GENERAL SCIENCE

WHAT IS CELL?
characteristic shape of red blood cells, nerve cells,
• Components of Cell & their functions and bone cells.
• Classification of Cell iii. It allows transport of certain substances into and
• Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic cell out of the cell but not all substances so much it is
• Plant Cell and Animal Cell termed ‘selectively permeable’
• Stem cell and Somatic Cell • Cell wall: In bacteria and plant cells the outermost cell cover,
• For the first time, Robert Hooke discovered and coined present outside the plasma membrane is the cell wall.
the term cell in 1665.
Structure
• After that Robert Brown discovered the Cell Nucleus in
1831. The cell theory, that all the plants and animals are • Outermost non-living layer present in all plant cells.
composed of cells and that the cell is the basic unit of life • Secreted by the cell itself.
was proposed by Scleiden & Schwann in 1839. • In most plants, it is chiefly made up of cellulose but may also
contain other chemical substances such as pectin and lignin
Function

• The cell wall protects the delicate inner parts of the cell.
• Being rigid, it gives shape to the cell.
• As it is rigid, it does not allow distension of the cell, thus
leading to turgidity of the cell that is useful in many ways
• It freely allows the passage of water and other chemicals
into and out of the cells
Cytoplasm

• It is the jelly-like substance present between the cell

membrane and the nucleus. The cytoplasm is
the fluid content inside the plasma membrane.
• It also contains other specialized cell organelles. Each of
these organelles performs a specific function for the cell.
• Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things.
Nucleus
• The human body is composed of trillions of cells.
• They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients • It is an important component of the living cell. Nucleus is
from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry the control center of the cell.
out specialized functions. • Nucleus is separated from the cytoplasm by a double
• Cells also contain the body’s hereditary material and can layered membrane called the nuclear membrane. This
make copies of themselves. membrane is also porous and allows the movement of
materials between the cytoplasm and the inside of the
Cell Membrane
nucleus.
• Cell membrane is also called the plasma membrane.
Nucleus
• It can be observed only through an electron microscope. Plasma
membrane is the outermost covering of the cell that separates • Nucleus contains nucleolus and thread-like structures
the contents of the cell from its external environment. called chromosomes.
• The plasma membrane is flexible and is made up of • Chromosomes carry genes and help in inheritance or
organic molecules called lipids and proteins. transfer of characters from the parents to the offspring. The
• The flexibility of the cell membrane also enables the cell chromosomes can be seen only when the cell divides.
to engulf in food and other material from its external • The entire content of a living cell is known as protoplasm
environment. which is (cytoplasm + nucleus).
Note: Viruses lack any membranes and hence do not show
characteristics of life until they enter a living body and use its cell Vacuoles
machinery to multiply.
• Empty structures in the cytoplasm is called vacuole. It
Functions could be single and big or multiple & small.
i. The plasma membrane encloses the cell contents. • Vacuoles are storage sacs for solid or liquid contents.
ii. It provides cell shape (in animal cells) e.g. the • Many substances of importance in the life of the plant cell

General Science 1
 are stored in vacuoles. These include amino acids, sugars, utilization of proteins & lipids. Some of these proteins
various organic acids and some proteins. and lipids help in building the cell membrane. Some other
• Large vacuoles are common in plant cells. Vacuoles in proteins and lipids function as enzymes and hormones.
animal cells are much smaller. The central vacuole of • ER also serves as channels for the transport of materials
some plant cells may occupy 50-90% of the cell volume. especially proteins between various regions of the
cytoplasm or between the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
Lysosomes
Mitochondria
• Lysosomes are a kind of waste disposal system of the cell.
• Lysosomes help to keep the cell clean by digesting any • Mitochondria is known as the powerhouse of the cell.
foreign material as well as worn-out cell organelles. • The primary function of Mitochondria is to generate
• Lysosomes are able digest these because they large quantities of energy in the form of adenosine
contain powerful digestive enzymes capable of breaking triphosphate (ATP).
down all organic material. • Our body uses energy stored in ATP for making new
• During the disturbance in cellular metabolism, for chemical compounds and for mechanical work.
example, when the cell gets damaged, lysosomes may • Mitochondria have two membrane coverings instead of
burst and the enzymes digest their own cell. Therefore, just one.
lysosomes are also known as the ‘suicide bags’ of a cell. • Mitochondria are have their own DNA and ribosomes.
Therefore, mitochondria are able to make some of
Golgi Apparatus or Golgi Complex
their own proteins.
• Golgi apparatus is membrane-bound organelle of
Plastids
eukaryotic cells that is made up of a series of flattened,
stacked pouches called cisternae. • Plastids are small colored bodies in the cytoplasm.
• The Golgi apparatus is responsible for transporting, Plastids are present only in plant cells.
modifying, and packaging proteins and lipids into vesicles • They are of different colours. Some of them contain green
for delivery to targeted destinations. pigment called chlorophyll. Green coloured plastids are
• It is located in the cytoplasm next to the endoplasmic called chloroplasts. They provide green colour to the leaves.
reticulum and near the cell nucleus. While many types of • Some plastids are also colorless called Leucoplasts in which
cells contain only one or several Golgi apparatus, plant materials such as starch, oils and protein granules are stored.
cells can contain hundreds. • Plastids are similar to mitochondria in external structure.
• The golgi apparatus is also involved in the formation Like the mitochondria, plastids also have their own DNA
of lysosomes. and ribosomes.
Ribosome Centrosome & Centriole

• Ribosomes are very important cell organelles composed • Centrioles are paired barrel-shaped organelles located in
of RNA and protein that converts genetic code into chains the cytoplasm of animal cells near the nuclear envelope.
of amino acids. Centrioles play a role in organizing microtubules that serve
• A ribosome is a complex molecular machine found inside as the cell’s skeletal system. They help determine the
the cells that produce proteins from amino acids during a locations of the nucleus and other organelles within the cell.
process called protein synthesis or translation. • Centrioles play very important for cell division. When
• The process of protein synthesis is a primary function, the cell is going to divide, those centrioles go to opposite
which is performed by all living cells. ends of the nucleus.
• Ribosomes are known as the protein factory of the cell
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)

• The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large network of

membrane-bound tubes and sheets. The ER membrane is
similar in structure to the plasma membrane.
• There are two types of ER –– rough endoplasmic reticulum
(RER) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER).
• RER looks rough under a microscope because it has
particles called ribosomes attached to its surface.
• SER helps in the manufacture of fat molecules, or lipids,
important for cell function.
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)

• Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) helps in production &

2 General Science
A. PROKARYOTIC AND EUKARYOTIC CELL
• Prokaryotic cell (Gk. Pro-before; karyon-nucleus):
• These cells do not have a well-organized nucleus.
• The genetic material is a single molecule of DNA lying in
the cytoplasm.
• Not only is the nuclear membrane absent, cell organelles like
mitochondria, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplast,
nucleolus, etc are also not present in prokaryotic cells.
• Examples: Bacteria and blue-green algae.

A. PROKARYOTIC AND EUKARYOTIC CELL

Germ Cells vs Somtic Cell
• Eukaryotic cell (Gk. Eu-true; karyon-nucleus): DNA is
enclosed in a nuclear membrane forming a nucleus. • Difference Between Somatic Cells and Germ Cells
• The genetic material is made of two or more DNA • Somatic Cells: Somatic cells are any cells in a multicellular
molecules, which are present as a network of chromatin organism that are not involved in the production of gametes.
fibres when the cell is not dividing. • Germ Cells: Germ cells are the cells that create
• Membrane-bound organelles, such as mitochondria, reproductive cells or gametes.
endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, chloroplast, nucleolus,
etc. are present within the cytoplasm.
• Examples: Cells of plants, fungi, protozoa and animals.

Types

• Somatic Cells: Various types of somatic cells are arranged

into different types of tissues in the body of multicellular
organisms, performing specific functions.
• Germ Cells: Germ cells produce male and female gametes.
• Difference Between Somatic Cells and Germ Cells
Amount

• Somatic Cells: Majority of the body cells in multicellular

organisms are somatic cells.
• Germ Cells: Germ cells are very few in number.
Functions

• Somatic Cells: Somatic cells perform various functions in

the body.

General Science 3
• Germ Cells: Germ cells produce gametes, which • Bacteria occur almost everywhere. Hundreds of bacteria
participate in sexual reproduction. are present in a handful of soil.
• Stem cells are unspecialized cells with self-renewal
capacity. They can divide through mitosis limitlessly to
replenish other cell types of multicellular organisms
throughout their life.
• After stem cell division, each newly produced cell can
either remain as a stem cell or differentiate to form any
other cell type with more defined functions, such as
muscle cell, blood cell, or neural cell.
• There are mainly two types of stem cells: embryonic stem
cells, which are derived from embryos, and somatic or
adult stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells residing
in a tissue or organ along with other differentiated cells
(somatic cells).
• The major difference between embryonic and somatic • They also live in extreme habitats such as hot springs,
stem cells is that embryonic stem cells have the potential deserts, snow and deep oceans where very few other life
to differentiate into all cell types of the body, as they are forms can survive.
pluripotent stem cells (cells that are able to differentiate • Many of them live in or on other organisms as parasites.
into three primary germ cell layers of the early embryo
and, thus, into any cell type of the body); whereas, it is
believed that somatic stem cells can differentiate only into
different cell types present in the tissue of their origin.

Kingdom Protista
• All single-celled eukaryotes are placed under Protista, but
the boundaries of this kingdom are not well defined.
• What may be ‘a photosynthetic protistan’ to one biologist
may be ‘a plant’ to another.
• Members of Protista are primarily aquatic.
• This kingdom forms a link with the others dealing with
plants, animals and fungi.
• Being eukaryotes, the protistan cell body contains a well
defined nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
• Some have flagella or cilia. Protists reproduce asexually
and sexually by a process involving cell fusion and zygote
formation.

PLANT AND ANIMAL KINGDOM

• R.H. Whittaker (1969) proposed a Five Kingdom
Classification.
• The kingdoms defined by him were named Monera,
Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
• The main criteria for classification used by him include
cell structure, body organisation, mode of nutrition,
reproduction and phylogenetic relationships Kingdom Fungi
KINGDOM MONERA
• The fungi constitute a unique kingdom of heterotrophic
• Bacteria are the sole members of the Kingdom Monera. organisms.
• They are the most abundant micro-organisms. • They show a great diversity in morphology and habitat

4 General Science
• Fungi are cosmopolitan and occur in air, water, soil and
on animals and plants.
• They prefer to grow in warm and humid places
• Most fungi are heterotrophic and absorb soluble organic
matter from dead substrates and hence are called
saprophytes.
• Those that depend on living plants and animals are called
parasites.
• They can also live as symbionts – in association with algae
as lichens and with roots of higher plants as mycorrhiza.

