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:
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.

Notes:
African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, is a disease spread by an infected tsetse fly, found in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.The vast majority of human cases result from the transfer of T. brucei trypanosomes by tsetse flies as they suck human blood. Sleeping sickness is caused by two different parasites, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.

Notes:
Panthera pardus is the scientific name of leopard, one of the five “big cats” in the genus Panthera. It is a member of the family Felidae with a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. It belongs to the Chordata phylum, Mammalia class and Carnivora order.

Notes:
Vitamin C is quite unstable when cooked or stored improperly. It is very liable and easily destroyed during cooking as well as storage. It is a water-soluble and temperature-sensitive vitamin, so is easily degraded during cooking, and elevated temperatures and long cooking times have been found to cause particularly severe losses of vitamin C.

Notes:
Animals, such as mammals and birds, that maintain a constant body temperature regardless of the temperature of the surroundings are called warm blooded. These include birds and mammals. Whales are aquatic mammals hence, being mammal, they are warm blooded. The have a thick layer of fats called blubber underneath their skin to maintain temperature even in cold water of oceans.

Notes:
Sphygmomanometer an instrument for measuring blood pressure. It typically consists of an inflatable rubber cuff which is applied to the arm and connected to a column of mercury next to a graduated scale, enabling the determination of systolic and diastolic blood pressure by increasing and gradually releasing the pressure in the cuff. The sphygmomanometer was invented by Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch in 1881.

Notes:
The best-known and most common chromosome abnormality in humans is Down’s syndrome, (Trisomy of 21st pair of chromosome). Down’s syndrome individuals also almost invariably develop Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that is fairly common among the elderly people. People with Down’s syndrome develop this disease in their fourth or fifth decade of life, much sooner than other people. These people are also characterized by presence of webbed neck, Plamers crease, very broad forehead, round face and forked tongue.

Notes:
The Theory of Evolution was developed by Charles Darwin (1809-1882). It states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. The theory gained general scientific acceptance after Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859.

Notes:
Various components of blood are: Plasma, Erythrocytes (Red Blood Cells), Leucocytes (White Blood Cells) and Thrombocytes/Platelets. Monocytes, also known as macrophages, are the largest blood cells in most mammals, measuring 10-15 cm in diameter. They are leucocytes. Their nuclei are kidney-shaped and cytoplasm is abundant.