixture
Examples
A mixture of sugar and salt
Air is a mixture of gases with nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc.
A mixture of flour and sugar.
Salt and sand mixture
Salt and water
Types of mixtures: There are three types of mixtures.
Solutions
Suspensions
Colloids
Solutions
Definition: A solution is a mixture in which other substances (solutes) are dissolved. The dissolve substance is known as the solute and the substance that does the dissolving is known as the solvent. For example, in a salt solution, the water is the solvent and the salt is the solute.The components in a solution may not be separated from the solution by leaving it to stand or by filtration. Another example is sugar in water.
Degrees of saturation: A solution can be unsaturated, saturated or supersaturated.A solution is unsaturated if it can dissolve more solute at a given temperate. A solution is saturated if no more solute can be dissolved with temperature remaining constant. Note that changing the temperature will affect the solubility. The solubility increases with temperature. A supersaturated solution is the one in which no more solute can dissolve no matter the temperature increase.
Suspensions
A suspension is a mixture of liquids with particles of a solid which may not dissolve in the liquid.The solid may be separated from the liquid by leaving it to stand or by filtration.
Examples
Sand in water
Colloids
These are homogeneous, noncrystalline substances consisting of large molecules or particles of one substance dispersed through a second substance.
Examples of colloids are gels, sols, and emulsions; the particles do not settle and cannot be separated out by ordinary filtering or centrifuging like those in a suspension.
Emulsions
This is a fine dispersion of minute droplets of one liquid in another in which it is not soluble or
miscible. That is, a colloidal suspension of one liquid in another. Emulsions may be temporary or permanent. Temporary ones separate when left to stand for some time.
Examples: Oil and vinegar (temporary emulsion), Mayonnaise (egg yoke in oil) (permanent emulsion)
Certain substances act as emulsifiers. They help two liquids to come together and stay together. Lecithin in the egg yolks acts as emulsifier. It is a fatty substance soluble in both fat and water. In mayonnaise, It combines readily with both the egg yolk and the oil or butter, essentially holding the two liquids together.
Sol
These are colloidal suspensions of small solid particles in a continuous liquid medium. Examples include blood, pigmented ink and paints. If the dispersion medium is water, the colloid is referred to as ahydrosol and if air, an aerosol.
Gels
Gels are colloids in a more solid form than sols. The disperse phase has combined with the dispersion medium to produce a semisolid material. An example is jelly.
1. Two vehicles with masses 1500 kg and 3000 kg ,respectively, are moving in the same direction and with the same speed on a highway. Both drivers apply their brakes at the same time and both vehicles begin sliding. If the coefficient of kinetic frictionis the same for both vehicles, which vehicle stops first?
A. The 1500 kg vehicle
B. The 3000 kg vehicle
C. Both vehicles stop at the same time
D. More information is needed to answer this question.
2. If a 40-kg child lifts a chair from the floor unto a table whose top is 1 meter above the floor, and a 70-kg adult lifts the same chair onto the same table, who does more work?
A. The child
B. The adult
C. They both do the same work.
D. More information is needed to answer this question.
Raw scores is how many questions you got right out of the questions you were given. For example, for verbal, if you get 44 out of 60 questions right, then your raw score will be 44 out of 60.
The percentile ranks are based on all those who took the test at some specified point in time. The percentile scores/ranks are reported under the following:
DI = students who took the exam who were applying for a diploma program. AD = students who took the exam who were applying for an associates program. All = students applying to schools that can grant an associates or a BSN.
The numbers underneath each of them is a percentile not a percentage - it's how much better you did compared to other students who took the exam.
For example, if the percentile under AD, for verbal is 75 - it means that you are in the 75th percentile.This means that you did better than 75% of the people that took the test in verbal who were applying for an Associates program, in other words, 25% of the people did better than you. Likewise, if for math, under AD, you got a 90 - you are in the 90th percentile - you did better than 90% of the people that took the test in math who were applying for an Associates program. In other word, 10 % of the people did better than you.
For composite scores:The composite score range is 0-200. The composite percentile will always be 99 or lower. You really can't get 100 because then you'd be scoring better than yourself. 100 is average and most students score around 100. To crack past 150 is quite difficult for most students. You would either have to get almost every question right. Getting between 125-135 will put you in the top 10%
Composite scores are also reported for verbal, math, and science - for these scores, 100 is the highest you can get, 50 is the average, and 1 is the lowest you can get.
Here is a sample score:
Percentiles Raw Scores DI AD ALL Verbal: 44/60 87 80 80 Math: 36/40 98 97 97 Science: 42/60 93 89 88 Composite Score: 135 97 93 94 (Composite Percentile Score) In general, if you get two-thirds of questions right in each subject area, you can guarantee yourself a percentile above 70.
The following are the basic laws that govern the behavior of gases. 1. Boyle's law: This states that at a constant temperature, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume. This means that as the pressure increases, the volume decreases and vice versa. (Initial Pressure) x (Initial Volume) = (Final Pressure) x (Final Volume)
Examples:
As the pressure in a balloon is increased, it expands continuously until it can no longer do so and then burst open.
Air rushes into the lungs from outside when the chest cavity expands to increase its volume because the pressure within the thoracic cavity decreases. When the volume of the thoracic cavity decreases, the intra-thoracic pressure increases and the air is pushed out.
2. Charles' law: This states that at a constant pressure, the volume of a gas varies directly as its temperature. This means that when the temperature increases, the pressure also increases and vice versa.
Initial Volume = Final Volume Initial Temperature Final Temperature Examples:
If you increase the temperature on a balloon at atmospheric pressure, the volume increases as well.
3. Gay-Lussac's law: This states that at a constant volume, the pressure of a gas varies directly as its temperature. This means that when the temperature increases, the pressure also increases and vice versa.
Initial Pressure = Final Pressure Initial Temperature Final Temperature
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What is a phase diagram? Phase diagrams show the preferred physical states of matter at different temperatures and pressure. Within each phase, the material is uniform with respect to its chemical composition and physical state.
PHASE CHANGES
This is a link to a website that has a good explanation on phase changes of water. I recommend that you read it. It will be good to memorize and understand what happens in the various regions. Note that when there is a change of state, the temperature remains unchanged for sometime.