• These plants typically grow in environments where the

soil is nutrient-poor
• They have evolved to supplement their nutritional needs
by deriving nutrients from insects.
• They secrete enzymes, such as proteases and phosphatases,
to break down the captured insects and release the
essential nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus.
• Insectivorous plants are found in diverse habitats
worldwide, including bogs, swamps, marshes, and other
wetland areas.
• Some species also grow in nutrient-poor soils, such as
KINGDOM PLANTAE sandy or rocky environments.
• Examples of insectivorous plants include pitcher plants,
• Kingdom Plantae includes all eukaryotic chlorophyll- Venus flytrap, sundews, and bladderworts.
containing organisms commonly called plants. • Insectivorous plants have evolved to be carnivorous
• A few members are partially heterotrophic such as the despite having normal roots and photosynthetic leaves
insectivorous plants or parasites. • because they typically inhabit nutrient-poor environments
• Bladderwort and Venus fly trap are examples of where they face limitations in
insectivorous plants and Cuscuta is a parasite. • obtaining essential nutrients, particularly nitrogen and
• The plant cells have an eukaryotic structure with phosphorus.
prominent chloroplasts and cell wall mainly made of • Digestive Aid: Some insectivorous plants, such as sundews
cellulose. (Drosera species), have been traditionally used to support
digestion.
• They are believed to have digestive-enhancing properties
and have been used as herbal remedies for digestive
disorders, such as indigestion, stomach ulcers, and gastritis
• Utricularia is beneficial for treating wounds, treating
coughs, and curing urinary diseases.
• Medicinal tea is brewed using the dried leaves of
Utricularia.
• Anti-cancer Potential: Some studies have explored the
potential anti-cancer properties of compounds derived
from insectivorous plants.
• For example, extracts from sundews and pitcher plants
have shown cytotoxic effects on cancer cells in vitro.
• Antioxidant Activity: Insectivorous plants contain
compounds with antioxidant properties, such as phenolic
compounds and flavonoids.
• Antimicrobial and Antifungal Activity: Insectivorous
Insectivorous Plants
plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites that
• Insectivorous plants, also known as carnivorous plants, may possess antimicrobial and antifungal properties.
• They are a group of plants that have developed unique • Such as pitcher plants (Nepenthes species) and sundews,
adaptations to capture and digest insects and other small exhibit inhibitory effects against certain bacteria and
organisms as a source of nutrients. fungi.

General Science 5
KINGDOM ANIMALIA
• In addition to proteins, viruses also contain genetic
• This kingdom is characterised by heterotrophic eukaryotic material, that could be either RNA or DNA.
organisms that are multicellular and their cells lack cell • No virus contains both RNA and DNA. A virus is a
walls. nucleoprotein and the genetic material is infectious.
• They directly or indirectly depend on plants for food. • In general, viruses that infect plants have single stranded
• They digest their food in an internal cavity and store food RNA and viruses that infect animals have either single or
reserves as glycogen or fat. double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA.
• Their mode of nutrition is holozoic – by ingestion of food. • Bacterial viruses or bacteriophages (viruses that infect
• They follow a definite growth pattern and grow into the bacteria) are usually double stranded DNA viruses
adults that have a definite shape and size.
Viroids
• Higher forms show elaborate sensory and neuromotor
mechanism. Most of them are capable of locomotion. • In 1971, T.O. Diener discovered a new infectious agent
• The sexual reproduction is by copulation of male and that was smaller than viruses and caused potato spindle
female followed by embryological development. tuber disease.
• It was found to be a free RNA; it lacked the protein coat
VIRUSES, VIROIDS, PRIONS AND LICHENS
that is found in viruses, hence the name viroid.
• Viruses did not find a place in classification since they are • The RNA of the viroid was of low molecular weight.
not considered truly ‘living’, if we understand living as
Prions
those organisms that have a cell structure.
• The viruses are non-cellular organisms that are • In modern medicine certain infectious neurological
characterised by having an inert crystalline structure diseases were found to be transmitted by an agent
outside the living cell consisting of abnormally folded protein.
• Once they infect a cell they take over the machinery of • The agent was similar in size to viruses. These agents
the host cell to replicate themselves, killing the host. were called prions.
• Virus means venom or poisonous fluid • The most notable diseases caused by prions are bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) commonly called mad
cow disease in cattle and its analogous variant Cr–Jacob
disease (CJD) in humans.
Lichens

• Lichens are symbiotic associations i.e. mutually useful

associations, between algae and fungi.
• The algal component is known as phycobiont and fungal
component as mycobiont, which are autotrophic and
heterotrophic, respectively.
• Algae prepare food for fungi and fungi provide shelter
and absorb mineral nutrients and water for its partner.
• So close is their association that if one saw a lichen in
nature one would never imagine that they had two
different organisms within them.
• Lichens are very good pollution indicators – they do not
grow in polluted areas.

6 General Science
HUMAN BODY
capillaries is known as whole blood, a mixture of about
• Circulatory System 55 percent plasma and 45 percent blood cells. About 7 to
• Respiratory System 8 percent of your total body weight is blood. An average-
• Digestive System sized man has about 12 pints of blood in his body, and an
• Nervous System average-sized woman has about nine pints.
Some facts Plasma

• Blood is a fluid connective tissue that has a significant • The liquid component of blood is called plasma, a mixture
role in the transportation of nutrients, respiratory of water, sugar, fat, protein, and salts. The main job of the
gases, hormones, in maintaining and regulation of body plasma is to transport blood cells throughout your body
temperature, pH, and other thermo-regulation processes. along with nutrients, waste products, antibodies, clotting
It is 6 times thicker than water and each drop of blood proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and
contains about 250 million cells. proteins that help maintain the body’s fluid balance.
• Cornea that is the transparent front part of the eye is the
Red Blood Cells (also called erythrocytes or RBCs)
only part in Human body with no blood supply and it gets
oxygen directly from the air. • Known for their bright red color, red cells are the most
• Skin is the human body’s largest organ abundant cell in the blood, accounting for about 40 to 45
• A large amount of the dust in your home is actually dead skin. percent of its volume. Red cells contain a special protein
Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. called haemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen from the
• The smallest bone found in the human body is located in lungs to the rest of the body and then returns carbon
the middle ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 dioxide from the body to the lungs so it can be exhaled.
millimetres long. Blood appears red because of the large number of red
• The femur (thigh bone) is the longest bone in the human blood cells, which get their color from the hemoglobin.
body. • The other major type of white blood cell is a lymphocyte.
• Goose bumps evolved to make our ancestors’ hair stand There are two main populations of these cells. T lymphocytes
up, making them appear more threatening to predators. help regulate the function of other immune cells and directly
• Between birth and death, the human body goes from attack various infected cells and tumors. B lymphocytes
having 300 bones, to just 206. make antibodies, which are proteins that specifically target
• Our brain is programmed to erect the inverted image formed bacteria, viruses, and other foreign materials.
on our retina by the convex eye lens. A newborn baby sees
Platelets (also called thrombocytes)
the world upside down till its brain starts erecting it.
• In camera terms, the human eye is about 576 megapixels. • Unlike red and white blood cells, platelets are not actually
cells but rather small fragments of cells. Platelets help the
Circulatory System
blood clotting process (or coagulation) by gathering at
• Human circulatory system consists of the site of an injury, sticking to the lining of the injured
i. Centrally located muscular pump called heart, and blood vessel, and forming a platform on which blood
ii. Blood vessels, which are tube-like structures, coagulation can occur. This results in the formation of a
connected to the heart. fibrin clot, which covers the wound and prevents blood
from leaking out. Fibrin also forms the initial scaffolding
Blood vessels are of three kinds
upon which new tissue forms, thus promoting healing.
• Arteries: Carry blood from heart to various parts of body. • A higher than normal number of platelets can cause
• Veins: Bring blood from various parts of body to the heart. unnecessary clotting, which can lead to strokes and heart
• Capillaries: Thin vessels between the artery and the vein. attacks
The capillaries allow the exchange of materials between
Blood groups
blood and tissues.
• There are 4 main blood groups (types of blood) – A, B, AB
(iii) Circulating fluid—blood, tissue fluid and lymph
and O. Your blood group is determined by the genes you
• Blood is a specialized body fluid. It has four main inherit from your parents.
components: plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, • The blood group is identified by antibodies and antigens
and platelets. Blood has many different functions, in the blood.
including: transporting oxygen and nutrients to the lungs • Antibodies are proteins found in plasma. They’re part
and tissues forming blood clots to prevent excess blood of your body’s natural defences. They recognise foreign
loss carrying cells and antibodies that fight infection, substances, such as germs, and alert your immune
bringing waste products to the kidneys and liver, which system, which destroys them.
filter and clean the blood regulating body temperature • Antigens are protein molecules found on the surface of
• The blood that runs through the veins, arteries, and red blood cells.

General Science 7
 cell count. Each neutrophil lives less than a day, so your
bone marrow must constantly make new neutrophils
to maintain protection against infection. Transfusion of
neutrophils is generally not effective since they do not
remain in the body for very long.
Respiratory System

• The respiratory system is the network of organs and

tissues that helps to breathe. It includes airways, lungs
and blood vessels. The muscles that powers lungs are also
part of the respiratory system. These parts work together
to move oxygen throughout the body and clean out waste
gases like carbon dioxide.
• What does the respiratory system do?
• The respiratory system has many functions. Besides
helping you inhale (breathe in) and exhale (breathe out), it:
• Allows you to talk and to smell.
• Warms air to match your body temperature and
The ABO system
moisturizes it to the humidity level your body needs.
• There are 4 main blood groups defined by the ABO • Delivers oxygen to the cells in your body.
system: • Removes waste gases, including carbon dioxide, from the
• blood group A – has A antigens on the red blood cells with body when you exhale.
anti-B antibodies in the plasma • Protects your airways from harmful substances and
• blood group B – has B antigens with anti-A antibodies in irritants.
the plasma
• blood group O – has no antigens, but both anti-A and
anti-B antibodies in the plasma
• blood group AB – has both A and B antigens, but no
antibodies
• Blood group O is the most common blood group.
The Rh system

• Red blood cells sometimes have another antigen, a

protein known as the RhD antigen. If this is present, then
blood group is RhD positive. If it’s absent, then blood
group is RhD negative.
This means there are 8 blood groups

• A RhD positive (A+) A RhD negative (A-)

• B RhD positive (B+) B RhD negative (B-)
• O RhD positive (O+) O RhD negative (O-)
• AB RhD positive (AB+) AB RhD negative (AB-)
• In most cases, O RhD negative blood (O-) can safely be
given to anyone. It’s often used in medical emergencies
when the blood type is not immediately known.
• It’s safe for most recipients because it does not have any
A, B or RhD antigens on the surface of the cells, and is
compatible with every other ABO and RhD blood group
White Blood Cells (also called leukocytes)

• White blood cells protect the body from infection.

