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What happens when light is… (Class 10 Science 2026, Q34a)

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ScienceCBSE Class 10 · Board exam 2026, set 31/3/1 · 2 marks · Very short answer

CBSE Class 10 Science 2026: question 34(a)

Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2026, paper 31/3/1, section C, question 34(a), for 2 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q34(a) · 2 marks · Very short answerThe Human Eye and the Colourful World

What happens when light is scattered from (i) very fine particles and (ii) very large size particles of medium ? Justify your answer in each case.

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2026 board paper, set 31/3/1.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Recall the Tyndall effect and why the sky is blue.

Hint 2

Relate particle size to the wavelengths scattered, and think about why clouds look white.

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

  1. (i) Very fine particles scatter mainly blue light, because very small particles scatter light of shorter wavelengths more than longer wavelengths. This is why the clear sky looks blue.

    1 mark

  2. (ii) Very large particles make the scattered light look white, because particles of large size scatter light of all wavelengths almost equally. This is why clouds look white.

    1 mark

Answer: (i) Mainly blue light is scattered (shorter wavelengths are scattered more); (ii) Scattered light appears white (all wavelengths are scattered).

Where the marks are

  • Fine particles: blue light scattered, with the shorter-wavelength reason (1 mark)
  • Large particles: white light, as all wavelengths are scattered (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from The Human Eye and the Colourful World, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2026 board paper, set 31/3/1: every question, by section.

The question is transcribed from the official paper; figures are described in words. The solution, hints and chapter tag are ours. Spotted an error? Write tosupport@questionbuddy.in.