Sciences sectionFuneral service sciences practice questions
26 scored Sciences items spanning anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, and pathology — the foundation the rest of the section is built on.
26 of 150 scored items (17%)78 questions in the bank71 subtopics covered
Funeral service sciences is the basic-science foundation under everything else in the Sciences section — 26 scored items across anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, and pathology. It is not the biggest domain, but it is the one whose weaknesses leak into the others.
If you cannot trace the arterial route from the aortic arch, embalming vessel-selection questions get harder than they need to be. If osmosis and tonicity are fuzzy, every edema case is a guess. Students who are struggling broadly in Sciences usually have a hole here rather than in embalming proper.
What this domain tests
- Arterial and venous anatomy, the aortic arch branches, and the vessels used for injection and drainage
- Heart, circulation, body cavities, cranial anatomy, and the lymphatic and integumentary systems
- Chemistry — pH and buffers, osmosis and tonicity, oxidation and reduction, water hardness, saponification
- Formaldehyde chemistry, fixation, and the classes of embalming chemicals
- Microbiology — classes of microbes, morphology, staining, spore formers, prions, the chain of infection
- Disinfectant classification, sterilization, and the factors affecting disinfection
- Pathology — inflammation, necrosis and gangrene types, jaundice, edema mechanisms, thrombosis and embolism
- Terms of death, and cause versus mechanism versus manner
3 sample funeral service sciences questions
Real items from the bank. Commit to an answer before you open the explanation — the reasoning is what transfers to the exam, not the answer key.
SciencesMicrobiology: Modes of Transmissioneasy
1. A doorknob contaminated with pathogens transmits infection to the next person who grasps it. This route of transmission is classified as...
- Avector transmission carried by a biting arthropod insect
- Bdirect contact transmission between two adjacent living hosts
- Cdroplet transmission across a short span of open air
- Dindirect transmission by way of a contaminated fomite
Show the answer and why
Answer: D — indirect transmission by way of a contaminated fomite
An inanimate contaminated object such as a doorknob is a fomite, and spread through it is indirect contact transmission.
- A. Vector transmission requires a living carrier such as an insect, not a doorknob.
- B. Direct contact requires host-to-host touching, not an intervening object.
- C. Droplet transmission moves through the air, not by a touched surface.
Tortora, Funke & Case, *Microbiology: An Introduction* (Pearson) — Microbiology: Modes of Transmission
SciencesMicrobiology: Classes of Microbeseasy
2. Which feature most clearly distinguishes a virus from a bacterium?
- AA virus divides entirely on its own through simple binary fission
- BA virus is generally much larger than a typical bacterial cell is
- CA virus can replicate only inside a living host cell it invades
- DA virus is a single-celled organism that has a true cell nucleus
Show the answer and why
Answer: C — A virus can replicate only inside a living host cell it invades
Viruses are obligate intracellular agents that lack the machinery to reproduce independently and can replicate only within a host cell.
- A. Binary fission is bacterial reproduction; viruses do not divide this way.
- B. Viruses are markedly smaller than bacteria, not larger.
- D. Viruses are not cells and have no nucleus.
Tortora, Funke & Case, *Microbiology: An Introduction* (Pearson) — Microbiology: Classes of Microbes
SciencesMicrobiology: Disinfectant, Antiseptic, Sterilizationeasy
3. Which term refers to an agent applied to living tissue to inhibit or destroy microorganisms?
- ASanitizer, intended to lower counts on food-contact equipment only
- BSterilant, intended to strip away every trace of organic soil present
- CDisinfectant, intended for use on inanimate environmental surfaces
- DAntiseptic, intended for use on skin and other living surfaces
Show the answer and why
Answer: D — Antiseptic, intended for use on skin and other living surfaces
An antiseptic is defined as an agent used on living tissue, distinguishing it from a disinfectant used on inanimate surfaces.
- A. A sanitizer reduces counts on surfaces to safe levels, not on living tissue.
- B. A sterilant destroys all microbial life on objects; it is not defined by use on tissue.
- C. A disinfectant is applied to inanimate surfaces, not living tissue.
Tortora, Funke & Case, *Microbiology: An Introduction* (Pearson) — Microbiology: Disinfectant, Antiseptic, Sterilization
How to study it
Study this domain first, not last. It is the prerequisite for the two big Sciences domains, and time spent here pays out twice.
The rest of the Sciences section
Every question here is original, written to the public content outlines and standard funeral-service textbooks. MortuaryPrep is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to The Conference, ABFSE, or Pearson VUE.