They are much fewer in number than red blood cells,
accounting for about 1 percent of your blood.
• The most common type of white blood cell is the
neutrophil, which is the “immediate response” cell and
accounts for 55 to 70 percent of the total white blood

8 General Science
Parts of Respiratory System
• Mouth and nose: Openings that pull air from outside your
body into your respiratory system.
• Sinuses: Hollow areas between the bones in your head
that help regulate the temperature and humidity of the
air you inhale.
• Pharynx (throat): Tube that delivers air from your mouth
and nose to the trachea (windpipe).
• Trachea: Passage connecting your throat and lungs.
• Bronchial tubes: Tubes at the bottom of your windpipe
that connect into each lung.
• Lungs: Two organs that remove oxygen from the air and
pass it into your blood.
• Alveoli are the primary sites of exchange of gases.
• Exchange of gases also occur between blood and tissues.
O2 and CO2 are exchanged in alveoli by diffusion based on
pressure & concentration gradient.

Salivary Amylase

• The chemical process of digestion is initiated in the oral

cavity by the hydrolytic action of the carbohydrate-
splitting enzyme, salivary amylase.
• Lysozyme is also present in saliva and acts as
an antibacterial agent that prevents infections.
• The oral cavity leads into a short pharynx which serves as
a common passage for food and air.
• The Oesophagus and the trachea (wind pipe) open into
the pharynx.
• Epiglottis prevents the entry of food into the glottis
(opening of the wind pipe).
• The swallowed food passes into the foodpipe or
oesophagus then enter stomach.
• The esophagus is a muscular tube that connects the
pharynx (throat) to the stomach.
• The esophagus contracts as it moves food into the stomach.
• A “valve” called the lower oesophagal sphincter (LES) is
Human Digestive System located just before the opening to the stomach.
• This valve opens to let food pass into the stomach from
• The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal the esophagus and it prevents food from moving back up
tract plus the accessory organs of digestion. into the esophagus from the stomach.
• Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller • The inner lining of the stomach secretes mucous,
and smaller components, until they can be absorbed and hydrochloric acid and digestive juices. The mucous
assimilated into the body. protects the lining of the stomach.
• Ingestion happens through the mouth. The mouth leads
Why Stomach have an acidic pH?
to the buccal cavity or oral cavity where digestion starts.
• Mouth has the salivary glands which secrete saliva. • The acidic nature of the stomach kills many bacteria that
• The saliva breaks down the starch into sugars. enter along with the food.
• The saliva secreted into the oral cavity contains • The digestive juices break down the proteins into simpler
electrolytes and enzymes. substances.
• Small intestine is distinguishable into three regions

General Science 9
 Gall bladder
1. Duodenum 2. Jejunum 3. Ileum
• The small intestine is highly coiled and is about 5-6 meters • The gall bladder is a pouch-shaped organ that stores the
long. bile produced by the liver.
• It also receives secretions from the liver and the pancreas. • The gall bladder shares a vessel, called the common bile
• Besides, its wall also secretes juices. duct, with the liver.
• The digested food passes into the blood vessels in the • When bile is needed, it moves through the common
wall of the intestine. This process is called absorption. bile duct into the first part of the small intestine, the
• The inner walls of the small intestine have thousands of duodenum.
finger-like outgrowths. These are called villi. • It is here that the bile breaks down fat.
• Villi increase the surface area for absorption of the
Nervous System
digested food.
• The absorbed substances are transported via the blood • We see people, identify them, listen to their thoughts and
vessels to different organs of the body where they are speak our thoughts etc. All these co-ordinating activities
used to build complex substances such as the proteins are done by our brain and nerves which is called nervous
required by the body. This is called assimilation. system
• The large intestine is wider and shorter than small 1. brain 2. Spinal cord 3. nerves
intestine. It is about 1.5 metre in length. 4. sensory organs
• Large intestine’s function is to absorb water and some • brain - human brain is a soft and delicate part. It is around
salts from the undigested food material. 3 to 5 kg kilograms in an adult. This part is safe in skull.
• Rectum: An 8-inch chamber that connects the colon to • Human brain is the biggest size in all living organisms. It
the anus. The rectum receives stool from the colon, has the only secret of how humans can do all other works
sends signals to the brain if there is stool to be evacuated, that other organisms cannot do.
and holds stool until evacuation can happen.
Parts of brain:
Anus
• Fore brain: this is the biggest part of brain. Its main
• The last part of the digestive tract, the anus, consists of function is to think and remember. This part is related to
pelvic floor muscles and two anal sphincters (internal will power, intelligence and consciousness. It also gives
and external). Together their jobs are to detect rectal us other areas related to knowledge centre like speaking,
contents, whether they are liquid, gas or solid, and then seeing, taste and smell.
control when stool should and shouldn’t be excreted • Mid brain: this is a small part found below fore brain
from your body. and back side of skull. Its function is to control various
muscles.
Liver
• Medulla oblongata - this is also known as pillar of brain.
• The liver is the largest gland in the body, weighing about Its function is to control involuntary activities like heart
1.5 kg (3.3 lb) in an adult. rate and exhale breathing
• The liver has many roles in the digestive system.
• It produces a yellow-green fluid called bile, which breaks
down fats and removes wastes and toxins from the body
• Bile is alkaline and contains salts which help to emulsify
or break the fats or lipids present in the food.
• Bile also helps carry waste from the liver that cannot go
through the kidneys.
Pancreas

• The pancreas is located below the stomach.

• It produces a mix of enzymes that together are called
pancreatic juice. • Spinal cord - this is a pipe like structure starting from brain
• The pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which contains and going to backbone internally in body. All message
digestive enzymes like pancreatic amylase, trypsin and lipase. sent from brain to body reach by this pipe. This also helps
• This juice helps neutralize the very acidic chyme when it in giving fast reaction like if a thorn pricks than we take
enters the small intestine. our hand back internally.
• Pancreatic juice also helps us to digest proteins, fats and • Nerves- Nerves carry electrical signals from brain that help
carbohydrates. you feel sensations and move your muscles. Nerves also
• Amylase breaks down the starch, trypsin digests the control body functions like digesting food and maintaining
proteins and lipase breaks down the emulsified fats. your heart rate. Nerves are one of the foundational parts
of your nervous system.

10 General Science
Cancer
• Sickle cell disease is a lifelong illness. It can lead to serious
• Cancer is a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow complications including pain, infections, organ damage
uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. and failure
• Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, • A bone marrow transplant is the only cure for some
which is made up of trillions of cells. patients with sickle cell disease.
• Normally, human cells grow and multiply (through a
Thalassemia
process called cell division) to form new cells as the body
needs them. • Patients suffering from this disorder are unable to
• When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and manufacture haemoglobin, the pigment present in red
new cells take their place. blood corpuscles that carries oxygen to tissues.
• Sometimes this orderly process breaks down, and • This is because the pair of genes controlling haemoglobin
abnormal or damaged cells grow and multiply when they production are defective.
shouldn’t. • Thallasemics (persons suffering from thallasemia) require
• These cells may form tumors, which are lumps of tissue. frequent blood transfusions in order to survive.
• Tumors can be cancerous or not cancerous (benign). • The thalassemia gene is present in an autosome
• Cancerous tumors spread into, or invade, nearby tissues
and can travel to distant places in the body to form new
tumors (a process called metastasis).
• Cancerous tumors may also be called malignant tumors.
• Many cancers form solid tumors, but cancers of the
blood, such as leukemias, generally do not.
• Benign tumors do not spread into, or invade, nearby tissues.
• When removed, benign tumors usually don’t grow back,
whereas cancerous tumors sometimes do.
• Benign tumors can sometimes be quite large, however.
• Some can cause serious symptoms or be life threatening,
such as benign tumors in the brain.
Sickle cell Anaemia
Haemophilia
• India is the second-worst affected country in terms of
predicted births with SCA — i.e. chances of being born
with the condition.

• It changes the shape of red blood cells, making them stiff

and sticky, and shaped like sickles or crescent moons.
• These sickle cells can block blood flow, which can lead to
serious complications.
• Sickle cell anaemia is caused by inheriting two genes, one
from each parent, that code for haemoglobin “S”.
• Haemoglobin S is an abnormal form of haemoglobin that
causes the red cells to become rigid and sickle-shaped

General Science 11
 Down’s Syndrome
• Those persons suffering from haemophilia have either a
defective gene or lack genes, which control the production • Incidence: Occurs in approx.1 per 800 live births.
of substances responsible for blood clotting. • Chromosomal basis: Down syndrome is a genetic condition
• In the absence of such a substance, blood does not that arises due to presence of an extra chromosome 21.
coagulate. Once bleeding starts, it does not clot easily. • Here, chromosome 21 is repeated thrice (trisomy 21),
instead of showing up twice in a normal individual
Colour-blindness
• Many people with Down syndrome have the common
• Different kinds of colour blindness have been detected physical signs and have healthy lives.
but in the most common form of the disorder, a person is • But some people with Down syndrome might have one or
unable to distinguish the blue colour from green. more birth defects or other health problems. Some of the
• Again this is due to the presence of a defective gene or more common ones include:
the absence of the gene, responsible for colour vision. • Hearing loss, Sleep apnea (a disorder that causes you to
• The genes for both haemophilia and colour blindness are repeatedly stop breathing during sleep), Ear infections,
located on the X chromosome, and hence, the disorder is Eye diseases, Congenital heart defects (heart defects that
passed down from the mother to the son because a boy are present at birth), Digestive problems, Problems with
receives the X chromosome from the mother and the Y the upper part of the spine, Obesity
chromosome from the father.
• In the mother, with two X chromosomes, the defect does
not show up.
• Also in the daughter, the effect of a defective gene on
the X-chromosome inherited from the mother may
be masked by a normal gene on the X-chromosome,
inherited from her father.
• Since the X chromosome bears the defective gene, the
son suffers from the genetic disorder, as the male has
only one X chromosome and one Y chromosome and so
the defective gene does not get masked

Erythroblastosis foetalis
• A special case of Rh incompatibility (mismatching) has Klinefelter’s syndrome
been observed between the Rh-ve blood of a pregnant • Incidence: Occurs in approximately 1 out of 1000 new
mother with Rh+ve blood of the foetus. born males.
• Rh antigens of the foetus do not get exposed to the Rh- • It Affects males.
ve blood of the mother in the first pregnancy as the two • The extra chromosome is not transmitted genetically (i.e.,
bloods are well separated by the placenta. a Klinefelter newborn cannot have a Klinefelter father)
• However, during the delivery of the first child, there is but arises from inability of X chromosome to detach
a possibility of exposure of the maternal blood to small itself from the pair during meiosis (at the time of gamete
amounts of the Rh+ve blood from the foetus. formation).
• In such cases, the mother starts preparing antibodies • Fertilisation of an XX ova with a Y sperm produces an XXY
against Rh antigen in her blood. zygote.
• In case of her subsequent pregnancies, the Rh antibodies • Klinefelter’s syndrome children are unusually tall for their
from the mother (Rh-ve) can leak into the blood of the age, have reduced facial and body hair, smaller testes,
foetus (Rh+ve) and destroy the foetal RBCs. enlarged breasts and coarse voice
• This could be fatal to the foetus or could cause severe
Turner’s Syndrome
anaemia and jaundice to the baby. T
• his condition is called erythroblastosis foetalis. • Incidence: Occurs in 1 in 2,500 newborn girls, frequently
• This can be avoided by administering anti-Rh antibodies to observed in miscarriages and still births.
the mother immediately after the delivery of the first child. • Turner syndrome is a chromosomal condition that affects

