General Science: 135 Most Important Scientific Abbreviations

Question 1. What does STP stand for in chemistry?
STP = standard temperature and air pressure

Question 2. What does SETI stand for in astronomy?
SETI = search for extraterrestrial intelligence

Question 3. What does SI stand for in SI units?
SI = le Système International (d’unités), aka the International System (of units)

Question 4. What do MKS and CGS (or mks and cgs) stand for in science?
MKS = meter-kilogram-second and CGS = centimeter-gram-second

Question 5. What do GB and MHz stand for in computing?
GB = gigabyte(s) and MHz = megahertz

Question 6. What does Roy G. Biv stand for in optics?
Roy G. Biv = red orange yellow green blue indigo violet

Question 7. What does amu (or AMU) stand for in chemistry?
amu = atomic mass unit(s)

Question 8. What does AU stand for in space science?
AU = astronomical unit(s)

Question 9. What does HR stand for at a hospital (the answer is not hours)?
HR = heart rate

Question 10. What does BP stand for at a hospital (it goes along with Question 9)?
BP = blood pressure

Question 11. What do bp, fp, and mp stand for in thermal physics?
bp = boiling point, fp = freezing point, and mp = melting point

Question 12. What do AC and DC stand for in electronics?
AC = alternating current and DC = direct current

Question 13. What do ppm and ppb stand for in laboratory analysis?
ppm = parts per million and ppb = parts per billion

Question 14. What does R&D stand for in science?
R&D = research and development

Question 15. What does HAZMAT (or hazmat) stand for in science?
HAZMAT = hazardous material

Question 16. What does REM stand for in psychology?
REM = rapid eye movement

Question 17. What does pH stand for in chemistry?
pH = pouvoir hydrogène (which literally means “hydrogen power”)

Question 18. What does Ph.D. (or PhD) stand for at a university?
Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy

Question 19. What do B.S. and M.S. (or BS and MS) stand for at a university?
B.S. = Bachelor of Science and M.S. = Master of Science

Question 20. What does NASA stand for in astronomy?
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Question 21. What does CAD stand for in engineering?
CAD = computer-aided design

Question 22. What does DNA stand for in biology?
DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid

Question 23. What do RNA, mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA stand for in biology?
RNA = ribonucleic acid, mRNA = messenger RNA, rRNA = ribosomal RNA, and tRNA = transfer RNA

Question 24. What does dB (or db) stand for in physics?
dB = decibel

Question 25. What does Rx stand for in medicine?
Rx = recipere (“to take,” meaning recipe); we’ll accept “prescription”

Question 26. What does JPL stand for in astronomy?
JPL = Jet Propulsion Lab

Question 27. What does NSF stand for in science?
NSF = National Science Foundation

Question 28. What does FBD stand for in physics?
FBD = free-body diagram

Question 29. What does SHM stand for in physics?
SHM = simple harmonic motion

Question 30. What does eV (or ev) stand for in electromagnetism?
eV = electron Volt

Question 31. What does EKG (or ECG) stand for in a hospital?
EKG = elektrokardiogramm, aka electrocardiogram

Question 32. What do IR and UV stand for in electromagnetism?
IR = infrared and UV = ultraviolet

Question 33. What does CT stand for in a CT scan at a hospital?
CT = computerized tomography (scan)

Question 34. What does GI (or gi) tract stand for in medicine?
GI = gastrointestinal (tract)

Question 35. What does CPU (or cpu) stand for in computing?
CPU = central processing unit

Question 36. What does IP address stand for in computing?
IP = internet protocol (address)

Question 37. What does LAN stand for in computing?
LAN = local area network

Question 38. What does USB stand for in computing?
USB = universal serial bus

Question 39. What do RAM and ROM stand for in computing?
RAM = random-access memory and ROM = read-only memory

Question 40. What do ICU and NICU stand for at a hospital?
ICU = intensive care unit and NICU = neonatal intensive care unit

Question 41. What does MRI stand for at a hospital?
MRI = magnetic resonance imaging

Question 42. What does TNT stand for in construction?
TNT = trinitrotoluene

Question 43. What do A, G, C, and T stand for in genetic sequences?
A = adenine, G = guanine, C = cytosine, and T = thymine

Question 44. Which element does the symbol Fe stand for?
Fe = iron

Question 45. What is the name of the compound H2O?
H2O = water

Question 46. What is the name of the compound CH4? (It has a special name.)
CH4 = methane

