ASRT
ASRT - California Supervisor and Operator Exam
Study Questions and Answers 2025
(unit 1) According to the article, the characteristic that best identifies a natural source of
radiation is the ability to:
a. Spontaneously emit excess energy
b. Emit excess energy when excited by x-rays
c. Avoid decay.
d. Glow in the dark. -Correct Answer ✔a. Spontaneously emit excess energy
(unit 1) Half-life is defined as:
a. The amount of time it takes an x-ray to reach its target.
b. The amount of time it takes to generate a wavelength equivalent to an x-ray.
c. A radioactive element's rate of decay.
d. How long it takes for an element to release half of its energy. -Correct Answer ✔c. A
radioactive element's rate of decay.
(unit 1) Of the electromagnetic radiation forms, ___ have (has) the lowest energy and
___ the highest.
a. Visible light; gamma rays
b. Radio waves; ultraviolet rays
c. Ultraviolet rays; x-rays
d. Radio waves; gamma rays -Correct Answer ✔d. Radio waves; gamma rays
(unit 1) Wavelength is defined by the:
a. Height of an energetic waveform.
b. Distance between 2 peaks of a waveform.
c. Length of the entire waveform.
d. Distance between 2 valleys in a waveform. -Correct Answer ✔b. Distance between 2
peaks of a waveform.
(unit 1) Of the 5 types of possible interactions between ionizing radiation and tissues,
which 3 occur at energies within the diagnostic range of 20 to 150 kV?
a. Bremsstrahlung, Compton, general scatter
b. Photoelectric, Compton, classical
c. Photoelectric, bremsstrahlung, classical
d. Classical, Compton, pair production -Correct Answer ✔b. Photoelectric, Compton,
classical
(unit 1) The effective dose measurement was created to:
a. Provide a dose quantity related to the probability of damaging health due to
stochastic effects from exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation.
b. Calculate exact dose received by target organs.
c. Track radiation exposure rates in a national radiation exposure database.
ASRT
,ASRT
d. Help radiation health physicists approve equipment by ensuring that an accurate
dose was received. -Correct Answer ✔a. Provide a dose quantity related to the
probability of damaging health due to stochastic effects from exposure to low levels of
ionizing radiation.
(unit 1) Exact tissue and organ dose absorbed can be calculated easily using indicators
on modern imaging equipment such as CT scanners and image intensifiers.
a. True
b. False -Correct Answer ✔b. False
(unit 1) What percentage of the human body is made up of water molecules?
a. 20
b. 40
c. 60
d. 80 -Correct Answer ✔d. 80
(unit 1) A function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide:
a. Immunity
b. Red blood cell production
c. Fuel for cell metabolism
d. Glucose and fats to cells -Correct Answer ✔c. Fuel for cell metabolism
(unit 1) What 4 nitrogenous bases make up the "ladder rungs" of the DNA double helix?
a. Adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine
b. Tryamine, guanine, thymine, cytosine
c. Adenine, guanine, cortisol, cytosine
d. Glucose, guanine, thymine, cytosine -Correct Answer ✔a. Adenine, guanine, thymine,
cytosine
(unit 1) Where is RNA located?
a. Only in the cytoplasm
b. Only in the nucleus
c. In the cell wall and the nucleus
d. In the cytoplasm and in the nucleus -Correct Answer ✔d. In the cytoplasm and in the
nucleus
(unit 1) The principal inorganic compounds in protoplasm are water and:
a. Carbon
b. mineral sugars.
c. Mineral salts (electrolytes)
d. nitrogen -Correct Answer ✔c. Mineral salts (electrolytes)
(unit 1) The majority of a cell's molecular components exist in the:
a. Nucleus
b. Cell wall
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,ASRT
c. Cytoplasm
d. Golgi apparatus -Correct Answer ✔c. Cytoplasm
(unit 1) ___ is (are) responsible for protein synthesis.
a. Fats
b. Electrolytes
c. DNA
d. ribosomes -Correct Answer ✔d. ribosomes
(unit 1) The female germ cell is the:
a. Spermatogonium
b. Ribosome
c. Oogonium
d. Corpus albicans -Correct Answer ✔c. Oogonium
(unit 1) ___ is the process that produces 2 daughter cells identical to the parent cell.
a. Point mutation
b. Asexual reproduction
c. Mitosis
d. meiosis -Correct Answer ✔c. Mitosis
(unit 1) A normal human cell contains ___ chromosomes as represented by a parent
cell and a fertilized germ call
a. 22
b. 23
c. 44
d. 46 -Correct Answer ✔d. 46
(unit 1) When ionizing radiation interacts with a cell, ionizations and excitations can
occur only with water molecules contained within the cell.
a. True
b. false -Correct Answer ✔b. false
(unit 1) Point mutations refer to damage to:
a. Golgi apparati
b. Ribosomes
c. DNA
d. RNA -Correct Answer ✔c. DNA
(unit 1) Irradiation of DNA primarily causes: 1) cell death. 2) genetic damage. 3)
malignant disease.
a. 1 and 2
b. 1 and 3
c. 2 and 3
d. 1, 2 and 3 -Correct Answer ✔d. 1, 2 and 3
ASRT
, ASRT
(unit 1) Because the body is composed mostly of water and only 1% DNA, the majority
of ionizing radiation damage results from:
a. Compton scatter
b. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle
c. Direct effect
d. Indirect effect -Correct Answer ✔d. Indirect effect
(unit 1) Somatic effects of ionizing radiation cause changes to:
a. Film exposure only
b. The individual exposed
c. The offspring of the irradiated individual
d. Several generations following the exposed individual -Correct Answer ✔b. The
individual exposed
(unit 1) The third stage of acute radiation syndrome, known as the ___ stage, affects the
hematopoietic, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems.
a. Prodromal
b. Manifest illness
c. Latent
d. Recovery
(extra credit: What are the stages in order?) -Correct Answer ✔b. Manifest illness
(unit 1) Compared with its incidence at higher doses of radiation, the incidence of
leukemia at lower doses is:
a. More prevalent
b. About the same
c. Unknown
d. Less prevalent -Correct Answer ✔d. Less prevalent
(unit 1) Uranium produces more neutrons and therefore has a ___, which causes ___
biological damage.
a. Lower relative biologic effectiveness; less
b. Lower relative biologic effectiveness; greater
c. Higher relative biologic effectiveness; greater
d. Higher relative biologic effectiveness; less -Correct Answer ✔c. Higher relative
biologic effectiveness; greater
___ and ___ provide the greatest risk of exposure to the radiologic technologist
operating the equipment.
a. Computed tomography (CT); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
b. CT; mobile radiography
c. Fluoroscopy; mobile radiography
d. Sonography; MRI -Correct Answer ✔c. Fluoroscopy; mobile radiography
ASRT
ASRT - California Supervisor and Operator Exam
Study Questions and Answers 2025
(unit 1) According to the article, the characteristic that best identifies a natural source of
radiation is the ability to:
a. Spontaneously emit excess energy
b. Emit excess energy when excited by x-rays
c. Avoid decay.
d. Glow in the dark. -Correct Answer ✔a. Spontaneously emit excess energy
(unit 1) Half-life is defined as:
a. The amount of time it takes an x-ray to reach its target.
b. The amount of time it takes to generate a wavelength equivalent to an x-ray.
c. A radioactive element's rate of decay.
d. How long it takes for an element to release half of its energy. -Correct Answer ✔c. A
radioactive element's rate of decay.
(unit 1) Of the electromagnetic radiation forms, ___ have (has) the lowest energy and
___ the highest.
a. Visible light; gamma rays
b. Radio waves; ultraviolet rays
c. Ultraviolet rays; x-rays
d. Radio waves; gamma rays -Correct Answer ✔d. Radio waves; gamma rays
(unit 1) Wavelength is defined by the:
a. Height of an energetic waveform.
b. Distance between 2 peaks of a waveform.
c. Length of the entire waveform.
d. Distance between 2 valleys in a waveform. -Correct Answer ✔b. Distance between 2
peaks of a waveform.
(unit 1) Of the 5 types of possible interactions between ionizing radiation and tissues,
which 3 occur at energies within the diagnostic range of 20 to 150 kV?
a. Bremsstrahlung, Compton, general scatter
b. Photoelectric, Compton, classical
c. Photoelectric, bremsstrahlung, classical
d. Classical, Compton, pair production -Correct Answer ✔b. Photoelectric, Compton,
classical
(unit 1) The effective dose measurement was created to:
a. Provide a dose quantity related to the probability of damaging health due to
stochastic effects from exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation.
b. Calculate exact dose received by target organs.
c. Track radiation exposure rates in a national radiation exposure database.
ASRT
,ASRT
d. Help radiation health physicists approve equipment by ensuring that an accurate
dose was received. -Correct Answer ✔a. Provide a dose quantity related to the
probability of damaging health due to stochastic effects from exposure to low levels of
ionizing radiation.