12 General Science
 ANTI VIRALS
development in people who are assigned female at birth.
• Females typically have two X chromosomes, but in What are antivirals?
individuals with Turner syndrome, one copy of the X • Antivirals are medications that help your body fight off
chromosome is missing or altered. certain viruses that can cause disease. Antiviral drugs are
• The most common feature of Turner syndrome is short also preventive. They can protect you from getting viral
stature, which becomes evident by about age 5. infections or spreading a virus to others.
• Reduced functioning of the ovaries, the female • How do antiviral medications work?
reproductive organs that produce egg cells (oocytes) and • Antiviral medicines work differently depending on the
female sex hormones, is also very common. drug and virus type. Antivirals can:
• The ovaries develop normally at first, but egg cells usually • Block receptors so viruses can’t bind to and enter healthy
die prematurely and most ovarian tissue breaks down cells.
before birth. • Boost the immune system, helping it fight off a viral
• Many affected individuals do not undergo puberty unless infection.
they receive hormone therapy, and most are unable to • Lower the viral load (amount of active virus) in the body.
become pregnant naturally.
Can antivirals cure viral infections?
What is a drug?
• Antiviral drugs can ease symptoms and shorten how long
• A drug is a chemical substance that changes the way our body you are sick with viral infections like the flu and Ebola.
and mind work. A pharmaceutical preparation or a naturally They can rid your body of these viruses.
occurring substance used primarily to alter the physical or • Viral infections like HIV, hepatitis and herpes are chronic.
mental functioning of an individual, is called a drug. Antivirals can’t get rid of the virus, which stays in your
• Life of A drug inside living Body body. However, antiviral medicines can make the virus
• A Medicine usually goes through 4 stages inside our latent (inactive) so that you have few, if any, symptoms.
body, commonly referred to as ADME – Absorption, Symptoms that develop while you take antivirals may be
Distribution, Metabolization, Excretion. less severe or go away faster.
Can antivirals prevent the spread of viral infections?

• Yes, antiviral drugs can keep you from getting certain

viral infections after a suspected or known exposure. For
instance, taking specific antivirals:
• During pregnancy lowers the risk of a mother passing HIV
to her newborn (babies also receive antiviral medicine
after delivery).
• Daily lowers the risk of giving herpes or HIV to others or
getting HIV from an infected partner.
• Within 72 hours of a potential HIV exposure can lower the
chances of getting infected.
Antibiotics • Within 48 hours of exposure to the flu virus may keep you
from getting sick.
• Antibiotics are medicines that help stop infections caused
Generic Drug and Brand Drug
by bacteria. They do this by killing the bacteria or by
keeping them from copying themselves or reproducing. • When a new drug is discovered, the company that
• The word antibiotic means “against life.” Any drug that discovered it would apply for patency to prevent other
kills germs in your body is technically an antibiotic. But companies from producing and selling the drug. This
most people use the term when they’re talking about patency may take up to 20 years and during this period,
medicine that is meant to kill bacteria the company will produce and sell the drug under a brand
• Before scientists first discovered antibiotics in the 1920s, name to recover its investment and make a profit. With
many people died from minor bacterial infections, like time, this name becomes synonymous with the drug. But
strep throat. Surgery was riskier, too. But after antibiotics after the patency expires, other companies are allowed
became available in the 1940s, life expectancy increased, to produce a similar drug. It is what gave rise to brand and
surgeries got safer, and people could survive what used generic name in drugs.
to be deadly infections. • The difference between brand name and generic drugs is
• Only bacterial infections can be killed with antibiotics. in the circumstances of producing the drugs. While brand
The common cold, flu, most coughs, some bronchitis name drug refers to the name giving by the producing
infections, most sore throats, and the stomach flu are all company, generic drug refers to a drug produced after
caused by viruses. Antibiotics won’t work to treat them. the active ingredient of the brand name drug. Generic

General Science 13
 drugs will, however, be sold under different brand • In South Asia, over 389,000 people died as a direct result
names, but will contain the same active ingredients as the of AMR in 2019.
brand-name drug. But with regards to the effectiveness • In 2019, one in five global deaths attributable to AMR
of the drugs, generic drugs have the same quality active occurred in children under the age of five – often from
ingredient as brand name drugs. previously treatable infections.
• AMR is threatening the ability of hospitals to keep
Drug Abuse
patients safe from infections and undermining the ability
• Drug abuse occurs when drugs are taken without medical of doctors to carry out essential medical practice safely,
reasons and without medical supervision, especially including surgery, childbirth and cancer treatment since
when they are taken in an amount, strength, frequency, infection is a risk following these procedures.
or manner that damages the physical and mental
FORCES OF NATURE, FRICTION, LAWS OF MOTION
functioning of the individual. Cough syrups, pain killers,
and tranquillizers are some common medicines that are • Force: In science, a push or a pull on an object is called a
often abused. force. It can also be stated as an external agent which can
cause change in the state or shape of any object.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
• Speed & velocity: Speed is the time rate at which an
• Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, object is moving along a path, while velocity is the rate
viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no and direction of an object’s movement. Put another
longer respond to medicines making infections harder way, speed is a scalar value, while velocity is a vector.
to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, For example, 50 km/hr (31 mph) describes the speed at
severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance, which a car is traveling along a road, while 50 km/hr west
antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become describes the velocity at which it is traveling.
ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or • Acceleration: It is the rate at which velocity changes with
impossible to treat. time, in terms of both speed and direction.
• A point or an object moving in a straight line is accelerated
Recent Findings
if it speeds up or slows down. Motion on a circle is
• Based on estimates from 204 countries and territories, the accelerated even if the speed is constant, because the
Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report direction is continually changing. For all other kinds of
published in the Lancet provides the most comprehensive motion, both effects contribute to the acceleration.
estimate of the global impact of AMR so far. Because acceleration has both a magnitude and a
direction, it is a vector quantity.
TYPES OF FORCES
The Four Fundamental Forces of Nature are
• Gravitational force, Weak Nuclear force, Electromagnetic
force and Strong Nuclear force.
• The Four Fundamental Forces and their features
• Gravitational Force – It is the weakest force in Nature but
it has infinite range.
• Weak Nuclear Force – It is the next weakest force but it
has short range.
• Electromagnetic Force – It is comparatively stronger force
and at the same time it has infinite range.
• Strong Nuclear Force – It is considered as the strongest
force in nature but it has short range.
• Gravitational force: Gravity, also called gravitation,
in mechanics, the universal force of attraction acting
between all matter. It is by far the weakest known force in
nature and thus plays no role in determining the internal
properties of everyday matter.
• On the other hand, through its long reach and universal
• Its headline finding is that as many as 4.95 million deaths action, it controls the trajectories of bodiesin the solar
may be associated with bacterial AMR in 2019. system and elsewhere in the universe and the structures
• Estimates included in the paper show that AMR is a and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the whole cosmos.
leading cause of death globally, higher than HIV/AIDS or • On Earth all bodies have a weight, or downward force of
malaria. gravity, proportional to their mass, which Earth’s mass

14 General Science
 Electromagnetic Force
exerts on them. Gravity is measured by the acceleration
that it gives to freely falling objects. • The term electromagnetism combines the electric and
• At Earth’s surface the acceleration of gravity is about 9.8 magnetic forces into a single word because both forces
metres (32 feet) per second per second. Thus, for every are due to the same underlying phenomenon. “Charged”
second an object is in free fall, its speed increases by particles generate electric fields, and positive and negative
about 9.8 metres per second. charges react to that field differently, which explains the
force we observe. For electric interactions, positively
Examples of Gravitation
charged particles (like protons) push away positively
• The force that holds the gases in the sun. charged particles and attract negatively charged ones
• The force that causes a ball you throw in the air to come (like electrons), and vice versa. Electric field lines spread
down again. directly outward from positive electric charges, and this
• The force that keeps the Earth and all of the planets in pushes particles in the direction of – or in the opposite
line in the proper position in their orbits around the direction to – the field lines.
sun. The force that causes the moon to revolve around • Magnetism comes from magnetic fields, which are
the Earth. The force from the moon that causes the tides generated by moving charges. Particles don’t respond
of the ocean. The force that keeps you walking on Earth to magnetic fields in the same way as they do to electric
instead of floating away into space. fields. Magnetic field lines form circles, with no beginning
or end. In response to them, particles move in a direction
Gravity in Action
perpendicular to both their motion and the field line.
• Gravity has the same effect on every object. If you drop As with electric forces, positively charged particles and
a huge elephant or if you drop a small, thin feather, they negatively charged ones move in opposite directions.
fall at the exact same speed. The feather will look like it • The electromagnetic force is the second strongest force
falls more slowly and it does on Earth because there is air in nature. The strong nuclear force is the strongest,
resistance that interferes with the force of gravity and can electromagnetic forces are 137 times less powerful, the
slow it down. However, if you dropped a feather and an weak nuclear force is a million times smaller, and gravity is
elephant in a vacuum where there was no air resistance, much, much smaller than the rest (about 6 × 10−39 Ɵmes
they’d fall at the exact same speed because there is the weaker than the strong nuclear force).
exact same amount of force being exerted. • 1st Law of Motion An object remains in a state of rest or
of uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to
Weak & Strong Nuclear Force
change that state by an applied force.
• The effects of the weak force were first discovered at the • In other words, all objects resist a change in their state of
turn of the 20th century, in the place where it is most motion. In a qualitative way, the tendency of undisturbed
obviously at work: in radioactive beta decay. objects to stay at rest or to keep moving with the same
• In the most common form of this decay, beta-minus velocity is called inertia. This is why, the first law of
decay, a neutron decays into a proton, also spitting out a motion is also known as the law of inertia.
negatively charged electron in order to conserve electric • Certain experiences that we come across while travelling
charge; beta-plus decay does the reverse and turns in a motorcar can be explained on the basis of the law
protons into neutrons. of inertia. We tend to remain at rest with respect to the
• To understand what this, and the weak force, is all about, seat until the driver applies a braking force to stop the
we first need to mention the strong nuclear force. The motorcar. With the application of brakes, the car slows
strong force binds the fundamental particles known as down but our body tends to continue in the same state of
quarks together to form particles such as the protons and motion because of its inertia.
neutrons of the atomic nucleus. • When a motorcar makes a sharp turn at a high speed, we
• Protons and neutrons are both composites of three tend to get thrown to one side. This can again be explained
quarks of two types, or “flavours”, up and down. Protons on the basis of the law of inertia. We tend to continue
have the configuration up-up-down, and neutrons in our straight-line motion. When an unbalanced force is
up-down-down. applied by the engine to change the direction of motion
• So if the strong force binds quarks together, it becomes of the motorcar, we slip to one side of the seat due to the
apparent that the weak force allows them to change inertia of our body.
flavour: for example switching a down quark to an up
2nd Law of Motion
quark or vice versa in beta decay
• It sounds quirky, but it is far from irrelevant: only the • The second law states that the acceleration of an object is
action of the weak force changing protons into neutrons dependent upon two variables - the net force acting upon
within a star like the sun allows nuclear fusion to get off the object and the mass of the object. The acceleration
the ground within its core at all. The burning of stars – of an object depends directly upon the net force acting
and so the existence of life – depends on the weak force. upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the

