CSET Multiple Subjects: Subtest 2 - Science
Updated Actual Exam Question and Answer
(2026/2027) | 100% Verified Answers
• Planets -✓✓ -Divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants and
smaller, rocky terrestrials
-There are at least 341 identified planets, 8 of which are in the Solar System
• Solar System -✓✓ -4 terrestrials: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth
-4 gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
-At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Eris
• Venus -✓✓ -Takes approx. seven and a half earth months for Venus to revolve
around the sun
-Takes approx. eight earth months to rotate on its axis
-Therefore, a day on Venus is longer than a year
-Similar in size to Earth
-One of the few planets that rotate from east to west
-Similar in size to Earth
-Atmosphere is primarily composed of carbon dioxide
-This thick atmosphere traps heat due to the greenhouse effect
-The Magellan probe reached Venus in 1990 and provided detailed images of the
planet
• Comet -✓✓ -A small Solar System body that orbits the Sun
-When close enough to the sun, exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere) or a tail, both
primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus
,-Comet nuclei are loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles,
measuring a few kilometers or tens of kilometers across
-Have a variety of different orbital periods, ranging from a few years, to hundreds
of thousands of years, while some are believed to pass through the inner Solar
System only once before being thrown out into interstellar space
• Short-period comets -✓✓ Thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, or associated
scattered discs, which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune
• Long-period comets -✓✓ -Believed to originate at a much greater distance from
the Sun, in a cloud (the Oort cloud) consisting of debris left over from the
condensation of solar nebula
-Comets are thrown from the outer planets or nearby stars, or as a result of
collisions
• Asteroids -✓✓ -Sometimes called minor planets or planetoids
-Bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System—that are smaller than planets but
larger than meteoroids, excluding comets
-The distinction between asteroids and comets is made by visual appearance; when
discovered, comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not
• Earth -✓✓ -Travels in an orbit that is slightly elliptical (oval), and so the distance
from the sun ranges from 91.5 to 94.5 million miles
-Its daily rotation deforms the earth to a flattened spheroid, with a polar radius
slightly less than the equatorial radius
Locations of the surface are described by a grid of latitude and longitude lines
• Gravity and inertia -✓✓ -Both gravity and inertia work together to keep planets
in orbit around the sun
,-Inertia makes a planet travel in a straight line
-By definition, inertia is the tendency of a moving object to stay in a straight line or
a stationary object to remain in place
-However, the power of the sun's gravity pulls the planets toward the sun
-The sun's gravity pulls the planets while their inertia keeps them moving forward
in an elliptical orbit around the sun
-The strength of gravity in our solar system depends on both the masses of the
celestial objects and the distance between them
-Gravity helps to explain the tides on earth
-Without inertia, a planet would be pulled into the sun
• Weight and mass -✓✓ -Gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have
diameters far larger than Earth's and have far greater masses
-An individual weighing 200 lbs on Earth would weigh more on a larger planet
-Weight is a function of gravity
• Latitude -✓✓ The degrees north or south of the equator
• Longitude -✓✓ The degrees east or west of the prime meridian through
Greenwich, England
• Moon -✓✓ -Travels around the earth each month
-Distance from the earth averages 237,000 miles
-Has rugged topography formed billions of years ago by volcanic eruptions and
meteorite impacts
-Mass is 1/6th that of Earth
, • Phases of the moon -✓✓ -New moon occurs when the moon sets at sunset
-Then the moon is between the earth and the sun, so we see only the dark half of
the moon
-Each night, the moon sets a few minutes later and we perceive more of its
illuminated half
-After the moon has waxed through crescent, quarter, and gibbous phases, a full
moon appears
-At that time, the moon rises at sunset, and we see all of its illuminated side
-Then the phase wanes gradually to another new moon
-There are approx. 29.5 days between each cycle
• Eclipses -✓✓ -Ancient astronomers found that eclipses occurred periodically and
learned to predict them accurately
-Lunar and solar
• Lunar eclipse -✓✓ -Darkens the moon as the earth passes between it and the sun,
casting a shadow on the moon
-An eclipse of the moon may be seen from anywhere the moon is visible, about
half of the earth
• Solar eclipse -✓✓ -Takes place when the moon passes between the earth and the
sun, with the moon blocking the sunlight for about two minutes
-A total eclipse of the sun may be seen only from a small zone on the earth
• Sun -✓✓ -A huge ball of incandescent gases
-Its mass is more than 300,000 times that of the earth
-Principal constituents of the sun are the lightest elements, hydrogen and helium