Question 47. What is the name of the compound NH3? (It has a special name.)
NH3 = ammonia (no credit for “ammonium,” which refers to the ion NH4+)

Question 48. What is the name of the compound N2O3?
N2O3 = dinitrogen trioxide (correct prefixes are needed)

Question 49. What is the name of the compound Al2O3?
Al2O3 = aluminum oxide (no prefixes this time)

Question 50. What is the name of the compound CoCl3?
CoCl3 = cobalt(III) chloride (Roman numeral is needed)

Question 51. What is the name of the compound Mg(NO3)2?
Mg(NO3)2 = magnesium nitrate

Question 52. What is the name of the compound NH4F?
NH4F = ammonium fluoride (no credit for “ammonia”; see Question 47)

Question 53. What is the name for the compound H2SO4?
H2SO4 = sulfuric acid

Question 54. What is the name for the compound NaOH?
NaOH = sodium hydroxide

Question 55. What does an RLC circuit consist of?
RLC = resistor inductor capacitor

Question 56. What does ANSI stand for regarding standards?
ANSI = American National Standards Institute

Question 57. What does ER stand for in cell biology?
ER = endoplasmic reticulum

Question 58. What does CFC stand for in chemistry?
CFC = chlorofluorocarbon

Question 59. What do SEM and TEM stand for in instrumentation?
SEM = scanning electron microscope and TEM = transmission electron microscope (or microscopy)

Question 60. What does VLA stand for in astronomy?
VLA = Very Large Array

Question 61. What does LCD stand for in electronics?
LCD = liquid-crystal display

Question 62. What do LED and OLED stand for in electronics?
LED = light-emitting diode and OLED = organic light-emitting diode; we’ll also accept organic EL diode

Question 63. What does RA stand for in medicine (we’re not looking for research assistant)?
RA = rheumatoid arthritis (not “right ascension,” since it specified medicine)

Question 64. What does UTI stand for in medicine?
UTI = urinary tract infection

Question 65. What does XRT stand for in medicine?
XRT = external radiotherapy; we’ll accept “radiotherapy” (not “x-ray telescope,” since it specified medicine)

Question 66. What does PTSD stand for in psychology?
PTSD = post-traumatic stress disorder

Question 67. What do CAT and PET scans stand for in a hospital?
CAT = computerized axial tomography and PET = positron emission tomography (scan)

Question 68. What does URL stand for in computing?
URL = uniform resource locator

Question 69. What does CCD stand for in electronics (we’re not looking for closed caption)?
CCD = charge-coupled device

Question 70. What does NMR stand for in the laboratory?
NMR = nuclear magnetic resonance

Question 71. What does HIV stand for in medicine?
HIV = human immunodeficiency virus

Question 72. What does AIDS stand for in medicine?
AIDS = acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Question 73. What do ESR and EPR stand for in the laboratory?
ESR = electron spin resonance and EPR = electron paramagnetic resonance

Question 74. What does ATP stand for in biology?
ATP = adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Question 75. What do EM and TEM stand for in physics?
EM = electromagnetism and TEM = transverse electromagnetic; note that E&M stands for “electricity and magnetism,” which is different from “electromagnetism”

Question 76. What do CR and CS stand for in psychology?
CR = conditioned response and CS = conditioned stimulus

Question 77. What does emf (or EMF) stand for in electronics?
emf = electromotive force

Question 78. What does PV diagram stand for in physics?
PV = pressure-volume (diagram)

Question 79. What does PVC stand for in engineering?
PVC = polyvinyl chloride

Question 80. What does cd stand for in SI units?
cd = candela

Question 81. What does CNS stand for in anatomy?
CNS = central nervous system

Question 82. What does CNG stand for in chemistry?
CNG = compressed natural gas

Question 83. What does GIS stand for in geology?
GIS = geographic information system

Question 84. What does rms stand for in the kinetic theory of gases?
rms = root mean square

Question 85. What does sonar stand for?
sonar = sound navigation and ranging

Question 86. What does radar stand for?
radar = radio detecting and ranging

Question 87. What does COPD stand for in medicine?
COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Question 88. What does DID stand for in psychology?
DID = dissociative identity disorder

Question 89. What do NAD+ and NADP+ stand for in biology?
NAD+ = nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and NADP+ = nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

Question 90. What does SUSY stand for in physics?
SUSY = supersymmetry

Question 91. What does BIOS stand for in computing?
BIOS = basic input/output system

Question 92. What does HTML stand for in computing?
HTML = hypertext markup language

Question 93. What do HTTP and HTTPS stand for in computing?
HTTP = hypertext transfer protocol and the S in HTTPS stands for secure

Question 94. What does OSHA stand for in industry?
OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Question 95. What does MSDS stand for in industry?
MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet

Question 96. What does USGS stand for in geology?
USGS = United States Geological Survey

Question 97. What does QED stand for in physics (the subject, not at the end of a proof)?
QED = quantum electrodynamics

Question 98. What does QCD stand for in physics?
QCD = quantum chromodynamics

Question 99. What does BMI stand for in medicine?
BMI = body mass index

Question 100. What does EEG stand for in psychology?
EEG = electroencephalogram

Question 101. What does LASER stand for? (Bonus if you know how MASER is different.)
LASER = light amplification by (the) stimulated emission of radiation
MASER = microwave amplification by (the) stimulated emission of radiation

Question 102. What does VSEPR model stand for in chemistry?
VSEPR = valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (model)

Question 103. What does ADHD stand for in psychology?
ADHD = attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Question 104. What does IEEE stand for in engineering?
IEEE = Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Question 105. What does SLAC stand for in particle physics?
SLAC = Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Question 106. What does LHC stand for in particle physics?
LHC = Large Hadron Collider

Question 107. What does CERN stand for in particle physics?
CERN = originally Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, aka Center for European Nuclear Research or European Organization for Nuclear Research

Question 108. What do LNG and LPG stand for in chemistry?
LNG = liquefied natural gas and LPG = liquefied petroleum gas

Question 109. What does LPN stand for in health science?
LPN = licensed practical nurse

Question 110. What do HDL and LDL stand for in medicine?
HDL = high-density lipoprotein and LDL = low-density lipoprotein

Question 111. What does PTH stand for in biology?
PTH = parathyroid hormone

Question 112. What does PCR stand for in chemistry?
PCR = polymerase chain reaction

Question 113. What does NTS stand for in engineering design?
NTS = not to scale

Question 114. What does AGN stand for in astronomy?
AGN = active galactic nucleus

Question 115. What does H-R stand for in an H-R diagram in astronomy?
H-R = Hertzsprung-Russell (diagram)

Question 116. What does CRT stand for in electronics?
CRT = cathode-ray tube

Question 117. What does FTP stand for in computing?
FTP = file transfer protocol

Question 118. What does IRF stand for in relativity?
IRF = inertial reference frame

Question 119. What does btu (or BTU or Btu) stand for in heat?
btu = British thermal unit

Question 120. What does WAIS stand for in psychology?
WAIS = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Question 121. What does ADH stand for in biology?
ADH = antidiuretic hormone; we’ll accept vasopressin or argipressin

Question 122. What does BEC stand for in low-temperature physics?
BEC = Bose-Einstein condensate

Question 123. What does GUT stand for in physics?
GUT = grand unified (field) theory

Question 124. What does MIC stand for in biology?
MIC = minimum (or minimal) inhibitory concentration

Question 125. What does BCS stand for in semiconductors?
BCS = Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (theory)

Question 126. What does DVM stand for in medicine?
DVM = Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Question 127. What does DVT stand for in medicine?
DVT = deep vein thrombosis

Question 128. What does PSR stand for in astronomy?
PSR = pulsating source of radio (emission); we’ll accept pulsar or pulsating source of radiation

Question 129. What does QSO stand for in astronomy?
QSO = quasi-stellar object; we’ll accept quasar

Question 130. What does SQ3R (or SQRRR) stand for in psychology?
SQ3R = survey question read retrieve review (which may have variations for reading comprehension, such as read recite review)

Question 131. What does AMA stand for in medicine?
AMA = American Medical Association

Question 132. What does ACS stand for in chemistry?
ACS = American Chemical Society (not American Cancer Society, since it specified chemistry)

Question 133. What does AAPT stand for in physics?
AAPT = American Association of Physics Teachers

Question 134. What does ISEF stand for in science?
ISEF = International Science and Engineering Fair

Question 135. What does ASCII stand for in computing?
ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Question 136. What does IUPAC stand for in chemistry?
IUPAC = International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Question 137. What does HDPE stand for in engineering?
HDPE = high-density polyethylene

Question 138. What does CMOS stand for in electronics?
CMOS = complementary metal-oxide semiconductor

Question 139. What does ENSO stand for in meteorology?
ENSO = El Niño Southern Oscillation