General Science 15
 object. As the force acting upon an object is increased, between two surfaces that try to move in the same
the acceleration of the object is increased. As the mass direction or that try to move in opposite directions. The
of an object is increased, the acceleration of the object main purpose of a frictional force is to create resistance
is decreased. to the motion of one surface over the other surface. The
frictional force depends on the body surface textures.
EXAMPLES
• Friction is caused by the irregularities on the two surfaces
• While catching a fast moving cricket ball, a fielder in in contact. Even those surfaces which appear very smooth
the ground gradually pulls his hands backwards with have a large number of minute irregularities on them.
the moving ball? In doing so, the fielder increases the Irregularities on the two surfaces lock into one another.
time during which the high velocity of the moving ball When we attempt to move any surface, we have to apply
decreases to zero. Thus, the acceleration of the ball is a force to overcome interlocking. On rough surfaces,
decreased and therefore the impact of catching the fast there are a larger number of irregularities. So the force of
moving ball is also reduced. If the ball is stopped suddenly friction is greater if a rough surface is involved
then its high velocity decreases to zero in a very short
When friction is highest? In moving body or static body?
interval of time. Thus, the rate of change of momentum
of the ball will be large. Therefore, a large force would • The force required to overcome friction at the instant
have to be applied for holding the catch that may hurt an object starts moving from rest is a measure of static
the palm of the fielder. In a high jump athletic event, the friction. On the other hand, the force required to keep
athletes are made to fall either on a cushioned bed or on the object moving with the same speed is a measure of
a sand bed. sliding friction. When the box starts sliding, the contact
• This is to increase the time of the athlete’s fall to stop points on its surface, do not get enough time to lock into
after making the jump. This decreases the rate of change the contact points on the floor. So, the sliding friction is
of momentum and hence the force. slightly smaller than the static friction.
• 3rd Law of Motion: The third law of motion states that
WHAT IS LIGHT?
when one object exerts a force on another object, the
second object instantaneously exerts a force back on the • Light, or Visible Light, commonly refers to electromagnetic
first. These two forces are always equal in magnitude radiation that can be detected by the human eye. Light
but opposite in direction. These forces act on different can also be described in terms of a stream of photons,
objects and never on the same object. massless packets of energy, each travelling with wavelike
• In other words, to every action there is an equal and properties at the speed of light. A photon is the smallest
opposite reaction. However, it must be remembered quantity (quantum) of energy which can be transported,
that the action and reaction always act on two different and it was the realization that light travelled in discrete
objects, simultaneously. quanta that was the origins of Quantum Theory.
Example: When we are walking, we push the road below us in • Visible light is not inherently different from the other
backward direction and the road exerts an equal amount of force parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, with the exception
on us in the forward direction thus helping us to move.
that the human eye can detect visible waves. This in
• It is important to note that even though the action fact corresponds to only a very narrow window of the
and reaction forces are always equal in magnitude, electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from about 400nm
these forces may not produce accelerations of equal for violet light through to 700nm for red light. Radiation
magnitudes. This is becauseeachforce acts on a different lower than 400nm is referred to as Ultra-Violet (UV) and
object that may have a different mass. When a gun is fired, radiation longer than 700nm is referred to as Infra-Red
it exerts a forward force on the bullet. The bullet exerts (IR), neither of which can be detected by the human eye
an equal and opposite force on the gun. This results in the
NATURE OF LIGHT
recoil of the gun. Since the gun has a much greater mass
than the bullet, the acceleration of the gun is much less • Many scientists had some experimental evidence
than the acceleration of the bullet. (diffraction and interference) that indicated light was
• Another example: Launching a rocket relies on Newton’s a wave and other experimental evidence (black body
Third Law of Motion. A rocket engine produces thrust radiation and the photoelectric effect) that indicated
through action and reaction. The engine produces hot light was a particle. The solution to this problem was to
exhaust gases which flow out of the back of the engine. develop a concept known as the wave-particle duality of
In reaction, a thrusting force is produced in the opposite light. The point of this concept is that light travels as a
reaction. wave and interacts with matter like a particle. Thus when
• Frictional Force: The force of friction always acts on all light is traveling through space, air, or other media, we
the moving objects and its direction is always opposite to speak of its wavelength and frequency, and when the light
the direction of motion. interacts with matter, we switch to the characteristics of
• Frictional force is the opposing force that is created a particle (quantum).

16 General Science
REFRACTION OF LIGHT
• When light travels between two surfaces made of transparent
• When light passes from denser medium to rarer medium materials, then it gets refracted. This is also called as the
it bends away from the normal. When it passes from rarer bending of light. Light or rays that come towards or drive
medium to denser medium it bends towards the normal. This away from the normal have interfered. This happens due to
phenomenon of bending of light is called refraction of light. a change of one medium to another medium. This gives the
• When light travels from one medium to another its speed simple definition of total internal reflection.
changes. A ray of light from a rarer medium to a denser
APPLICATION OF TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION:
medium slows down and bends towards the normal.
On the other hand the ray of light going from a denser • Optical fibers: Fiber optics uses total internal reflection,
medium to a rarer medium is speeded up and bends which has many advantages in telecommunications. Fiber
away from the normal. It shows that the speed of light in optics are light-travelling glass or plastic threads the size
different medium varies. Different medium have different of a hair. When light contacts the core-cladding boundary
abilities to bend or refract light. at an angle of incidence larger than the critical angle, it is
• Twinkling of stars: The twinkling of a star is due to refracted back into the core. As a result, light can travel
atmospheric refraction of starlight. The starlight, on many kilometers with little energy loss.
entering the earth’s atmosphere, undergoes refraction • Endoscope: An endoscope is a medical device used for
continuously before it reaches the earth. The atmospheric diagnostic and surgical procedures. It has two fiber-
refraction occurs in a medium of gradually changing optic tubes in a pipe. The light enters the patient’s organ
refractive index. Since the atmosphere bends starlight through one of the endoscope’s fiber tubes and is then
towards the normal, the apparent position of the star is reflected by the physician’s viewing lens through the
slightly different from its actual position. The star appears outer fiber tube thus confirming total internal reflection.
slightly higher (above) than its actual position when
viewed near the horizon.
• Further, this apparent position of the star is not stationary,
but keeps on changing slightly, since the physical
conditions of the earth’s atmosphere are not stationary,
as was the case in the previous paragraph. Since the stars
are very distant, they approximate point-sized sources of
light. As the path of rays of light coming from the star
goes on varying slightly, the apparent position of the star
fluctuates and the amount of starlight entering the eye
flickers – the star sometimes appears brighter, and at
some other time, fainter, which is the twinkling effect.
• Advance sunrise and delayed sunset: The Sun is visible to
us about 2 minutes before the actual sunrise, and about
2 minutes after the actual sunset because of atmospheric
refraction. By actual sunrise, we mean the actual crossing
of the horizon by the Sun. The following shows the actual
and apparent positions of the Sun with respect to the
horizon. The time difference between actual sunset and • Rainbow Formation: A rainbow is a natural spectrum
the apparent sunset is about 2 minutes. The apparent appearing in the sky after a rain shower. It is caused by
flattening of the Sun’s disc at sunrise and sunset is also dispersion of sunlight by tiny water droplets, present
due to the same phenomenon. in the atmosphere. A rainbow is always formed in a
direction opposite to that of the Sun. The water droplets
DISPERSION OF LIGHT
act like small prisms. They refract and disperse the
• When white light or sun light passes through a prism it incident sunlight, then reflect it internally, and finally
splits up into constituent colours. This phenomenon is refract it again when it comes out of the raindrop. Due
called dispersion and arises due to the fact that refractive to the dispersion of light and internal reflection, different
index of prism is different for different colours of light. colours reach the observer’s eye.
• Total Internal Reflection: Total internal reflection
SCATTERING OF LIGHT
happens at a time when a light ray that travels from a
denser to a rarer medium. The ray is incident at an angle of • When light passes from one medium to another, say air,
incidence that is greater than the critical angle. After that, a glass of water, then a part of the light is absorbed by
the light rays are reflected in another denser medium. It particles of the medium, preceded by its subsequent
is the same medium before reflection. The entire process radiation in a particular direction. This phenomenon is
is known as Total internal reflection. termed a scattering of light

General Science 17
 decrease. The definition of interference in physics is the
superposition of waves, causing an increase or decrease
in the amplitude of the resulting wave.

• Why is the colour of the clear Sky Blue? The molecules • Diffraction of Light: Diffraction is the slight bending of light
of air and other fine particles in the atmosphere have size as it passes around the edge of an object. The amount of
smaller than the wavelength of visible light. These are bending depends on the relative size of the wavelength
more effective in scattering light of shorter wavelengths of light to the size of the opening. If the opening is much
at the blue end than light of longer wavelengths at the larger than the light’s wavelength, the bending will be
red end. The red light has a wavelength about 1.8 times almost unnoticeable. However, if the two are closer in
greater than blue light. Thus, when sunlight passes through size or equal, the amount of bending is considerable, and
the atmosphere, the fine particles in air scatter the blue easily seen with the naked eye.
colour (shorter wavelengths) more strongly than red. The
scattered blue light enters our eyes. If the earth had no
atmosphere, there would not have been any scattering.
Then, the sky would have looked dark. The sky appears dark
to passengers flying at very high altitudes, as scattering is
not prominent at such heights. You might have observed
that ‘danger’ signal lights are red in colour. Do you know
why? The red is least scattered by fog or smoke. Therefore,
it can be seen in the same colour at a distance.

