General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

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Plasma consists of freely moving ions and electrons. It forms when energy supplied to a gas causes ionization. Plasma is present in stars, including the Sun. It conducts electricity and responds to magnetic fields. Irving Langmuir coined the term “plasma” in 1928. Plasma is different from solids, liquids, and gases due to its unique electrical properties.

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Calcium hypochlorite is an inorganic compound with formula Ca(ClO)2. It is the main active ingredient of commercial products called bleaching powder, chlorine powder, or chlorinated lime, used for water treatment and as a bleaching agents.

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Radioactive materials are first encased in resin or concrete and sealed in steel drums. The drums are then packed into concrete casks and placed in concrete trenches up to 18 metres deep.

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The thyroid gland is one of the largest endocrine glands in the human body which is found in the neck. It controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones.

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Van Mahotsav was started in 1950 by K. M. Munshi, the then Union Minster for Agriculture and Food to create enthusiasm among masses for forest conservation and planting trees. It is a week-long festival is celebrated in July on different days in different parts of India. The festival aims at increasing the green cover of India.

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The ear has three main parts: the outer, middle and inner ear. The outer ear consists of the pinna and the auditory canal. The middle ear is filled with air and contains three tiny bones called ossicles – the anvil, hammer and stirrup. The inner ear contains the semicircular canals and the cochlea. Eardrum is the membrane of middle ear. Snakes have fully developed inner ear structures but no eardrum.

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Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue found under the skin particularly whales inhabiting of Arctic ocean. It’s presence insulate their body from ice cold. The energy stored in blubber includes both proteins (mostly collagen) and fats (mostly lipids). Blubber covers the entire body of animals such as seals, whales, and walruses—except for their fins, flippers, and flukes. Whaling largely targeted the collection of blubber: whalers rendered it into oil in try pots, or later, in vats on factory ships. The oil could serve in the manufacture of soap, leather, and cosmetics. Whale oil was used in candles as wax, and in oil lamps as fuel.

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Tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica), Ashoka tree (Saraca Indica), Indian Coral tree (Erythrina Indica) have ‘Indica’ common in their botanical names. In biology/taxonomy, if a species originates in India, its scientific name sometimes includes “Indica”.

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While fertilization is necessary for organisms that reproduce sexually, individuals that reproduce asexually?do so without the need for fertilization. These organisms produce genetically identical copies of themselves through?binary fission, budding, fragmentation, parthenogenesis, or other forms of asexual reproduction.

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The Taungya system involves growing agricultural crops between rows of planted trees (sal, teak, etc). Along with jhum cultivation, it is one of the well-known systems of agro forestry programmes in practice in our country.