General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

Notes:
The melting point of a pure substance is always higher than the melting point of that substance when a small amount of an impurity is present. Melting point decreases with increase of impurity in water. Increase in impurity increases the electrostatic attraction between ions and thus more energy is needed to break the bonds. The surface tension of water increases when highly soluble impurities are added to it.

Notes:
Bohr’s model of atom cannot explain spectrum of atoms containing more than one electron. Also, it cannot explain the Zeeman effect i.e. splitting of spectral line in presence of magnetic field. It also fails to explain Stark effect i.e. splitting of spectral line in presence of electric field.

Notes:
Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a highly contagious infection caused by the varicella zoster virus. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab over. It is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of an infected person.

Notes:
Greenhouse gases that occur both naturally and from human activities include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3). These gases contribute to atmospheric warming when they absorb infrared radiation emitted by the solar-warmed Earth and transfer their extra energy to the surrounding atmospheric gases.

Notes:
Calyptrogen is a layer of rapidly dividing cells at the tip of a plant root, from which the root cap is formed. It occurs in grasses and many other plants. The root cap is formed by several layers of cells that envelop the root tip externally. This covering of cells, of which the outermost ones are dead, envelops and protects the growing tip of root.

Notes:
Smallpox was one of the world’s most devastating diseases known to humanity. The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977. It was declared eradicated in 1980 following a global immunization campaign led by the World Health Organization. Smallpox is caused by infection with the variola virus.

Notes:
Barani area are traditionally rain-fed areas. These are any low rain area where the rain-fed dry farming is practiced. Bagar tract, the dry sandy tract of land on the border of Rajasthan state adjoining the states of Haryana and Punjab, is an example of Barani land.

Notes:
Composting is defined as the biological degradation process of heterogeneous solid organic materials under controlled moist, self-heating, and aerobic conditions to obtain a stable material that can be used as organic fertilizer. It is formally known as “natural organic reduction”.

Notes:
Echo location, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals. Echo-locating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects. Echo-locating animals include some mammals and a few birds; most notably microchiropteran bats and odontocetes (toothed whales and dolphins).

Notes:
The plants, which have hard and thick brown stem and are very tall are called trees. The stems have branches in upper part and much above the ground. For example, mango, neem. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants for sunlight.