ELECTRICITY

• Electron theory According to this theory, every object

consists of extremely fine particles, which are called
atoms. It was found by experiments that the atom itself
is made up of two types of very fine electrical particles.
• Out of this, one type of particle is called a proton, which
has a positive electric charge and another type of particle
is called an electron, which has a negative electric charge.
• When we rub two objects together, the electrons of
• The light from the Sun overhead would travel relatively one object transfer to another. The object that loses
shorter distance. At noon, the Sun appears white as only a the electron becomes positively charged. Conversely,
little of the blue and violet colours are scattered. Near the the object on which electrons move becomes negatively
horizon, most of the blue light and shorter wavelengths charged. Thus we see that there are two types of charge
are scattered away by the particles. Therefore, the light - (1) positive charge and (2) negative charge
that reaches our eyes is of longer wavelengths. This gives
WHAT ARE CONDUCTORS?
rise to the reddish appearance of the Sun
• Interference of Light: Interference of light is the • The materials from which electric charge flows easily are
phenomena of multiple light waves interfering with called electric conductors. In contrast, these substances
one another under certain circumstances, causing the in which charge cannot flow are called insulators. All
combined amplitudes of the waves to either increase or metals are electrical conductors. Our body is also an

18 General Science
 electrical conductor. Water and moisture are also place somewhere in north Canada. The magnetic south
electrical conductors. Rubber, plastic, dry wood, enamel pole is at 79.74° S, 108.22° E in the Antarctica.
paint are some examples of insulating materials. Dry air is • The pole near the geographic north pole of the earth is
insulated, while moist air is not insulated called the north magnetic pole. Likewise, the pole near the
geographic south pole is called the south magnetic pole.
WHAT ARE SEMI-CONDUCTORS?

• Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity

between conductors (generally metals) and non-
conductors or insulators (such as most ceramics).
Semiconductors can be pure elements, such as silicon
or germanium, or compounds such as gallium arsenide
or cadmium selenide. In a process called doping, small
amounts of impurities are added to pure semiconductors
causing large changes in the conductivity of the material.
THE PRESENCE OF ELECTRICITY IN CLOUDS?

• Thunderstorms are caused by small electrically-charged

particles.
• As water molecules in the cloud are heated and cooled
and they move up and down against each other, there is • There is some confusion in the nomenclature of the poles.
a separation of charge. Forming 2 poles within the cloud. If one looks at the magnetic field lines of the earth, one
One part becomes negatively charged, and the other part sees that unlike in the case of a bar magnet, the field lines
becomes positively charged. go into the earth at the north magnetic pole (Nm) and
• Objects on the ground then become oppositely charged come out from the south magnetic pole (Sm).
to the lower part of the cloud. • The convention arose because the magnetic north was
• This imbalance tries to resolve itself, by passing current the direction to which the north pole of a magnetic
between the differently charged poles. needle pointed; the north pole of a magnet was so named
• Charged particles always flow in the direction where as it was the north seeking pole. Thus, in reality, the
there are less particles of the same charge. This results in north magnetic pole behaves like the south pole of a bar
a lightning bolt. magnet inside the earth and vice versa.
• The electrical arc of the lightning bolt heats the
VARIATION IN MAGNETIC FIELD OF EARTH
surrounding air to extreme temperatures. In fact, the air
around it can be heated to 5 times hotter than the sun! • The variation of earth’s magnetic field with time is no less
• This heat causes the surrounding air to rapidly expand fascinating. There are short term variations taking place
and vibrate. Which is the rumbling thunder that we hear. over centuries and long term variations taking place over
• Each bolt carries about 10 billion Watts. That’s enough a period of a million years.
power for 32 million people a year! • In a span of 240 years from 1580 to 1820 AD, over which
• 10 billion watts per bolt, and given that 50 bolts strike the records are available, the magnetic declination at London
earth’s surface every single second means the power of has been found to change by 3.5°, suggesting that the
lightning is extraordinary. magnetic poles inside the earth change position with
time. On the scale of a million years, the earth’s magnetic
EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD
fields has been found to reverse its direction.
• Earth’s magnetic field is now thought to arise due to
SOUND AND OTHER WAVES
electrical currents produced by convective motion of
metallic fluids (consisting mostly of molten iron and Sound Waves
nickel) in the outer core of the earth. This is known as the • Sound is produced by vibrating objects. The matter or
dynamo effect. substance through which sound is transmitted is called
• The magnetic field lines of the earth resemble that of a a medium. It can be solid, liquid or gas. Sound moves
(hypothetical) magnetic dipole located at the centre of through a medium from the point of generation to the
the earth. The axis of the dipole does not coincide with listener. When an object vibrates, it sets the particles
the axis of rotation of the earth but is presently titled by of the medium around it vibrating. The particles do not
approximately 11.3° with respect to the later. travel all the way from the vibrating object to the ear.
• In this way of looking at it, the magnetic poles are located A particle of the medium in contact with the vibrating
where the magnetic field lines due to the dipole enter or object is first displaced from its equilibrium position. It
leave the earth. The location of the north magnetic pole then exerts a force on the adjacent particle. As a result
is at a latitude of 79.74° N and a longitude of 71.8° W, a of which the adjacent particle gets displaced from its

General Science 19
 position of rest. After displacing the adjacent particle the all directions. In these instruments, a tube followed by
first particle comes back to its original position. a conical opening reflects sound successively to guide
• most of the sound waves from the source in the forward
• This process continues in the medium till the sound direction towards the audience.
reaches your ear. The disturbance created by a source Note: Actually, a megaphone is based on the principle
of sound in the medium travels through the medium and of superposition of waves too. When two or more waves
superimpose, a new wave is formed. The amplitude of the
not the particles of the medium. resultant wave may be greater than the initial waves. This is how
• A wave is a disturbance that moves through a medium the sound is amplified with a megaphone.
when the particles of the medium set neighbouring
particles into motion. They in turn produce similar 2. Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for listening
motion in others. The particles of the medium do not to sounds produced within the body, mainly in the heart
move forward themselves, but the disturbance is carried or lungs. In stethoscopes the sound of the patient’s
forward. heartbeat reaches the doctor’s ears by multiple reflection
• This is what happens during propagation of sound in a of sound.
medium, hence sound can be visualised as a wave. Sound 3. Generally the ceilings of concert halls, conference halls
waves are characterised by the motion of particles in the and cinema halls are curved so that sound after reflection
medium and are called mechanical waves. reaches all corners of the hall. Sometimes a curved
soundboard may be placed behind the stage so that the
ECHO
sound, after reflecting from the sound board, spreads
• If we shout or clap near a suitable reflecting object such evenly across the width of the hall.
as a tall building or a mountain, we will hear the same
Ultrasounds
sound again a little later. This sound which we hear is
called an echo. The sensation of sound persists in our • Ultrasounds are high frequency waves. Ultrasounds
brain for about 0.1 s. To hear a distinct echo the time are able to travel along well-defined paths even in the
interval between the original sound and the reflected presence of obstacles. Ultrasounds are used extensively
one must be at least 0.1s. If we take the speed of sound in industries and for medical purposes.
to be 344 m/s at a given temperature, say at 22 ºC in air, • Ultrasound is generally used to clean parts located in
the sound must go to the obstacle and reach back the hard-to-reach places, for example, spiral tube, odd shaped
ear of the listener on reflection after 0.1s. Hence, the parts, electronic components etc. Objects to be cleaned
total distance covered by the sound from the point of are placed in a cleaning solution and ultrasonic waves
generation to the reflecting surface and back should be at are sent into the solution. Due to the high frequency, the
least (344 m/s) × 0.1 s = 34.4 m. Thus, for hearing distinct particles of dust, grease and dirt get detached and drop
echoes, the minimum distance of the obstacle from the out. The objects thus get thoroughly cleaned.
source of sound must be half of this distance, that is, 17.2 • Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks and flaws in
m. This distance will change with the temperature of air. metal blocks. Metallic components are generally used
Echoes may be heard more than once due to successive in construction of big structures like buildings, bridges,
or multiple reflections. The rolling of thunder is due to machines and also scientific equipment. The cracks or
the successive reflections of the sound from a number of holes inside the metal blocks, which are invisible from
reflecting surfaces, such as the clouds and the land. outside reduces the strength of the structure.
• Ultrasonic waves are allowed to pass through the metal
REVERBERATION
block and detectors are used to detect the transmitted
• A sound created in a big hall will persist by repeated waves. If there is even a small defect, the ultrasound
reflection from the walls until it is reduced to a value gets reflected back indicating the presence of the flaw or
where it is no longer audible. The repeated reflection that defect.
results in this persistence of sound is called reverberation. • Ordinary sound of longer wavelengths cannot be used for
In an auditorium or big hall excessive reverberation is such purpose as it will bend around the corners of the
highly undesirable. To reduce reverberation, the roof and defective location and enter the detector.
walls of the auditorium are generally covered with sound- • Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from various parts of
absorbent materials like compressed fibreboard, rough the heart and form the image of the heart. This technique
plaster or draperies. The seat materials are also selected is called ‘echocardiography’.
on the basis of their sound absorbing properties. • Ultrasound scanner is an instrument which uses ultrasonic
waves for getting images of internal organs of the human
Reflection of Sound Waves & its applications
body. A doctor may image the patient’s organs such as
1. Megaphones or loudhailers, horns, musical instruments the liver, gall bladder, uterus, kidney, etc. It helps the
such as trumpets and shehanais, are all designed to send doctor to detect abnormalities, such as stones in the
sound in a particular direction without spreading it in gall bladder and kidney or tumours in different organs.

