Ch-10: The Human Eye and the Colourful World30 Questions
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1. The light-sensitive screen at the back of the human eye where an image is formed is called the:
A. Cornea
B. Iris
C. Retina
D. Pupil
Answer: C. Retina
Explanation: The retina acts as a screen made of light-sensitive cells (rods and cones) that generate electrical signals sent to the brain.
2. What type of image is formed on the retina of the human eye?
A. Virtual and erect
B. Real and inverted
C. Virtual and inverted
D. Real and erect
Answer: B. Real and inverted
Explanation: The eye lens is a convex lens which forms a real and inverted image on the retina, which the brain interprets as erect.
3. The part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil and gives color to the eye is the:
A. Cornea
B. Ciliary muscle
C. Iris
D. Sclera
Answer: C. Iris
Explanation: The iris is a dark muscular diaphragm that controls the size of the pupil and regulates the amount of light entering the eye.
4. The least distance of distinct vision for a young adult with normal vision is approximately:
A. 25 m
B. 2.5 cm
C. 25 cm
D. 2.5 m
Answer: C. 25 cm
Explanation: The minimum distance at which objects can be seen distinctly without strain is 25 cm, called the near point of the eye.
5. The far point of a normal human eye is at:
A. 25 cm
B. 100 cm
C. Infinity
D. 1 kilometer
Answer: C. Infinity
Explanation: A normal eye can focus clearly on objects at any distance from 25 cm to infinity.
6. The ability of the eye lens to adjust its focal length is called:
A. Myopia
B. Accommodation
C. Adaptation
D. Refraction
Answer: B. Accommodation
Explanation: Power of accommodation allows ciliary muscles to alter the curvature and focal length of the crystalline lens to view near and far objects.
7. A person suffering from myopia (near-sightedness) cannot see distant objects clearly because the image is formed:
A. Behind the retina
B. On the retina
C. In front of the retina
D. On the blind spot
Answer: C. In front of the retina
Explanation: In myopia, excessive curvature of the eye lens or elongation of the eyeball causes parallel rays from infinity to focus in front of the retina.
8. Myopia (short-sightedness) can be corrected by using spectacles with a suitable:
A. Convex lens
B. Concave lens
C. Bifocal lens
D. Cylindrical lens
Answer: B. Concave lens
Explanation: A concave lens diverges incoming light rays before they enter the eye, shifting the focus back onto the retina.
9. Hypermetropia (far-sightedness) is corrected using a lens of which type?
A. Concave lens
B. Convex lens
C. Bifocal lens
D. Cylindrical lens
Answer: B. Convex lens
Explanation: In hypermetropia, light focuses behind the retina. A convex lens provides additional converging power to focus the image correctly on the retina.
10. The defect of vision arising due to aging, where the ciliary muscles weaken and the eye lens loses flexibility, is called:
A. Myopia
B. Cataract
C. Presbyopia
D. Astigmatism
Answer: C. Presbyopia
Explanation: Presbyopia is old-age hypermetropia where the power of accommodation decreases, often requiring bifocal lenses.
11. A person requiring a lens of power -2.0 D for vision correction suffers from:
A. Hypermetropia
B. Myopia
C. Presbyopia
D. Astigmatism
Answer: B. Myopia
Explanation: Negative power indicates a concave lens, which is used specifically to correct myopia.
12. The splitting of white light into its component seven colors when passing through a glass prism is called:
A. Refraction
B. Reflection
C. Dispersion
D. Scattering
Answer: C. Dispersion
Explanation: Dispersion occurs because different colors (wavelengths) of light travel at different speeds in glass and bend by different angles.
13. Which color of white light deviates (bends) the most when passing through a glass prism?
A. Red
B. Green
C. Yellow
D. Violet
Answer: D. Violet
Explanation: Violet light has the shortest wavelength and highest refractive index in glass, causing it to bend the most.
14. Which color of white light bends the least when passing through a glass prism?
A. Red
B. Violet
C. Blue
D. Orange
Answer: A. Red
Explanation: Red light has the longest visible wavelength and travels faster in glass, bending the least during refraction.
15. A rainbow is a natural spectrum appearing in the sky after rain. It is produced by:
A. Reflection of sunlight by clouds
B. Dispersion of sunlight by tiny water droplets
C. Total absorption of light by water vapor
D. Atmospheric pressure changes
Answer: B. Dispersion of sunlight by tiny water droplets
Explanation: Water droplets act like small glass prisms, refracting, dispersing, internally reflecting, and refracting light to form a rainbow.
16. The twinkling of stars in the night sky is due to:
A. Internal reflection inside stars
B. Atmospheric refraction of starlight
C. Dispersion of light by clouds
D. Fluctuations in the light emitted by stars
Answer: B. Atmospheric refraction of starlight
Explanation: Continuous variation in atmospheric temperature and density changes the refractive index, causing the apparent position and brightness of the star to fluctuate.
