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FOR MATRIC CLASSES

F.J. GRAMMER SCHOOL

Q- Why is it difficult to drive a motorcycle on an oily road?

A- Vehicles travel on the road due to friction, which develops firm grip between the tyre and the
road. Oil is a lubricant which reduces friction causing difficulty in motion.

Q- Why has a person to bend down while carrying load on his back?
A- By bending down the person holding up weight adjusts the centre of gravity acting on his body so
that he may experience less gravitation pull.

Q- Why is the refractive index of Ruby less than the refractive index of Diamond?
A- The molecular structure of diamond is more complex (tetrahedral pyramid) than that of ruby
(trigonal pyramid) and the density of diamond is also greater, which is why light bends more in
diamond than ruby.

Q- Why is a radioactive substance placed in a Lead box with the lid made of Lead?
A- Lead acts as a moderator for radioactive substances and keeps the radioactive emissions from
penetrating through it.

Q- Why does a nail sink in water but a ship having huge mass floats on water?
A- The mass-volume relationship or density of a nail is greater than that of a ship. Ships float on
water because their volume is comparatively greater than their mass. Their density is less than that of
water i.e. 1 Kg/dm³.

Q- Why does an acrobat hold a rod while walking on a rope?

A- In order to create equilibrium in his body, acrobat needs to hold a rod so that a balance can be
developed in his body against gravity.

Q- Why does concave mirrors used in the headlights of an automobile?

A- Concave mirrors converge light to pass through their focal lengths. They are used in headlights of
automobiles so that a light of high intensity may be focused on the road for clear vision of lying
objects.

Q- How does fish and other aquatic animals survive in extremely cold water in rivers, lakes and
seas?
A- Due to the phenomenon of the anomalous expansion of water, water at 4 ºC expands and loses its
density, which settles on the surface stopping further loss of heat. This way, the temperature below
and at the bottom remains normal supporting aquatic life.

Q- The weight of a body at the equator is less than that at the pole. Why?
A- According to the law of universal gravitation, force of attraction between two bodies decreases
when the distance between them increases. At the equator the radius of the earth is more than that at
the pole, which is the reason why bodies at the equator feel less weight.

Reasons proposed by: Kashif Raza

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FOR MATRIC CLASSES

F.J. GRAMMER SCHOOL

Q- Why is a concave lens of suitable focal length used to remove shortsightedness of the eye?
A- Shortsightedness is a malfunctioning of the eye in which it is hard to view distant objects. In a
concave lens, the image of objects away from the radius of curvature develops between the pole and
focal point of the lens, which enables us to see distant objects.

Q- Why is lightning seen earlier than the sound of thunder? OR

Q- When a gun is fired, its sound is heard little after its flash. Why?
A- The speed of light i.e. 3 x 10 8 m/s is almost one million times greater than the speed of sound i.e.
340 m/s (at sea-level). That’s the reason why lightning is first seen much before it is heard. (Or that’s
the reason why flash of the gun-fire is first seen before it is heard.)

Q- A body thrown upward always falls to the ground. Why?

A- The earth attracts everything on it towards it centre with a certain force continuously, which is
called gravitational pull. An object when thrown upward with some energy, on energy being used up
falls down on the surface of the earth.

Q- Small gaps are left between two adjacent rails of railway tracks. Why?
A- Matter expands on heating. In summer, railway tracks made of iron undergo thermal expansion,
which effects increase in their length. Gaps are left between rails of railway tracks to avoid bending.

Q- How is a heavy body balanced by a light body in a sea-saw?

A- According to law of moments, torque acting left hand can be balanced by the torque of same
magnitude acting right hand. Body with less weight can produce large torque by increasing distance
from the axis point (arm-length); hence, balancing heavy weight with small arm-length.
Q- Rolling friction is less than sliding friction. Why?
A- Every object has small holes and edges on its surface visible only microscopically. When an
object is slid on a surface its holes come more into contact with the edges of the surface material,
which cause greater friction than rolling. Also rolling involves less contact of the two surfaces than
that in sliding, which also reduces friction.

Q- Why is it dangerous to jump from a fast moving vehicle?

A- Due to the property of inertia, a moving object tends to keep moving. When a person jumps from
a fast moving vehicle, his body tends to move forward in the same speed, which is why stopping this
motion is difficult.

Q- Passengers fall in forward direction when a moving bus suddenly stops. Why?
A- Due to the property of inertia, a moving object tends to keep moving. The body continues to keep
moving forward with the motion of the bus, and when the bus is stopped by applying brakes, the
body feels a forward push due to its continuous state of motion.

Reasons proposed by: Kashif Raza

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FOR MATRIC CLASSES

F.J. GRAMMER SCHOOL
Q- Passengers experience backward pull on sudden motion of the bus. Why?
A- Due to the property of inertia, a static object tends to maintain its resting position. Upon forward
motion of the bus, the body is disturbed from its resting status and feels a backward pull.

Q- Why does a body become weightless in space?

A- In space a body experiences weightlessness because the force of attraction of the earth or any
other heavenly object acting on it is not sufficient to attract it. When there is no or very little
gravitational pull, the body becomes weightless.

Q- Why don’t we hear sound of nuclear explosions taking place on the sun?
A- Sounds waves always travel through a material medium. In space, between the sun and the earth,
there is no material medium to conduct sound waves, which is why we hear no blasts taking place on
the surface of the sun.

Q- Why should liquid used in a thermometer be a good conductor of heat?

A- Liquid used in a thermometer conducts heat from the source body and expands as a result. The
expansion indicates towards the degree of hotness. Only a good conductor of heat will show the
correct measure of heat by conducting and getting expanded.

Q- The colour of the sky is blue in daylight. Why?

A- The sky has no colour of its own as it is not a material object. The light coming from the sun
strikes the water in the seas and oceans and gets dispersed. This dispersion emits blue colour in
excess which is reflected towards the sky.

Q- Why do we see rainbow in a clear sky after rain sets apart?

A- When light strikes on water, it gets dispersed. Dispersion results in splitting up of light in bands
of seven colours with different wavelengths. These bands are reflected towards the sky and observed
in the form of rainbow.

Q- Why convex mirrors are used on blind turns of winding roads especially in hilly tracks?
A- Convex mirrors are diverging mirrors. Objects on the blind turns can be viewed due to convex
mirror’s broad spectral face, which develops images of large area due to convergence of light to the
mirror’s focal point.

Q- Why pressure cookers are used in mountainous areas to cook food?

A- The magnitude of atmospheric pressure is lesser on mountainous areas than the sea-level. Due to
low atmospheric pressure, the boiling point of water decreases. Pressure cookers are used to
maintain boiling point of water to cook food with its vapours.

Reasons proposed by: Kashif Raza