20 General Science
 In this technique the ultrasonic waves travel through the
tissues of the body and get reflected from a region where
there is a change of tissue density. These waves are then
converted into electrical signals that are used to generate
images of the organ. These images are then displayed on
a monitor or printed on a film. This technique is called
‘ultrasonography’. Ultrasonography is also used for
examination of the foetus during pregnancy to detect
congenial defects and growth abnormalities.
• Ultrasound may be employed to break small ‘stones’
formed in the kidneys into fine grains. These grains later
get flushed out with urine.
SONAR

• The acronym SONAR stands for SOund Navigation And Ranging. Electromagnetic waves
Sonar is a device that uses ultrasonic waves to measure the
distance, direction and speed of underwater objects. • Definition: Electromagnetic waves or EM waves are waves
that are created as a result of vibrations between an electric
How does the sonar work?
field and a magnetic field. In other words, EM waves are
• Sonar consists of a transmitter and a detector and is composed of oscillating magnetic and electric fields.
installed in a boat or a ship The transmitter produces and • EM waves travel with a constant velocity of 3.00 x 108
transmits ultrasonic waves. These waves travel through ms-1 in vacuum. They are deflected neither by the
water and after striking the object on the seabed, get electric field, nor by the magnetic field. However, they
reflected back and are sensed by the detector. The detector are capable of showing interference or diffraction. An
converts the ultrasonic waves into electrical signals which electromagnetic wave can travel through anything - be it
are appropriately interpreted. The distance of the object air, a solid material or vacuum.
that reflected the sound wave can be calculated by • It does not need a medium to propagate or travel from
knowing the speed of sound in water and the time interval one place to another. Mechanical waves (like sound
between transmission and reception of the ultrasound. waves or water waves), on the other hand, need a
• The above method is called echo-ranging. The sonar medium to travel.
technique is used to determine the depth of the sea and • EM waves are ‘transverse’ waves. This means that they
to locate underwater hills, valleys, submarine, icebergs, are measured by their amplitude (height) and wavelength
sunken ship etc. (distance between the highest/lowest points of two
consecutive waves).
WORKING OF MICROWAVE OVEN
• Electromagnetic waves can be split into a range of
How does a microwave turn electricity into heat? frequencies. This is known as the electromagnetic
• Inside the strong metal box, there is a microwave generator spectrum. Examples of EM waves are radio waves,
called a magnetron. When you start cooking, the magnetron microwaves, infrared waves, X-rays, gamma rays, etc.
takes electricity from the power outlet and converts it into
high-powered, 12cm (4.7 inch) radio waves.
• The magnetron blasts these waves into the food
compartment through a channel called a wave guide.
• The food sits on a turntable, spinning slowly round so the
microwaves cook it evenly.
• The microwaves bounce back and forth off the reflective
metal walls of the food compartment, just like light
bounces off a mirror. When the microwaves reach the
food itself, they don’t simply bounce off. Just as radio
waves can pass straight through the walls of your house,
so microwaves penetrate inside the food. As they travel
through it, they make the molecules inside it vibrate Different parts of the EM spectrum have different uses
more quickly.
• Vibrating molecules have heat so, the faster the 1. Radio waves - radio and television
molecules vibrate, the hotter the food becomes. Thus the 2. Microwaves - satellite communications and cooking food
microwaves pass their energy onto the molecules in the 3. Infrared - Electrical heaters, cooking food and infrared
food, rapidly heating it up. cameras

General Science 21
4. Visible light - Fibre optic communications
5. Ultraviolet - Energy efficient lamps, sun tanning
6. X-rays - Medical imaging and treatments
7. Gamma rays - Medical imaging and treatments

22 General Science
 UNIVERSE
What is Universe?
• Both components are invisible.
• The universe is everything. • It turns out that roughly 68% of the universe is dark
• It includes all of space and all the matter and energy that energy.
space contains. • Dark matter makes up about 27%.
• It even includes dark matter and Dark Energy • The rest - everything on Earth, everything ever observed
• It even includes time itself and, of course, it includes us. with all of our instruments, all normal matter - adds up to
• The size of the entire universe is still unknown. less than 5% of the universe.
• The Universe is expanding.
WHAT IS DARK MATTER?
• What are the different components in it?
• Difficult to say, it is still unknown • Roughly 80% of the mass of the universe is made up of
• However, we have planets, moons, asteroids, meteors, material that scientists cannot directly observe.
exoplanets, galaxies, stars, and so on. • Known as dark matter, this bizarre ingredient does not
• Everything which we can see and feel around us and emit light or energy.
many more things which we are not even aware of. • There is a certain amount of Dark Matter in each galaxy.
• How & when did the universe originate and its expansion? This could be some exotic particles or just lots of stars
• Many of the experts believe that it involved a gigantic too small to have ignited.
explosion of matter and Energy.
WHAT IS GALAXY?
When?
• The galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, dust,
• About 13.8 billion years ago. interstellar gas, and dark matter.
• Big Bang Theory: Big denotes large matters and Bang • Millions of stars in the universe together form a galaxy
means strike violently. • One galaxy may contain 100 million stars
• So Big Bang is that striking of big matters. It says the • There are millions of galaxies in the world.
universe as we know it started with an infinitely hot and • We belong to the Milky Way galaxy
dense single point that inflated and stretched — first at • It has 1,00,000 million stars.
unimaginable speeds, and then at a more measurable rate
— over the next 13.7 billion years to the still-expanding
cosmos that we know today.
What is Matter?

• Anything that has weight and takes up space, as a solid,

liquid, or gas.
What is Anti-matter?

• Antimatter is the same as ordinary matter except that it

has the opposite electric charge.
• For instance, an electron, which has a negative charge,
has an antimatter partner known as a positron.
• A positron is a particle with the same mass as an electron
but a positive charge.
• Antimatter was created along with matter after the Big Bang.
HOW DO STARS ORIGINATE?
• But antimatter is rare in today’s universe, and scientists
aren’t sure why. • Stars are constantly being born from clouds of dust and gas.
• It happens over millions of years.
What is Dark Energy?
• Stars are balls of gas mainly hydrogen & helium.
• Dark energy is the mysterious form of energy that makes • What are Planets?
up about 68% of the universe. • It has been derived from the Greek word Planetai.
• Dark energy is a mysterious force that is accelerating the • Planetai means wanderer.
expansion of the universe. • Planets are so named as they revolve around the sun.
• While dark matter attracts and holds galaxies together, • These celestial bodies don’t have their light.
dark energy repels and causes the expansion of our • They shine due to the reflection of light from stars such
universe. as the Sun.

General Science 23
• Planets are made up of solid material and gases • However, their mixes of those elements may differ.
• Process of Formation of Planets, Sun & Asteroids • Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets,
• Our solar system began about 4.6 billion years ago when called rogue planets, orbit the galactic center and are
a big cloud of gas and dust collapsed. untethered to any star.
• When this happened, most of the material fell to the • What is Goldilocks Zone?
center of the cloud and formed the sun. • It is a region of space in which a planet is at just the right
• Some of the condensing dust in the cloud became planets. distance from its home star so that its surface is neither
• The objects in the asteroid belt never had the chance to too hot nor too cold.
be incorporated into planets. • According to various reports, there are about 40 billion
Earth-Sized planets orbiting in the habitable zone
Planets of Solar System
Our star- Sun
• There are 8 planets in our solar system
• Yes, Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. • The closest star to our planet.
• There are four inner planets often called terrestrial • It is a ball of hydrogen gas that radiates heat and light.
planets. • It generates power by nuclear fusion (smaller nuclei
• Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars combined to form larger nuclei and produce energy).
• They are called terrestrial as they have rocky surfaces. • Sun was born under five billion years (approximately) ago.
• Four other outer planets are called Jovian Planets. • It is composed of about 74 percent hydrogen and 25 percent
• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune helium, with traces of iron, carbon, calcium, and sodium.
• They’re also mostly made of gases • Like other planets in the solar system, the Sun spins on
• Like hydrogen, helium, and ammonia rather than of rocky its axis.
surfaces • The Sun takes up to 250 million years to complete one
• What is the definition of a Planet? revolution around the Milky Way
• The IAU defines a true planet as a body
LAYERS OF SUN
• that circles the sun without being some other object’s
satellite; • It has three layers - photosphere, chromospheres and corona
• is large enough to be rounded by its own gravity • The photosphere is the visible surface of the Sun, from
• (but not so big that it begins to undergo nuclear fusion, which the emitted sunlight reaches Earth.
like a star); and • The chromosphere is the layer above the photosphere
• has “cleared its neighborhood” of most other orbiting and below the corona.
bodies. • Corona is the outermost region of the Sun’s atmosphere
• The problem with Pluto (consisting of plasma or hot ionized gas), which is visible
• its small size and offbeat orbit, as a white halo during a solar eclipse.
• it doesn’t clear its neighborhood of debris
• it shares its space with lots of other objects in the Kuiper
Belt.
Exoplanets?

• An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system.

• Exoplanets are made up of elements similar to those of
the planets in our solar system.

What is Solar Wind?

• The solar wind is created by the outward expansion of
plasma (a collection of charged particles) from the Sun’s
corona (outermost atmosphere).

24 General Science
• This plasma is continually heated to the point that the • They look dark only in comparison with the brighter and
Sun’s gravity can’t hold it down. hotter regions of the photosphere around them.
• It then travels along the Sun’s magnetic field lines that • Sunspots can be very large, up to 50,000 kilometers in
extend radially outward. diameter.
• When the solar wind encounters Earth, it is deflected by • They are caused by interactions with the Sun’s magnetic
our planet’s magnetic shield, causing most of the solar field.
wind’s energetic particles to flow around and beyond us. • Sunspots occur over regions of intense magnetic activity,
• This region that meets and blocks the solar wind is called and when that energy is released, solar flares and big
the magnetosphere. storms called coronal mass ejections erupt from sunspots.
• The space around our atmosphere is alive and dynamic
because Earth’s magnetosphere reacts to the Sun’s activity.
• They can severely damage our communications, navigation,
and electrical power systems; oil drilling processes and
pipelines; and spacecraft and orbiting satellites.

What are asteroids?

Solar Tsunami?
• Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun
• A solar tsunami is a powerful shockwave on the Sun’s surface. • Although asteroids orbit the Sun-like planets, they are
• It is triggered by explosions in the Sun’s atmosphere much smaller than planets.
• This explosion results in large amounts of superhot
plasma, containing electrically charged particles, being
expelled into space.
• They can have a significantly disastrous impact on our
communications, navigation, and electrical power
systems; oil drilling processes and pipelines; and
spacecraft and orbiting satellites.

• There are lots of asteroids in our solar system.

Sun Spot?
• Most of them live in the main asteroid belt—a region
• Sunspots are darker, cooler areas on the surface of the between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
sun in photosphere • Some asteroids are found in the orbital path of planets.

General Science 25
• This means that the asteroid and the planet follow the
same path around the sun.
• Asteroids are leftover from the formation of our solar
system.
WHAT ARE METEORS, METEOROIDS, METEORITES?

• Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from

dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as “space
rocks.”
• When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of
another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the
fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors.
• When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere
and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite
What are comets?

• Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and

dust that orbit the Sun.
• When frozen, they are the size of a small town.
• When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats
up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head
larger than most planets.
• The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from
the Sun for millions of miles.

