Physical Science SOL Practice Test — Set 1 of 4
187 free Physical Science Virginia SOL practice questions drawn from official Virginia Department of Education released tests. Pick an answer to check it instantly, or open “Show answer” to review. No signup required.
1. These animals are grouped together because all of them —
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Answer: C — are warm-blooded
2. According to a graph showing the distance a javelin travels when thrown with the same force at different angles (15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 75°), the javelin travels the farthest when released at —
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Answer: C — 45°
3. Which type of characteristics can be inherited?
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Answer: F — Those controlled by genes
4. An experiment was set up to measure the distance a snail would travel in 5 minutes. Four rulers are available: Ruler A: marked in centimeters only Ruler B: marked in half-centimeter increments Ruler C: marked in millimeters Ruler D: marked only in inches Which ruler should be used to give the most precise measurement?
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Answer: C — Ruler C
5. Which of these can be separated by using a magnet?
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Answer: J — A mixture of sand and bits of iron
6. The ermine is a small animal that lives along riverbanks and in forests. During the spring and summer, it grows a brown coat. It sheds the brown coat during the autumn and grows a white one. This change of color in the ermine’s coat allows it to —
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Answer: F — hide from predators
7. Solar cells are used to turn sunlight into —
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Answer: D — electricity
8. A food web includes the following organisms: plants, grasshoppers, frogs, praying mantises, owls, shrews, mice, martens, and bears. If the number of grasshoppers decreases, which population is most likely to increase?
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Answer: A — Plants
9. A diagram of a plant cell shows the following structures: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, chloroplasts, and vacuole. In this plant cell, which cellular structure is responsible for storing food, water, and wastes?
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Answer: G — Vacuole
10. The Earth makes a complete rotation once every 24 hours. Which of these would best illustrate rotation?
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Answer: F — A spinning top
11. When animals hibernate, their heart rate and respiration decrease and they lose consciousness. Why do some animals hibernate?
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Answer: B — To conserve energy usage during the winter
12. A wheelbarrow full of concrete mix needs to be moved onto a platform. It can be lifted straight up or pushed up an inclined plane. The advantage of using the inclined plane is that the work can be done —
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Answer: H — using less force
13. A box has a mass of 12 grams and a volume of 24 cubic centimeters. What is the density of this box?
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Answer: A — 0.5 g/cm³
14. Which of the following organisms break down dead material and return the substances to the environment?
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Answer: H — Bacteria and fungi
15. Which property is required of a liquid in order for it to be a good fuel?
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Answer: B — Its combustibility
16. The periodic table lists boron (atomic mass 10.811), carbon (12.011), nitrogen (14.007), and aluminum (26.982). Which of these elements has the greatest average atomic mass?
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Answer: J — Aluminum
17. A scale model shows a truck that is 10 centimeters long. In the model, 1 centimeter represents 0.5 meters in real life. The mailbox is located 2 truck lengths away from the model truck. How far away is the mailbox from the truck on the real street?
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Answer: B — 10 meters
18. Hundreds of years ago in England, rivers and seaports began to fill with silt after forests were destroyed. What caused the silt to fill the seaports?
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Answer: H — Erosion
19. Which of the following does not use metric units to measure the density of a solution?
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Answer: B — 1.56 pounds per fluid ounce
20. A scale diagram shows a baby blue whale next to a 2-meter-tall adult human. The whale appears approximately twice as long as the human. What is the approximate length of the baby blue whale?
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Answer: G — 4 meters
21. Gases are much more compressible than liquids. According to the particle model of matter, gases are more easily compressed because the particles in gases are —
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Answer: C — farther apart
22. An electromagnet is made by wrapping wire around an iron nail and connecting it to a battery. Which of these would make the electromagnet strongest?
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Answer: G — Wrapping the wire around the nail more times
23. Sea lions and true seals are compared. Sea lions have external ears and can turn their hind flippers forward; true seals have no external ears and cannot turn their hind flippers forward. According to this information, which of these animals is a sea lion?
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Answer: A — The animal with external ears and forward-turning hind flippers
24. What type of animals live in a wetland? Which type of report would probably provide the most accurate answer?
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Answer: J — “Organisms in Wetlands,” a report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
25. An animal living in a hot desert environment has large ears, light fur, and long legs. Which of these best enables this animal to rid its body of excess heat?
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Answer: A — Its large ears
26. A chart compares conditions for organisms: Organism A: bacteria; darkness; uses light energy and sugar; produces soil Organism B: plant; darkness; uses oxygen; produces carbon dioxide and water Organism C: plant; light; uses carbon dioxide and water; produces sugar and oxygen Organism D: plant; light; uses oxygen; produces amino acids and proteins Which set of conditions represents photosynthesis?
