The Sun appears reddish during sunrise and sunset. The phenomenon in optics which is responsible for this appearance of the Sun is
- A.Reflection
- B.Total internal reflection
- C.Scattering
- D.Interference
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Scattering. At sunrise and sunset sunlight passes through a much thicker layer of air, which scatters away most of the blue light and leaves mainly red and orange to reach our eyes.
When the Sun is near the horizon, its light travels a far longer path through the atmosphere than at noon. Air molecules and fine particles scatter shorter wavelengths, such as blue and violet, much more strongly than longer ones; this is Rayleigh scattering, which varies inversely with the fourth power of the wavelength. By the time the light reaches us, the blue has been scattered out of the beam, so the Sun looks reddish. The same scattering of blue light makes the clear daytime sky look blue.
A is wrong because reflection only sends light back from a surface and does not remove colours from sunlight. B is wrong because total internal reflection explains the sparkle of diamonds and optical fibres, not the colour of the Sun. D is wrong because interference produces the colours of soap bubbles and oil films, not the red Sun.
Exam tip: scattering: blue sky, red sunrise and sunset, red danger signals; total internal reflection: diamond, optical fibre, mirage.
Practice Questions
View allThe fact that the planets move around the Sun, not in circles but in ellipses, was first demonstrated by
- A.Galileo
- B.Martin Luther
- C.Johannes Kepler
- D.Copernicus
Show answer
In 1609 Kepler showed that the planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements is correct?
- A.Urea is produced in liver.
- B.Urea is produced in blood.
- C.Urea is produced from digestion of starch.
- D.Urea is produced in lung and kidney.
Show answer
Liver cells turn the toxic ammonia released from the breakdown of amino acids into urea through the ornithine cycle, also called the urea cycle.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following is the correct sequence of passage of light in a compound microscope?
- A.Condenser-Objective lens-Eyepiece-Body tube
- B.Objective lens-Condenser-Body tube-Eyepiece
- C.Condenser-Objective lens-Body tube-Eyepiece
- D.Eyepiece-Objective lens-Body tube-Mirror
Show answer
Light passes through the condenser to the specimen, is picked up by the objective lens, travels up the body tube and reaches the eye through the eyepiece.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements regarding haemoglobin is correct?
- A.Haemoglobin present in RBC can carry only oxygen but not carbon dioxide.
- B.Haemoglobin of RBC can carry both oxygen and carbon dioxide.
- C.Haemoglobin of RBC can carry only carbon dioxide.
- D.Haemoglobin is only used for blood clotting and not for carrying gases.
Show answer
It binds oxygen at its iron-containing haem groups and carries some carbon dioxide on its protein chains. Each haemoglobin molecule has four polypeptide chains and four haem groups, and each haem iron can hold one oxygen molecule, forming oxyhaemoglobin in the lungs.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following statements regarding histone proteins is correct?
- A.Histones are proteins that are present in mitochondrial membrane.
- B.Histones are proteins that are present in nucleus in association with DNA.
- C.Histones are proteins associated with lipids in the cytosol.
- D.Histones are proteins associated with carbohydrates in the cytosol.
Show answer
They are the proteins around which DNA winds to form chromatin in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Histones are small basic proteins, rich in the positively charged amino acids lysine and arginine, which attract the negatively charged phosphate groups of DNA.
Read the full explanation →