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General ScienceMediumAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2023, GS Paper I

Consider the following statements : 1. Carbon fibres are used in the manufacture of components used in automobiles and aircrafts. 2. Carbon fibres once used cannot be recycled. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2

Correct answer

A. 1 only

Explanation

The correct answer is A, 1 only. Carbon fibre is widely used in cars and aircraft for its strength and low weight, and it can be recovered and recycled.

Carbon fibres are very thin strands made mostly of carbon atoms, usually set in a resin to form carbon fibre reinforced polymer. The material is stronger than steel for its weight, stiff and resistant to corrosion, so it is used in aircraft bodies and wings, racing and electric car parts, wind turbine blades, bicycles and sports goods such as tennis rackets. Used carbon fibre composites can be recycled: methods such as pyrolysis (heating without oxygen) and chemical treatment burn off or dissolve the resin and recover the fibres, which are then reused in new, mostly non-structural, parts.

Statement 2 is wrong because carbon fibres can be recycled. B is wrong because statement 2 is false and statement 1 is true. C is wrong because only statement 1 holds. D is wrong because statement 1 is correct.

Exam tip: Carbon fibre = light, strong, used in aircraft and cars; recycled by pyrolysis.

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Q1.General ScienceAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2023, GS Paper IMedium

Consider the following actions :

1. Detection of car crash/collision which results in the deployment of airbags almost instantaneously

2. Detection of accidental free fall of a laptop towards the ground which results in the immediate turning off of the hard drive

3. Detection of the tilt of the smartphone which results in the rotation of display between portrait and landscape mode

In how many of the above actions is the function of accelerometer required?

  1. A.Only one
  2. B.Only two
  3. C.All three
  4. D.None
Show answer
Correct answer: C. All three

An accelerometer measures acceleration, including the pull of gravity, and each of the three actions depends on reading it. An accelerometer is a small sensor, today usually a MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) chip, that senses changes in speed and the direction of gravity.

Q5.General ScienceAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2025, GKEasy

A body floats in a liquid if the buoyant force is :

  1. A.equal to its weight.
  2. B.less than its weight.
  3. C.greater than its weight.
  4. D.zero.
Show answer
Correct answer: A. equal to its weight.

A floating body is in equilibrium, so the upward buoyant force exactly balances its weight. By Archimedes' principle, a body in a liquid is pushed up by a force equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces.