General Knowledge TNPSC, UPSC Exams

• Laundry whitening agents contain small quantities of a certain substance which fluoresces with a bluish white light when ultra-violet rays fall on them. This enhances the whiteness of clothes.
• Rayleigh’s scattering law states that the amount of scattering of light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of its wavelength.
• The colour of the sea The blue colour of the sea is partly due to reflection from the blue sky and partly by scattering of light by the water molecules. Near the shore the sea is green because of the sand in suspension which scatters blue and green light and also due to the reflection of yellow light from the sand.
• The FM radio uses electromagnetic waves of frequency ranging from 88 MHz to 108 MHz.
• The AM radio uses electromagnetic waves of frequency ranging from 550 kHz to 1000 kHz.

Coastal Plains

The Deccan plateau is flanked by the coastal plains along the western and eastern side. These coastal plains are the ‘West Coast Plain’ between the Deccan plateau and the Arabian sea on the west and the ‘East Coast Plain’ between the Deccan plateau and Bay of Bengal in the east. The coastal strip runs for the distance of about 6000 kms from Rann of Kutch in the west to the Ganga Brahmaputra delta in the east.

*****

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism

Excessive secretion of thyroxine results in exophthalmic goiter also called Graves disease. The symptoms of the disease are:

• Enlargement of the gland.

• Increased metabolic rate results in quick consumption of food without anything left for storage and causing emaciation. (Leanness of body)

• Heart beat and blood pressure rises.

• Nervousness, initability, tremor and bulging of eye balls (exophthalmos)

This disease can be rectified by removal of a part of the gland termed thyrectomy.

******

District Primary Education Programme and National Council for Teacher Education

The Centrally-Sponsored Scheme of District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was launched in 1994 as a major initiative to revitalise the primary education system and to achieve the objective of universalisation of primary education.

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) was established in August 1995 with a view to achieve planned and co-ordinated development of teacher education system throughout the country and for regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards of teacher education.

*****

PHOBIAS

PHOBIAS

The hormone adrenalin is excessively secreted into blood stream at the time of frightened state or panic state to keep the body in steady state. So it is called as emergency hormone or hormone of fear.

Some types of fear (phobias):

• Hydrophobia - Fear of water

• Eremiophobia - Fear of silence

•  Phonophobia - Fear of noise 

• Acrophobia - Fear of heights

• Cynophobia - Fear of dogs

•  Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark

•  Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes

•   Pyrophobia - Fear of fire

*****

The value of acceleration due to gravity at different locations

Galileo stated “In the absence of air resistance, all bodies fall at the same acceleration, which is approximately 9.8 m s^–2”. The value of acceleration due to gravity at different locations are given below:

• At the surface of the earth (average) - 9.8 m s^–2

• At the equator - 9.780 m s^–2

• At the poles - 9.832 m s^–2

• At Chennai - 9.782 m s^–2

• At the centre of the earth - zero m s^–2

*****