February 2016 - Page 30 of 32

8th February 2016

Pumice – The floating rock

Pumice is a volcanic rock which is made from lava. It is a very light rock material ﬁlled with gas bubbles. It is produced when lava with a high gas and water content erupts from a volcano and then cools abruptly. During the process, the dissolved water vapours in the lava are suddenly released, resulting in the whole mass swelling up into a froth and solidifying due to abrupt cooling. Pumice is 90 per cent porous and lightweight and is the only kind of rock that can ﬂoat on water.

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8th February 2016

What amount of rain falls on the earth in one minute?

Rain is a form of precipitation of water droplets that are greater than 0.5 mm in diameter. The amount of precipitation that falls all over the world may range from less than 0.1 inches per year in some deserts to more than 900 inches per year in the tropics. It is estimated that every minute one billion tons (907 million tons) of water fall when it rains on the earth.

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8th February 2016

Indian Postal Services – A broad but closely knit network

India has the largest postal network in the world. There are about 1,55,669 post ofﬁces or outlets, of which roughly 89 per cent are outside the cities. On an average, one post ofﬁce serves an area of 21.13 square km and a population of 6,602 people.

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8th February 2016

Snowflake and its composition

The structure of a snowﬂake is quite complex. It is formed from a frozen drop of cloud, which forms the nucleus. The nucleus quickly attracts water molecules around it that freeze instantly. In the process, the attracted water molecules branch out giving the snowﬂake a unique hexagonal shape. Since the branching out process is different in each case, it is highly unlikely that two snowﬂakes would look the same.

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8th February 2016

Which is the longest suspension bridge in the world?

The Akashi Kaikyō bridge links the island of Honshu to Awaji island. It has a central span length of 1991 metres, the longest span of any bridge on earth. There are other two spans or sections, each measuring 960 metres or 3,150 feet. The bridge has a total length of 3,911 metres or 12,831 feet. It has six lanes and 23,000 cars pass through it each day. It is also called the Pearl bridge.

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8th February 2016

Who discovered the Möbius strip?

The Möbius strip is formed by taking a rectangular strip of paper and connecting its ends after giving it a half twist. It is a surface with only one side and one edge. In 1858, the properties of the strip were discovered independently and almost simultaneously by two German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing.

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