26 General Science
 CHEMISTRY
What is matter? Wolfgang Ketterle and Carl E. Wieman of USA received
• Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. the Nobel prize in physics for achieving “Bose-Einstein
At a minimum, matter requires at least one subatomic condensation”. The BEC is formed by cooling a gas of
particle, although most matter consists of atoms. extremely low density, about one-hundred-thousandth
the density of normal air, to super low temperatures.
Examples That Are Not Matter
Uses
• Not everything we can perceive consists of matter. If it
does not have mass or volume, it’s not matter. Examples • BECs have also been used to create atom lasers, atomic
of things that aren’t matter include: clocks and gravitational, rotational or magnetic sensors
• Photons (light) with excellent sensitivity.
• Heat
• Thoughts
• Microwaves (the radiation, not the appliance)
States of Matter

• The matter around us exists in three different states–

solid, liquid and gas. These states of matter arise due
to the variation in the characteristics of the particles of
matter.
Other states of Matter
• The number of elements known at present are more than
• Plasma: The state consists of super energetic and super 100.
excited particles. These particles are in the form of • Ninety-two elements are naturally occurring and the rest
ionised gases. The fluorescent tube and neon sign bulbs are manmade.
consist of plasma. Inside a neon sign bulb there is neon • Majority of the elements are solid.
gas and inside a fluorescent tube there is helium gas or • Eleven elements are in gaseous state at room temperature.
some other gas. The gas gets ionised, that is, gets charged • Two elements are liquid at room temperature–mercury
when electrical energy flows through it. This charging up and bromine.
creates a plasma glowing inside the tube or bulb. The • Elements, gallium and cesium become liquid at a
plasma glows with a special colour depending on the temperature slightly above room temperature (303 K).
nature of gas. The Sun and the stars glow because of the • Alloys: Alloys are mixtures of two or more metals or a
presence of plasma in them. The plasma is created in metal andanon-metal and cannot be separated into their
stars because of very high temperature. components by physical methods. But still, an alloy is
considered as a mixture because it shows the properties
Properties of Plasma
of its constituents and can have variable composition. For
• Because plasma consists of charged particles, plasma example, brass is a mixture of approximately 30% zinc
reacts to electromagnetic fields and conducts electricity. and 70% copper.
In contrast, most gases are electrical insulators. • In alloys the chemical properties of the component
• Like a gas, plasma has neither a defined shape nor volume. elements are retained but certain physical properties are
• When plasma is exposed to a magnetic field, it may improved.
assume structures, including layers, filaments, and • Metal alloys are stronger than pure metals
beams. A good example of some of these structures can • Metal alloys are more versatile than pure metals
be observed in a plasma ball. • Metal alloys are more resistant to corrosion than pure
metals most common metal alloys?
Uses of Plasma
1. Brass
• Plasma is used in television, neon signs and fluorescent 2. Carbon Steel
lights. Stars, lightning, the Aurora, and some flames 3. Stainless Steel
consist of plasma. 4. Bronze
• Bose-Einstein Condensate: In 1920, Indian physicist 5. Aluminum Alloy
Satyendra Nath Bose had done some calculations for a
Physical & Chemical Change
fifth state of matter. Building on his calculations, Albert
Einstein predicted a new state of matter – the Bose- • The interconversion of states is a physical change because
Einstein Condensate (BEC). In 2001, Eric A. Cornell, these changes occur without a change in composition

General Science 27
 and no change in the chemical nature of the substance. layer is formed due to the oxidization of the topmost
Although ice, water and water vapour all look different layer, leading to the formation of metal oxide. It is just
and display different physical properties, they are not with iron but these layers forms on other metals as
chemically the same. well, like copper, silver, and gold.
• Chemical change brings change in the chemical properties • Fe + 3O₂ + xH₂O → Fe₃O₄ . xH₂O
of matter and we get new substances. A chemical change 2. Digestion
is also called a chemical reaction. Burning is a chemical • Did you know? Every time we eat something, a chemical
change. During this process one substance reacts with reaction is simultaneously taking place to digest it.
another to undergo a change in chemical composition. Digestion is also a complex process, in which thousands of
chemical reactions take place. For example, when you eat
Evaporation
something, the water and enzyme named amylase breaks
• We know that particles of matter are always moving down carbohydrates and sugar into simple molecules.
and are never at rest. At a given temperature in any gas, 3. Photosynthesis
liquid or solid, there are particles with different amounts • Just like humans, several chemical reactions take place in
of kinetic energy. In the case of liquids, a small fraction plants as well, a chemical reaction called photosynthesis
of particles at the surface, having higher kinetic energy, converts carbon dioxide and water into plant food –
is able to break away from the forces of attraction of glucose, and oxygen. It is one of the major chemical
other particles and gets converted into vapour. This reactions as it leads to the generation of oxygen and
phenomenon of change of a liquid into vapours at any provides food for both plants and animals.
temperature below its boiling point is called evaporation. • 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light → C6H12O6 + 6 O2
4. Combustion
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION
• Every time you strike a match, burn a candle, build a
The rate of evaporation increases with fire, or light a grill, you see the combustion reaction.
•• An increase of surface area: We know that Combustion combines energetic molecules with oxygen
evaporation is a surface phenomenon. If the surface to produce carbon dioxide and water.
area is increased, the rate of evaporation increases. For • A chemical process in which a substance reacts with
example, while putting clothes for drying up we spread oxygen to give off heat is called combustion. The substance
them out. that undergoes combustion is said to be combustible. It
•• An increase of temperature: With the increase is also called a fuel. The fuel may be solid, liquid or gas.
of temperature, more number of particles get enough Sometimes, light is also given off during combustion,
kinetic energy to go into the vapour state. either as a flame or as a glow.
•• A decrease in humidity: Humidity is the amount of
Extinguishing Fire
water vapour present in air. The air around us cannot hold
more than a definite amount of water vapour at a given • The most common fire extinguisher is water. But water
temperature. If the amount of water in air is already high, works only when things like wood and paper are on fire.
the rate of evaporation decreases. If electrical equipment is on fire, water may conduct
•• An increase in wind speed: It is a common electricity and harm those trying to douse the fire. Water
observation that clothes dry faster on a windy day. With is also not suitable for fires involving oil and petrol.
the increase in wind speed, the particles of water vapour • Do you recall that water is heavier than oil? So, it sinks
move away with the wind, decreasing the amount of below the oil, and oil keeps burning on the top.
water vapour in the surrounding. • For fires involving electrical equipment and inflammable
materials like petrol, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the best
HOW DOES EVAPORATION CAUSE COOLING?
extinguisher. CO2, being heavier than oxygen, covers the
• In an open vessel, the liquid keeps on evaporating. The fire like a blanket.
particles of liquid absorb energy from the surrounding to • Since the contact between the fuel and oxygen is cut off,
regain the energy lost during evaporation. This absorption of the fire is controlled. The added advantage of CO2 is that
energy from the surroundings make the surroundings cold. in most cases it does not harm the electrical equipment.
• After a hot sunny day, people sprinkle water on the 5. When a candle burns, both physical and chemical
roof or open ground because the large latent heat of changes occur.
vaporisation of water helps to cool the hot surface. • Physical Changes: On heating, candle wax gets melted.
Since it again turns into solid wax on cooling. So, the
Chemical Change Examples
melting of wax and vapourisation of melted wax are
1.Rusting physical changes.
• Rusting is the process of oxidation, which is the result of • Chemical Changes: The wax near flame burns and gives
a reaction that takes place because of oxygen. It gives new substances like carbon dioxide, carbon soot, water
a flaky brown layer that gathers over iron surfaces, this vapour, heat and light.

28 General Science
6. LPG is another example of a familiar process in which • The term ‘rare-earth’ is a misleading term because they
both the chemical and physical changes take place. LPG are not actually scarce.
is present in liquid form in the cylinder. When it comes • Though rare-earth elements are technically relatively
out of the cylinder, it converts into gaseous form which plentiful in the entire Earth’s crust (cerium being the
is a physical change. It undergoes chemical change when 25th-most-abundant element and more abundant than
gas burns in air. copper),
• In practice, this is spread thin across trace impurities, so
Rare earth elements
to obtain rare earths at usable purity requires processing
• The Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metallic enormous amounts of raw ore at great expense, thus the
elements having similar chemical properties found in the name “rare” earths.
periodic table.
• These comprise 15 lanthanides elements plus two other
elements namely scandium and yttrium.
• Scandium and yttrium are considered rare-earth elements
because they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as
the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties,
but have different electronic and magnetic properties

Rare Earth Metal

• Supply Chain problems: Rare earths have a highly

concentrated global supply scenario—much more so than
oil and hydrocarbons—which presents a strategic challenge.
• Until a couple of years prior, China controlled 90% of the
stockpile of intriguing earths.
• China’s share is now 60%, despite the aggressive
production of the US, Australia, and Canada. Following
a dispute with Japan over the East China Sea’s Senkaku
Islands in 2010;
• China shut down products of Interesting Earth
Components to Japan. China might use similar strategies
in the future given the border dispute with India.
• To exploit domestic resources: India has more noteworthy
stores than the US and Australia, just behind China,
Vietnam, Russia, and Brazil.
• India must become a supplier for both domestic and
international consumption given Russia’s involvement in
the conflict
• Diverse uses especially in new technologies: Rare earth
elements are utilized in numerous high-tech processes
and applications, including EVs, medical devices, LEDs,
and others. Hence, such elements must eventually be
manufactured domestically
• Increasing demand: The numerous applications of rare
earth elements in modern technologies indicate that
their demand will rise in the future.
• For example, the ongoing interest in neodymium in
India is little, at around 900 tons for each annum, since
homegrown assembling of EVs and wind turbines is as yet
restricted.

General Science 29
• However, it is anticipated that the demand for neodymium
will sharply increase by 6-7 times by 2025 (6,000 tonnes)
and by 18-20 times by 2030 (20,000 tonnes) as the
production of electric vehicles and wind turbines picks up.
• Increases import dependency and bill: The majority of
rare earths in India are almost entirely imported, placing
enormous pressure on foreign exchange.
• Additionally, as demand for rare elements rises, so do
their prices. For instance, the global cost of neodymium
has skyrocketed from less than US$ 100 per kilogram in
2018 to more than US$ 200 per kilogram today.
Rare Earth Elements in India

• The Rare Earth (RE) resources in India are reported to be

the fifth largest in the world.
• Indian resource is significantly lean w.r.t. grade and it
is tied with radioactivity making the extraction long,
complex and expensive.
• Further, Indian resources contain Light Rare Earth
Elements (LREE) while Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE)
are not available in extractable quantities.

Use of Graphene

• Graphene composites are used in aerospace, automotive,

sports equipment and construction.
• It is used for high-performance batteries and super-
capacitors, touchscreens, and conductive inks.
• Graphene-based sensors are used for environmental
monitoring, healthcare and wearable devices.
• Graphene oxide membranes are used for water
purification and desalination.
• Graphene-based masks were made during COVID.
• Other applications of Graphene:
• Its exceptional strength makes it promising material for
armour and ballistic protection.
• Graphene has the potential to absorb and dissipate
electromagnetic waves, making it valuable for developing
Graphene: Why is Graphene the wonder Material? stealth coatings and materials that reduce radar
• It is the world’s thinnest, strongest, and most conductive signatures and electromagnetic interference.
material of both electricity and heat. • Graphene is highly sensitive to environmental changes,
• It conducts electricity better than copper. which makes it an excellent candidate for sensing
• It is 200 times stronger than steel but six times lighter. chemical and biological agents, explosives, radiation, and
• It is almost perfectly transparent as it absorbs only 2% of other hazardous substances.
light. • Besides, graphene-based materials can also protect us
• It is impermeable to gases, even those as light as hydrogen against chemical and biological attacks.
and helium. • Better energy storage and electronics properties make
graphene attractive in defence and aerospace as well as
in civil and commercial applications.

30 General Science