Which one of the following is the largest composition in biogas ?
- A.Carbon dioxide
- B.Methane
- C.Hydrogen
- D.Hydrogen sulphide
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Methane. Biogas is mostly methane, usually about 50 to 75 per cent, and methane is the part that burns.
Biogas is made when bacteria break down cattle dung, crop waste, kitchen waste or sewage in the absence of oxygen, a process called anaerobic digestion, inside a closed digester. Besides methane it holds carbon dioxide (roughly 25–45 per cent) and small amounts of hydrogen, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide. It burns with a blue flame without smoke and is used for cooking, lighting and running engines. The slurry left behind is a nutrient-rich manure, which makes a gobar gas plant doubly useful in villages.
A is wrong because carbon dioxide is the second largest part of biogas, not the largest, and it does not burn. C is wrong because hydrogen is present only in traces. D is wrong because hydrogen sulphide is a minor impurity, responsible for the rotten-egg smell, and is often scrubbed out.
Exam tip: biogas = methane (about 50–75%) + carbon dioxide, made by anaerobic digestion; CNG and LNG are also mainly methane.
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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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