General Science Questions (MCQs) for Competitive Examinations

Notes:
Zinc sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula ZnSO4 and historically known as “white vitriol” Zinc sulfate is an inorganic compound and dietary supplement.

Notes:
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.

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.

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Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), also known as cilantro, Chinese parsley or dhania, is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the parts most traditionally used in cooking.

Notes:
Fluorine is the element that is associated with teeth disorder because the presence of sodium fluoride in drinking water at the level of 2ppm may cause mottled enamel in teeth, skeletal fluorosis, and may be associated with cancer and other diseases. However, topically applied fluoride (toothpaste, dental rinses) has been shown to help reduce dental caries.

Notes:
The leaves arise in the regions of the plant known as the plant nodes and are therefore the point of attachment of the leaves. The region of the plant between two nodes is known as the internode. The angle between the upper surface of the leaf and the stem from which it arises is known as the axil.

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:
Cotton is the most popular of the BT crops. In BT cotton, BT gene was isolated and transferred from a bacterium Bacillus thurigiensis to American cotton. The American cotton was subsequently crossed with Indian cotton to introduce the gene into native varieties. The BT cotton variety contains a foreign gene obtained from Bacillus thuringiensis. This bacterial gene, introduced genetically into the cotton seeds, protects the plants from bollworm (A. lepidoptora), a major pest of cotton.

Notes:
In the blood the key minerals are iron, copper, zinc, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Minerals constitute important part of blood plasma that constitutes almost 55% of blood. In the blood, iron is found in larger amounts than any other mineral.

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The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. Functions of the cerebrum include: initiation of movement, coordination of movement, temperature, touch, vision, hearing, judgment, reasoning, problem solving, emotions, and learning.