WCU PHYS 261 Midterm Exam Practice Test
— 300 Questions & Answers (Verified/100%
Correct/Latest Update 2026.
1. What is physiology?
Answer: The study of how living organisms and their body parts
function.
2. What is homeostasis?
Answer: The maintenance of a relatively stable internal environment.
3. Which type of feedback mechanism is most important for
maintaining homeostasis?
Answer: Negative feedback.
4. What is an example of positive feedback?
Answer: Uterine contractions during childbirth.
5. What is the smallest structural and functional unit of the human
body?
Answer: The cell.
6. What are the four major types of tissue?
Answer: Epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissue.
7. What is the primary function of the plasma membrane?
Answer: To regulate what enters and leaves the cell.
,8. What is the main component of the plasma membrane?
Answer: A phospholipid bilayer.
9. Which organelle contains the cell's DNA?
Answer: The nucleus.
10. Which organelle is primarily responsible for ATP production?
Answer: The mitochondria.
11. What is the function of ribosomes?
Answer: Protein synthesis.
12. What is the function of the Golgi apparatus?
Answer: Modifies, sorts, and packages proteins and lipids.
13. What is diffusion?
Answer: Movement of molecules from an area of higher
concentration to an area of lower concentration.
14. Does simple diffusion require ATP?
Answer: No.
15. What is osmosis?
Answer: The movement of water across a selectively permeable
membrane.
16. What is facilitated diffusion?
Answer: Passive movement of substances through membrane
proteins down their concentration gradient.
,17. What is active transport?
Answer: Movement of substances against their concentration or
electrochemical gradient using energy.
18. What is the major example of primary active transport in
cells?
Answer: The sodium-potassium pump.
19. How many Na⁺ ions does the sodium-potassium pump move
out of the cell?
Answer: Three Na⁺ ions.
20. How many K⁺ ions does the sodium-potassium pump move into
the cell?
Answer: Two K⁺ ions.
21. What happens to a cell placed in a hypertonic solution?
Answer: Water leaves the cell, causing it to shrink.
22. What happens to a cell placed in a hypotonic solution?
Answer: Water enters the cell, causing it to swell.
23. What happens to a cell in an isotonic solution?
Answer: There is no net movement of water, so cell volume remains
relatively constant.
24. What is an atom's atomic number determined by?
Answer: The number of protons.
25. What is an ion?
Answer: An atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
, 26. What is a cation?
Answer: A positively charged ion.
27. What is an anion?
Answer: A negatively charged ion.
28. What is pH?
Answer: A measure of hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.
29. A solution with a pH below 7 is considered what?
Answer: Acidic.
30. A solution with a pH above 7 is considered what?
Answer: Basic (alkaline).
31. What molecule is commonly called the energy currency of the
cell?
Answer: ATP.
32. What is cellular respiration?
Answer: The process by which cells produce ATP from nutrients,
primarily glucose
33. Where does glycolysis occur?
Answer: In the cytoplasm.
34. What is the main product of glycolysis?
Answer: Pyruvate.
— 300 Questions & Answers (Verified/100%
Correct/Latest Update 2026.
1. What is physiology?
Answer: The study of how living organisms and their body parts
function.
2. What is homeostasis?
Answer: The maintenance of a relatively stable internal environment.
3. Which type of feedback mechanism is most important for
maintaining homeostasis?
Answer: Negative feedback.
4. What is an example of positive feedback?
Answer: Uterine contractions during childbirth.
5. What is the smallest structural and functional unit of the human
body?
Answer: The cell.
6. What are the four major types of tissue?
Answer: Epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissue.
7. What is the primary function of the plasma membrane?
Answer: To regulate what enters and leaves the cell.
,8. What is the main component of the plasma membrane?
Answer: A phospholipid bilayer.
9. Which organelle contains the cell's DNA?
Answer: The nucleus.
10. Which organelle is primarily responsible for ATP production?
Answer: The mitochondria.
11. What is the function of ribosomes?
Answer: Protein synthesis.
12. What is the function of the Golgi apparatus?
Answer: Modifies, sorts, and packages proteins and lipids.
13. What is diffusion?
Answer: Movement of molecules from an area of higher
concentration to an area of lower concentration.
14. Does simple diffusion require ATP?
Answer: No.
15. What is osmosis?
Answer: The movement of water across a selectively permeable
membrane.
16. What is facilitated diffusion?
Answer: Passive movement of substances through membrane
proteins down their concentration gradient.
,17. What is active transport?
Answer: Movement of substances against their concentration or
electrochemical gradient using energy.
18. What is the major example of primary active transport in
cells?
Answer: The sodium-potassium pump.
19. How many Na⁺ ions does the sodium-potassium pump move
out of the cell?
Answer: Three Na⁺ ions.
20. How many K⁺ ions does the sodium-potassium pump move into
the cell?
Answer: Two K⁺ ions.
21. What happens to a cell placed in a hypertonic solution?
Answer: Water leaves the cell, causing it to shrink.
22. What happens to a cell placed in a hypotonic solution?
Answer: Water enters the cell, causing it to swell.
23. What happens to a cell in an isotonic solution?
Answer: There is no net movement of water, so cell volume remains
relatively constant.
24. What is an atom's atomic number determined by?
Answer: The number of protons.
25. What is an ion?
Answer: An atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
, 26. What is a cation?
Answer: A positively charged ion.
27. What is an anion?
Answer: A negatively charged ion.
28. What is pH?
Answer: A measure of hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.
29. A solution with a pH below 7 is considered what?
Answer: Acidic.
30. A solution with a pH above 7 is considered what?
Answer: Basic (alkaline).
31. What molecule is commonly called the energy currency of the
cell?
Answer: ATP.
32. What is cellular respiration?
Answer: The process by which cells produce ATP from nutrients,
primarily glucose
33. Where does glycolysis occur?
Answer: In the cytoplasm.
34. What is the main product of glycolysis?
Answer: Pyruvate.
