This Environment & Ecology quiz on Air Pollution and Air Quality puts 12 multiple-choice questions to you, the verified MCQs published with GK24's note on the topic. Every question carries a full explanation of why the correct option is right and why the other options are wrong, so you learn the fact behind the answer rather than the letter. Attempt it right after reading the note, keep to the timer, and use the explanations at the end to mark what needs another look. Sit it again before the exam as a quick revision of the topic.
12 questions with answers and explanations
Which of the following is a secondary air pollutant?
A secondary pollutant is never emitted from a source; it is manufactured in the atmosphere itself when primary pollutants react with one another or with sunlight.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is the chief component of photochemical smog?
Photochemical smog, also called Los Angeles smog, forms in warm, dry, sunny weather when oxides of nitrogen from vehicle exhaust and unburnt hydrocarbons react under ultraviolet light.
Read the full explanation →Carbon monoxide is dangerous to human beings mainly because it:
Carbon monoxide binds to the haemoglobin of the blood roughly two hundred times more readily than oxygen does, and the carboxyhaemoglobin so formed cannot carry oxygen.
Read the full explanation →Along with the oxides of nitrogen, which gas is chiefly responsible for acid rain?
Sulphur dioxide, released when coal and oil containing sulphur are burnt, is oxidised in the atmosphere to sulphur trioxide, which dissolves in water droplets to give sulphuric acid.
Read the full explanation →The damage to the marble of the Taj Mahal, popularly called 'marble cancer', is caused chiefly by:
Sulphur dioxide from industry and traffic around Agra is oxidised in the air and comes down as sulphuric acid, which attacks the calcium carbonate of marble.
Read the full explanation →PM2.5, the pollutant reported in air quality bulletins, refers to particles whose diameter is:
Particulate matter is graded by the diameter of the particles measured in micrometres, so PM10 means particles of ten micrometres or less and PM2.5 means particles of 2.5 micrometres or less, which is about thirty times finer than a human hair.
Read the full explanation →The Montreal Protocol, adopted in 1987, deals with which of the following?
The Montreal Protocol, adopted in 1987 under the Vienna Convention, commits its parties to phasing out chlorofluorocarbons, halons and other chemicals that destroy stratospheric ozone, and it is regarded as the most successful environmental treaty for that reason.
Read the full explanation →An Air Quality Index value in the range 201 to 300 falls in which category?
The National Air Quality Index has six bands: 0 to 50 is Good, 51 to 100 Satisfactory, 101 to 200 Moderate, 201 to 300 Poor, 301 to 400 Very Poor and 401 to 500 Severe.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian law deals specifically with the prevention and control of air pollution?
This Act is the specific law on air pollution. It empowers the Central and State Pollution Control Boards to lay down emission standards for industry and for vehicles, to declare air pollution control areas and to require consent before a polluting plant is set up or operated.
Read the full explanation →An electrostatic precipitator installed in a thermal power station removes which pollutant from the flue gas?
An electrostatic precipitator gives the dust and ash particles in the flue gas an electric charge as they pass an electrode, and then collects them on plates carrying the opposite charge; the plates are shaken so that the collected ash falls into a hopper.
Read the full explanation →A vehicle fitted with a catalytic converter must use unleaded petrol because lead:
A catalytic converter holds platinum, palladium and rhodium on a honeycomb support, which oxidise carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water and reduce the oxides of nitrogen to nitrogen.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following organisms are used as bio-indicators of sulphur dioxide pollution in the air?
A lichen is a partnership of an alga and a fungus and takes its water and nutrients straight from the air, with no protective cuticle and no roots.
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