General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

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Chemical weapons are called “poorman’s bomb”. These cause catastrophic damage, and are easy to produce. Sarin is a colorless and odourless agent, and is extremely potent. It was used in Damascus in 2013. Mustard Gas is possibly the most commonly used chemical agent and gets its name from the distinctive odour of rotten mustard. It is less potent and usually only 5 to 10 percent people exposed to it usually die. It was widely used during Second World War. VX is a nerve agent which is odourless and appears as brownish oily substance.

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Because of the screening effect, the net positive charge experienced by the electron from the nucleus is lowered and is known as effective nuclear charge. Effective nuclear charge experienced by the orbital decreases with increase of azimuthal quantum number(l).

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Nickel, Platinum and Darmstadtium belongs to Group number 10 whereas element Roentgenium is placed in group number 11.

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Insulin is central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. It stops the use of fat as an energy source by inhibiting the release of glucagon. It removes excess glucose from the blood, which otherwise would be toxic. Insulin helps blood sugar enter the body’s cells so it can be used for energy. Insulin also signals the liver to store blood sugar for later use. Blood sugar enters cells, and levels in the bloodstream decrease, signaling insulin to decrease too.

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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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Female gametes are also called eggs or ova. They are created during the cellular reproduction process known as meiosis. The resulting gamete cell is a haploid cell. When the two haploid cells, the egg and sperm, fuse together during fertilization, the result is a diploid cell called a zygote.

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Chameleons have specialized cells, chromatophores, which contain pigments in their cytoplasm, in three layers below their transparent outer skin. Dispersion of the pigment granules in the chromatophores sets the intensity of each color. Chromatophores contain pigments and reflect light, which are responsible for creating coloration. In chameleons, there are four types of chromatophores: xanthophores, erythrophores, iridiophores, and melanophores (Cooper and Greenberg, 1992).

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The best way of getting rid of non-biodegradable waste such as plastic is by recycling them. Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” waste hierarchy. Burning may release toxic gas into the atmosphere. Burying and dumping will hardly solve anything because of their very long life of self decomposition.

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Trypsin is an enzyme that helps us digest protein. In the small intestine, trypsin breaks down proteins, continuing the process of digestion that began in the stomach. It may also be referred to as a proteolytic enzyme, or proteinase. Trypsin is produced by the pancreas in an inactive form called trypsinogen. The trypsinogen enters the small intestine through the common bile duct and is converted to active trypsin.

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When a plant is placed under the fan, the speed of air is increased which leads to high rate of transpiration through the stomata. The increase in the rate of transpiration increases the water absorption also. As by keeping the plants under the fan, the transpiration process is boosted. Therefore, more amount of water and other minerals are absorbed by the plant roots from the soil.