General Science in SSC MTS is not about derivations or lab experiments. It is about facts — clean, one-liner facts that appear repeatedly across exam years. The paper tests whether you know what something is, not why it works at a deep level.
Think of it this way: if you are travelling by train and a co-passenger asks "which vitamin do we get from sunlight?", you should be able to answer without hesitation. That is exactly the level of recall SSC MTS General Science demands.
The questions fall into four broad families:
Biology — vitamins, body systems, diseases, cells, evolution. These are mostly fact-recall: "Which vitamin does X?" or "Who proposed Y theory?"
Chemistry — elements, chemical symbols, atomic numbers, common compounds. The periodic table throws up the same 10–12 elements every cycle. Gold (Au), Silver (Ag), Iron (Fe), Carbon (C) — these are the regulars.
Physics — fundamental constants (speed of light), forces (gravity, magnetism), motion. The numbers here matter: 3 × 10⁸ m/s is one of the most-asked constants across all SSC exams.
Space Science — planets, their nicknames, composition of atmosphere, moons. "Red Planet," "Blue Planet," "Morning Star" — these labels appear on almost every SSC MTS paper.
Look — the reason students drop marks here is not lack of intelligence. It is mixing up related facts. Vitamin A vs. Vitamin D. Au vs. Ag. Nitrogen 78% vs. Oxygen 21%. The enemy is confusion between pairs, not the facts themselves. This page is built specifically to kill that confusion.
Vitamins — the ones that matter for SSC MTS
Vitamins are organic compounds the body needs in small amounts. The two categories you must know cold:
The "sunshine vitamin" is Vitamin D. Here is the mechanism in one sentence: ultraviolet B rays from sunlight hit the skin and trigger the conversion of a cholesterol compound into vitamin D. No other vitamin has this skin-synthesis pathway — that is what makes it unique and exam-worthy.
Deficiency of Vitamin D causes rickets (in children) and osteomalacia (in adults). Both involve soft, weak bones — because Vitamin D controls calcium absorption.
Evolution by Natural Selection
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. The core idea: individuals with traits better suited to their environment survive longer and reproduce more, passing those traits to offspring. Over generations, this shifts a population's characteristics. That process is natural selection.
Do not confuse Darwin with Mendel. Gregor Mendel worked on heredity and genetics — how traits pass from parent to child. Darwin explained why certain traits persist; Mendel explained how they are transmitted. Two different scientists, two different problems.
Atomic Number of Carbon
Atomic number = number of protons in the nucleus. Carbon has 6 protons, so its atomic number is 6. Its atomic mass (protons + neutrons) is approximately 12 — which is why option "12" in the question is a trap. Atomic number and atomic mass are not the same thing.
Carbon is the backbone of organic chemistry. Every molecule in your body that contains carbon is, by definition, an organic compound.
Chemical Symbols — Latin Origins
Several element symbols come from their Latin names, not English names. This is the source of most confusion:
| Element | Symbol | Latin origin | |---------|--------|--------------| | Gold | Au | Aurum | | Silver | Ag | Argentum | | Iron | Fe | Ferrum | | Copper | Cu | Cuprum | | Lead | Pb | Plumbum | | Mercury | Hg | Hydrargyrum | | Sodium | Na | Natrium | | Potassium | K | Kalium |
For SSC MTS, gold (Au) and silver (Ag) are the most-tested pair. The trap: "Ag" looks like it could stand for "Argentum Gold" — it does not. Ag is always silver.
Speed of Light
The speed of light in vacuum is c = 3 × 10⁸ metres per second (more precisely, 299,792,458 m/s). This is a fundamental constant — it does not change regardless of the motion of the source or observer.
The trap in the exam option set is the power of 10. Options are usually 10⁶, 10⁷, 10⁸, 10⁹. The answer is always 10⁸. Remember: eight is great for light.
Gravitational Force and Planetary Orbits
Planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational attraction — the Sun's enormous mass pulls each planet toward it. The planet's own velocity keeps it from falling inward, and the balance between inward gravitational pull and the tendency to move in a straight line produces an elliptical orbit.