(unit 1) Exact tissue and organ dose absorbed can be calculated easily using indicators
on modern imaging equipment such as CT scanners and image intensifiers.
a. True
b. False -Correct Answer ✔b. False
(unit 1) What percentage of the human body is made up of water molecules?
a. 20
b. 40
c. 60
d. 80 -Correct Answer ✔d. 80
(unit 1) A function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide:
a. Immunity
b. Red blood cell production
c. Fuel for cell metabolism
d. Glucose and fats to cells -Correct Answer ✔c. Fuel for cell metabolism
(unit 1) What 4 nitrogenous bases make up the "ladder rungs" of the DNA double helix?
a. Adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine
b. Tryamine, guanine, thymine, cytosine
c. Adenine, guanine, cortisol, cytosine
d. Glucose, guanine, thymine, cytosine -Correct Answer ✔a. Adenine, guanine, thymine,
cytosine
(unit 1) Where is RNA located?
a. Only in the cytoplasm
b. Only in the nucleus
c. In the cell wall and the nucleus
d. In the cytoplasm and in the nucleus -Correct Answer ✔d. In the cytoplasm and in the
nucleus
(unit 1) The principal inorganic compounds in protoplasm are water and:
a. Carbon
b. mineral sugars.
c. Mineral salts (electrolytes)
d. nitrogen -Correct Answer ✔c. Mineral salts (electrolytes)
(unit 1) The majority of a cell's molecular components exist in the:
a. Nucleus
b. Cell wall
ASRT
,ASRT
c. Cytoplasm
d. Golgi apparatus -Correct Answer ✔c. Cytoplasm
(unit 1) ___ is (are) responsible for protein synthesis.
a. Fats
b. Electrolytes
c. DNA
d. ribosomes -Correct Answer ✔d. ribosomes
(unit 1) The female germ cell is the:
a. Spermatogonium
b. Ribosome
c. Oogonium
d. Corpus albicans -Correct Answer ✔c. Oogonium
(unit 1) ___ is the process that produces 2 daughter cells identical to the parent cell.
a. Point mutation
b. Asexual reproduction
c. Mitosis
d. meiosis -Correct Answer ✔c. Mitosis
(unit 1) A normal human cell contains ___ chromosomes as represented by a parent
cell and a fertilized germ call
a. 22
b. 23
c. 44
d. 46 -Correct Answer ✔d. 46
(unit 1) When ionizing radiation interacts with a cell, ionizations and excitations can
occur only with water molecules contained within the cell.
a. True
b. false -Correct Answer ✔b. false
(unit 1) Point mutations refer to damage to:
a. Golgi apparati
b. Ribosomes
c. DNA
d. RNA -Correct Answer ✔c. DNA
(unit 1) Irradiation of DNA primarily causes: 1) cell death. 2) genetic damage. 3)
malignant disease.
a. 1 and 2
b. 1 and 3
c. 2 and 3
d. 1, 2 and 3 -Correct Answer ✔d. 1, 2 and 3
ASRT
, ASRT
(unit 1) Because the body is composed mostly of water and only 1% DNA, the majority
of ionizing radiation damage results from:
a. Compton scatter
b. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle
c. Direct effect
d. Indirect effect -Correct Answer ✔d. Indirect effect
(unit 1) Somatic effects of ionizing radiation cause changes to:
a. Film exposure only
b. The individual exposed
c. The offspring of the irradiated individual
d. Several generations following the exposed individual -Correct Answer ✔b. The
individual exposed
(unit 1) The third stage of acute radiation syndrome, known as the ___ stage, affects the
hematopoietic, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems.
a. Prodromal
b. Manifest illness
c. Latent
d. Recovery
(extra credit: What are the stages in order?) -Correct Answer ✔b. Manifest illness
(unit 1) Compared with its incidence at higher doses of radiation, the incidence of
leukemia at lower doses is:
a. More prevalent
b. About the same
c. Unknown
d. Less prevalent -Correct Answer ✔d. Less prevalent
(unit 1) Uranium produces more neutrons and therefore has a ___, which causes ___
biological damage.
a. Lower relative biologic effectiveness; less
b. Lower relative biologic effectiveness; greater
c. Higher relative biologic effectiveness; greater
d. Higher relative biologic effectiveness; less -Correct Answer ✔c. Higher relative
biologic effectiveness; greater
___ and ___ provide the greatest risk of exposure to the radiologic technologist
operating the equipment.
a. Computed tomography (CT); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
b. CT; mobile radiography
c. Fluoroscopy; mobile radiography
d. Sonography; MRI -Correct Answer ✔c. Fluoroscopy; mobile radiography
ASRT