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Answer: H — C
27. Asexual reproduction involves only one parent. The offspring of this type of reproduction have —
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Answer: A — DNA identical to the DNA of the parent
28. Compounds are made up of more than one element. Which of the following represents a compound?
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Answer: B — NH₃
29. A mutant form of the peppered moth is dark colored. In polluted areas, trees are covered with soot. Why would the dark-colored mutation be beneficial in a polluted area?
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Answer: G — Dark-colored moths are less visible to predators.
30. A graph shows carbon dioxide levels in a pond throughout the day. Carbon dioxide decreases steadily from morning to late afternoon. Which statement best describes this relationship?
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Answer: D — More carbon dioxide is used by algae later in the day.
31. A student tests the hypothesis that adding antifreeze to water lowers the freezing point. What is the dependent variable?
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Answer: H — Temperature at which the mixture freezes
32. In the food chain Algae → Frog → Snake → Hawk, the relationship between the algae and the frog may be described as —
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Answer: C — producer → consumer
33. An atomic model shows a central nucleus with electrons surrounding it. Point A indicates a particle in the nucleus with no charge. Point A represents —
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Answer: H — a neutron
34. A direct electrical current differs from an alternating current because only direct current —
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Answer: C — allows electrons to flow in one direction
35. A battery is placed inside a flashlight and the flashlight is turned on. The chemical energy of the battery is changed into all of the following forms of energy except —
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Answer: J — mechanical energy
36. Which model best shows the relationship between the Earth, the moon, and the sun?
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Answer: A — Sun at the center, Earth orbiting the sun, moon orbiting Earth
37. Which of these would be different for an object if measured on the Earth and on the moon?
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Answer: G — Weight
38. Which of the following materials is composed of only one kind of atom?
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Answer: B — Helium
39. Salt crystals are dissolved in water to form a solution. Which of the following would probably not affect the rate of solubility?
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Answer: F — Reducing the air pressure on the solution
40. Wild wheat was crossed with fungus-resistant wild grass to produce a wheat variety resistant to a destructive fungus. Why would such experimentation benefit humans?
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Answer: B — Wheat is a major global food crop
41. Which of these best shows that calcium is different from all other elements?
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Answer: H — Its number of protons
42. A diagram shows the sun, Earth, and moon aligned with Earth between the sun and moon. According to this diagram, a lunar eclipse occurs only when —
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Answer: D — the Earth is between the sun and the moon
43. A density column contains oil (0.85 g/mL), water (1.00 g/mL), and corn syrup (1.02 g/mL). Four samples have densities: A = 1.02, B = 0.96, C = 1.15, D = 0.82 g/mL. Which sample will float on top of the oil?
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Answer: J — Sample D
44. Fossils often consist of skeletons embedded in rock. Why don’t fossils usually contain soft tissues?
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Answer: A — Soft tissues decayed before fossilization
45. The brown tree snake was introduced to Guam, where it ate bird eggs. What effect did this have on native bird populations?
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Answer: C — Bird populations decreased
46. Which process is the foundation for the food web?
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Answer: H — Photosynthesis
47. A student wishes to measure the mass of an object. Which instrument would be most useful?
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Answer: F — Triple beam balance
48. A graph shows a bacterial population increasing from 8 cells to 16 cells at 20 minutes, 32 cells at 40 minutes, 64 cells at 60 minutes, and 128 cells at 80 minutes. According to this information, the population doubles every —
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Answer: G — 20 minutes
49. A series of pictures shows a ball at rest at the top of a hill and then rolling down the hill. Which type of energy change is occurring?
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Answer: B — Potential energy to kinetic energy
50. Which of these minerals is a carbonate (contains the carbonate radical, CO₃)?
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Answer: A — Calcite (CaCO₃)
Physical Science SOL practice test — FAQ
Are these Physical Science SOL practice questions free?
Yes — this Physical Science SOL practice test is completely free with no signup. Answer each question to check it instantly, or open "Show answer" to review.
How many Physical Science SOL practice questions are there?
Across all sets, there are 187 Physical Science practice questions drawn from official Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests. This set has 50.
Are these real Virginia SOL questions?
The questions are adapted from official VDOE released SOL tests for Physical Science. SOL Prep is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Virginia Department of Education.
Practice items adapted from Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests. Practice items are provided for study purposes and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Virginia Department of Education.