The four fundamental forces in physics: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear. For planetary orbits, only gravity operates at that scale. Magnetic force and electric force do not drive orbital mechanics of planets.
Composition of Earth's Atmosphere
The common trap: students think oxygen is the most abundant because "we breathe oxygen." We breathe air, which is mostly nitrogen. Nitrogen is inert and does not react with most substances at room temperature — which is precisely why it dominates without causing any visible effect.
Mars — The Red Planet
Mars appears red because its surface is covered with iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) — essentially rust. Fine iron-rich dust also circulates in the thin Martian atmosphere, giving even the sky a pinkish-reddish tint. No other planet in our solar system has this iron oxide dominance on its surface at this scale.
Quick planet nicknames you need:
Fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E, K — remember them as "A DEK of cards" (a deck of cards). Any vitamin not in this group (B1, B2, B6, B12, C) is water-soluble. When a question asks about a vitamin stored in the body or produced via sunlight, check if it is in ADEK first. Standard recall without pattern: ~20 seconds hunting through memory. With "ADEK": under 5 seconds, direct lookup.
Six metals with Latin symbols: Fe (iron/Ferrum), Au (gold/Aurum), K (potassium/Kalium), In... skip — use the phrase "Auction for Aged Fences, Pb Cuts Na Knees" — Au=gold, Ag=silver, Fe=iron, Pb=lead, Cu=copper, Na=sodium, K=potassium. Standard method (rote memorisation): ~2 minutes to recall under pressure. This phrase collapses it to a single sentence — recall under 8 seconds.
Speed of light = 3 × 10⁸ m/s. The exponent is 8. Mnemonic: LIGHT has 5 letters; 5 + 3 = 8. Or simply: "eight is great for light." When you see four options with different powers of 10, go straight to 10⁸. Eliminates 3 wrong options in 2 seconds versus 15 seconds reading all options carefully.
Earth's atmosphere: Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%. Notice 78 + 21 = 99. The remaining 1% is everything else (Argon, CO₂, etc.). Lock this with: "7 + 8 = 15, 2 + 1 = 3 — nitrogen is the bigger number, oxygen is the smaller." Any question about atmospheric composition: nitrogen comes first, oxygen comes second, argon third. This 3-step rank takes 3 seconds versus 10+ seconds if you have to reconstruct it from scratch.
Darwin = D for Descent (descent with modification, evolution). Mendel = M for Mechanics (the mechanics of inheritance, genetics). When a question says "evolution" or "natural selection" → Darwin. When it says "heredity," "genetics," "dominant/recessive" → Mendel. Applying this split takes 3 seconds; without it, students spend 10–15 seconds second-guessing between the two names. Works on approximately 80% of Biology questions in this category.
When you see a General Science question in the exam hall, do this in sequence:
Step 1 — Identify the category (5 seconds) Is it Biology (body, vitamins, diseases, evolution)? Chemistry (elements, compounds, symbols)? Physics (forces, constants, laws)? Space (planets, atmosphere)?
Step 2 — Check for a "pair trap" (5 seconds) Most wrong answers exploit one famous confusion pair: Au/Ag, Nitrogen/Oxygen percentages, Vitamin A/D, Darwin/Mendel, atomic number/atomic mass. If you see two options that form a known pair, the correct answer is one of them — eliminate the other two first.
Step 3 — Apply the relevant memory anchor (5 seconds) ADEK for vitamins. "Eight is great" for light speed. 78-21 for atmosphere. Latin metal phrase for symbols.
Step 4 — Confirm and move (3 seconds) Read the question stem once more, confirm your answer matches, mark it. Do not revisit unless you flagged it.
Total decision time: under 20 seconds per question for a fact you know. If you genuinely do not know the fact, use elimination to get to a 50-50 and move on. Do not spend more than 30 seconds on any single General Science question.
Why this question: Vitamin questions are perennial SSC favourites. The "sunshine vitamin" is the most-tested vitamin fact across SSC exams because it has a unique biological mechanism no other vitamin shares.
Solving path: Apply the ADEK trick — Vitamin D is in the fat-soluble group. Then add: only Vitamin D is synthesised in the skin via sunlight. No other option (A, B12, C) has a sunlight-synthesis mechanism. Eliminate in 5 seconds.
Why this question: Planet nicknames appear on virtually every SSC MTS paper. "Red Planet" is the most-tested nickname, and the iron oxide explanation is what distinguishes a well-prepared answer from a guessed one.
Solving path: Venus is "Morning/Evening Star," Jupiter is the largest, Saturn has rings. Mars is the only option that is red due to iron oxide. Direct recall: 3 seconds.
Why this question: Atmospheric composition is a high-frequency topic. The nitrogen-oxygen pair trap catches students who confuse "what we breathe" with "what the atmosphere is mostly made of."
Solving path: Apply the 78-21 lock. Nitrogen = 78%, Oxygen = 21%. Carbon dioxide is less than 0.1%. Argon is about 0.9%. Nitrogen wins by a large margin. 4 seconds.
Why this question: Atomic number questions test a precise chemistry fact and exploit the common confusion between atomic number (protons only) and atomic mass (protons + neutrons). Carbon's atomic mass of 12 is the designed trap.
Solving path: Atomic number = protons only = 6 for carbon. Option "12" is the atomic mass trap. Option "4" looks like it could be from "carbon tetrachloride" thinking — not relevant. Option "8" is oxygen's atomic number. Answer is 6, confirmed in 5 seconds.
Why this question: Speed of light is one of the most-tested physical constants in all SSC exams. The power-of-10 trap is precisely designed to catch students who remember "3" but not the exact exponent.
Solving path: "Eight is great for light" — the exponent is 8. Options 10⁶ and 10⁷ are too slow; 10⁹ is too fast. 3 × 10⁸ m/s is the answer. 3 seconds.
Why this question: Darwin vs. Mendel is one of the most-exploited confusion pairs in SSC Biology. "Natural selection" is Darwin's specific contribution — not genetics, not heredity.
Solving path: Apply Darwin/Mendel separation rule. "Evolution by natural selection" → D for Descent → Darwin. Gregor Mendel worked on heredity. Pasteur worked on germ theory. Fleming discovered penicillin. Only Darwin fits. 5 seconds.
Why this question: Gold's chemical symbol (Au from Latin aurum) is one of the top-5 most-tested chemistry facts in SSC exams. The Au/Ag confusion is the standard trap.
Solving path: Latin metals phrase — Au = gold (Aurum). Ag = silver (Argentum). "Go" and "Gd" are not real element symbols. Eliminate to Au immediately. 4 seconds.
Confusing atomic number with atomic mass for carbon. Carbon's atomic mass is 12, but its atomic number is 6. The exam puts both as options. Atomic number = protons only. Atomic mass = protons + neutrons. Never mix these two.
Choosing oxygen as the most abundant atmospheric gas. Oxygen is 21%; nitrogen is 78%. Students choose oxygen because "we breathe it to survive" — but the atmosphere is not designed for human preference. Nitrogen dominates.
Writing Ag for gold instead of silver. Au is gold (aurum), Ag is silver (argentum). The letters look unrelated to their English names by design. Lock the Latin origins, not the English associations.
Attributing natural selection to Mendel. Mendel's work is about genetics and heredity — pea plants, dominant and recessive traits. Darwin's work is about why certain traits survive across generations. These are related but separate concepts by different scientists.
Picking 3 × 10⁶ or 3 × 10⁷ for speed of light. The "3" part is easy — the exponent is where marks are lost. The answer is always 10⁸. Use "eight is great" to lock it.
Choosing "magnetic force" for planetary orbits. Gravity is the only force responsible for keeping planets in orbit around the Sun. Magnetic force operates at much smaller scales and between magnetic materials. The nuclear forces operate only within atomic nuclei. Gravity is the answer for any orbit or large-scale astronomical question.