17. Planets do not twinkle like stars primarily because they:
A. Are point-sized sources of light
B. Are closer to Earth and act as extended sources of light
C. Do not emit light
D. Are covered by thick atmosphere
Answer: B. Are closer to Earth and act as extended sources of light
Explanation: Planets are seen as collections of many point sources; the variation in light from all points averages out to zero net twinkling.
18. Advanced sunrise and delayed sunset occur due to:
A. Scattering of light
B. Dispersion of sunlight
C. Atmospheric refraction
D. Total internal reflection
Answer: C. Atmospheric refraction
Explanation: Atmospheric refraction bends solar rays slightly towards the horizon, making the sun visible about 2 minutes before actual sunrise and 2 minutes after actual sunset.
19. The blue color of the clear sky is caused by:
A. Dispersion of light by dust
B. Scattering of light by fine atmospheric particles
C. Refraction of light in the upper atmosphere
D. Reflection of sunlight from the ocean
Answer: B. Scattering of light by fine atmospheric particles
Explanation: Fine air molecules scatter light of shorter wavelengths (blue end) much more strongly than longer wavelengths (red end).
20. According to Rayleigh's law, the intensity of scattered light is inversely proportional to which power of wavelength (λ)?
A. λ^2
B. λ^3
C. λ^4
D. λ
Answer: C. λ^4
Explanation: Scattering intensity I ∝ 1 / λ^4, meaning shorter wavelengths scatter far more efficiently.
21. To an astronaut in space (where there is no atmosphere), the sky appears:
A. Blue
B. White
C. Dark / Black
D. Red
Answer: C. Dark / Black
Explanation: Without an atmosphere in space, there are no air molecules to scatter sunlight, making the sky look completely dark.
22. The phenomenon of scattering of light by colloidal particles in a medium, making the path of light visible, is known as:
A. Raman effect
B. Tyndall effect
C. Doppler effect
D. Photoelectric effect
Answer: B. Tyndall effect
Explanation: When light passes through a colloid or fine mist/smoke, light is scattered by suspended particles, illuminating the beam path.
23. Danger signal lights are red in color because red light is:
A. Scattered the most by fog and smoke
B. Scattered the least by fog and smoke
C. Absorbed completely by the atmosphere
D. Most harmful to human eyes
Answer: B. Scattered the least by fog and smoke
Explanation: Red has the longest visible wavelength and undergoes minimal scattering, remaining visible from long distances through fog or smoke.
24. The sun appears reddish at sunrise and sunset because:
A. Red light is scattered away, leaving blue light
B. Most blue and shorter wavelength light is scattered away during the long path through atmosphere
C. The temperature of the sun decreases at sunrise and sunset
D. The atmosphere absorbs red light
Answer: B. Most blue and shorter wavelength light is scattered away during the long path through atmosphere
Explanation: Light travels a longer distance through the atmosphere near the horizon, scattering out blue wavelengths and leaving mostly longer red wavelengths to reach our eyes.
25. The milky cloudy condition of the eye lens in old age that leads to vision loss is called:
A. Glaucoma
B. Presbyopia
C. Cataract
D. Trachoma
Answer: C. Cataract
Explanation: Cataract is the clouding of the crystalline eye lens, restored usually via cataract surgery.
26. Ciliary muscles contract to make the eye lens thicker. This increases the lens curvature and:
A. Increases focal length to see distant objects
B. Decreases focal length to see nearby objects
C. Eliminates color blindness
D. Decreases the refractive index of cornea
Answer: B. Decreases focal length to see nearby objects
Explanation: Contracting ciliary muscles makes the lens thicker (more convex), shortening focal length so nearby objects come into focus.
27. Which sensory cells on the retina are responsible for vision in dim light?
A. Cone cells
B. Rod cells
C. Optic nerves
D. Ciliary cells
Answer: B. Rod cells
Explanation: Rod cells respond to light intensity/brightness in low light, while cone cells are responsible for color vision in bright light.
28. The focal length of a spectacle lens required by a person having a near point at 100 cm (corrected to 25 cm) is:
A. +33.3 cm
B. +25 cm
C. -33.3 cm
D. +50 cm
Answer: A. +33.3 cm
Explanation: Using 1/f = 1/v - 1/u with v = -100 cm and u = -25 cm gives 1/f = -1/100 - (-1/25) = 3/100, so f = +33.3 cm.
29. When white light passes through two identical inverted glass prisms placed side by side, the emergent beam is:
A. Dispersed into seven colors
B. Monochromatic red light
C. Recombined white light
D. Completely absorbed
Answer: C. Recombined white light
Explanation: Isaac Newton demonstrated that an inverted second prism recombines the dispersed spectrum back into white light.
30. At noon, the sun appears white because:
A. All colors are scattered equally
B. Light travels a shorter distance through the atmosphere and minimal scattering occurs
C. Blue color is absorbed by the atmosphere
D. Red light is scattered the most
Answer: B. Light travels a shorter distance through the atmosphere and minimal scattering occurs
Explanation: When overhead, sunlight travels through a thinner atmospheric path, so very little light is scattered and it appears white.
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