Updated Actual Exam Question and Answer
(2026/2027) | 100% Verified Answers
• Planets -✓✓ -Divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants and
smaller, rocky terrestrials
-There are at least 341 identified planets, 8 of which are in the Solar System
• Solar System -✓✓ -4 terrestrials: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth
-4 gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
-At least 5 dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Eris
• Venus -✓✓ -Takes approx. seven and a half earth months for Venus to revolve
around the sun
-Takes approx. eight earth months to rotate on its axis
-Therefore, a day on Venus is longer than a year
-Similar in size to Earth
-One of the few planets that rotate from east to west
-Similar in size to Earth
-Atmosphere is primarily composed of carbon dioxide
-This thick atmosphere traps heat due to the greenhouse effect
-The Magellan probe reached Venus in 1990 and provided detailed images of the
planet
• Comet -✓✓ -A small Solar System body that orbits the Sun
-When close enough to the sun, exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere) or a tail, both
primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus
,-Comet nuclei are loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles,
measuring a few kilometers or tens of kilometers across
-Have a variety of different orbital periods, ranging from a few years, to hundreds
of thousands of years, while some are believed to pass through the inner Solar
System only once before being thrown out into interstellar space
• Short-period comets -✓✓ Thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, or associated
scattered discs, which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune
• Long-period comets -✓✓ -Believed to originate at a much greater distance from
the Sun, in a cloud (the Oort cloud) consisting of debris left over from the
condensation of solar nebula
-Comets are thrown from the outer planets or nearby stars, or as a result of
collisions
• Asteroids -✓✓ -Sometimes called minor planets or planetoids
-Bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System—that are smaller than planets but
larger than meteoroids, excluding comets
-The distinction between asteroids and comets is made by visual appearance; when
discovered, comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not
• Earth -✓✓ -Travels in an orbit that is slightly elliptical (oval), and so the distance
from the sun ranges from 91.5 to 94.5 million miles
-Its daily rotation deforms the earth to a flattened spheroid, with a polar radius
slightly less than the equatorial radius
Locations of the surface are described by a grid of latitude and longitude lines
• Gravity and inertia -✓✓ -Both gravity and inertia work together to keep planets
in orbit around the sun
,-Inertia makes a planet travel in a straight line
-By definition, inertia is the tendency of a moving object to stay in a straight line or
a stationary object to remain in place
-However, the power of the sun's gravity pulls the planets toward the sun
-The sun's gravity pulls the planets while their inertia keeps them moving forward
in an elliptical orbit around the sun
-The strength of gravity in our solar system depends on both the masses of the
celestial objects and the distance between them
-Gravity helps to explain the tides on earth
-Without inertia, a planet would be pulled into the sun
• Weight and mass -✓✓ -Gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have
diameters far larger than Earth's and have far greater masses
-An individual weighing 200 lbs on Earth would weigh more on a larger planet
-Weight is a function of gravity
• Latitude -✓✓ The degrees north or south of the equator
• Longitude -✓✓ The degrees east or west of the prime meridian through
Greenwich, England
• Moon -✓✓ -Travels around the earth each month
-Distance from the earth averages 237,000 miles
-Has rugged topography formed billions of years ago by volcanic eruptions and
meteorite impacts
-Mass is 1/6th that of Earth
, • Phases of the moon -✓✓ -New moon occurs when the moon sets at sunset
-Then the moon is between the earth and the sun, so we see only the dark half of
the moon
-Each night, the moon sets a few minutes later and we perceive more of its
illuminated half
-After the moon has waxed through crescent, quarter, and gibbous phases, a full
moon appears
-At that time, the moon rises at sunset, and we see all of its illuminated side
-Then the phase wanes gradually to another new moon
-There are approx. 29.5 days between each cycle
• Eclipses -✓✓ -Ancient astronomers found that eclipses occurred periodically and
learned to predict them accurately
-Lunar and solar
• Lunar eclipse -✓✓ -Darkens the moon as the earth passes between it and the sun,
casting a shadow on the moon
-An eclipse of the moon may be seen from anywhere the moon is visible, about
half of the earth
• Solar eclipse -✓✓ -Takes place when the moon passes between the earth and the
sun, with the moon blocking the sunlight for about two minutes
-A total eclipse of the sun may be seen only from a small zone on the earth
• Sun -✓✓ -A huge ball of incandescent gases
-Its mass is more than 300,000 times that of the earth
-Principal constituents of the sun are the lightest elements, hydrogen and helium
