Who amongst the following is a pioneer in discovering the heating effect of electric current?
- A.Isaac Newton
- B.Galileo Galilei
- C.James P. Joule
- D.J.J. Thomson
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, James P. Joule. The English physicist James Prescott Joule showed around 1841 that when a current flows through a conductor, the heat produced is proportional to the square of the current, the resistance of the conductor and the time for which the current flows. This is Joule's law of heating, written H = I²Rt. It explains how electric heaters, irons, toasters, geysers, electric fuses and the filaments of old bulbs work. Joule's later experiments on the mechanical equivalent of heat helped establish the law of conservation of energy, and the SI unit of energy, the joule, is named after him. Option A is wrong because Isaac Newton is known for the laws of motion and universal gravitation, long before electric current was understood. Option B is wrong because Galileo Galilei worked on falling bodies, the pendulum and the telescope. Option D is wrong because J.J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 through his work on cathode rays. Exam tip: heating effect of current = Joule's law, H = I²Rt; Thomson = electron; Newton = gravitation.
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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