Geography Important Questions Chapter 5 Precipitation Class 9 Maharashtra Board

Short Questions

1. What is precipitation?

• Water falling from clouds to the ground as rain, snow, or hail.

2. What covers 70.8% of Earth’s surface?

• Water.

3. What process turns water vapor into snowflakes?

• Sublimation.

4. Where does snowfall commonly occur?

• In high-latitude and high-altitude areas.

5. What happens when snow layers get pressed?

• They turn into hard, transparent ice.

6. What causes hailstones to form?

• Strong upward air flows freeze water droplets into hail.

7. Why don’t hailstones occur in equatorial areas?

• It’s too hot for water droplets to freeze.

8. What is convectional rainfall?

• Rain caused by hot air rising and cooling in equatorial areas.

9. Which side of a mountain gets more rain in orographic rainfall?

• The windward side.

10. What is the rain shadow area?

• The dry leeward side of a mountain with less rain.

11. What causes cyclonic rainfall?

• Air rising in a low-pressure cyclone area.

12. How is rainfall measured?

• Using a rain gauge in millimeters.

13. What does 1 mm of rain over 1 sq.km give?

• 10 lakh liters of water.

14. What is fog?

• Tiny water droplets floating in the air near the ground.

15. When does dew form?

• When moist air touches cold objects at night.

16. What is frost?

• Frozen dew when temperature drops below 0°C.

17. What is acid rain?

• Rain mixed with acids from air pollution.

18. How does too much rain affect people?

• It causes floods and damages crops and homes.

19. Why is rainfall important for India?

• It supports agriculture and the economy.

20. What tool measures wind speed?

• An anemometer.

Long Questions

1. How does snow form and where is it found?

• Snow forms when water vapor turns into snowflakes below 0°C through sublimation, skipping the liquid stage. It’s common in cold, high-latitude places like Kashmir or high-altitude mountains, but not in warm tropical areas like Maharashtra.

2. Why do hailstones grow bigger and cause damage?

• Hailstones grow as water droplets freeze in layers due to strong upward winds, making them heavy and solid. When they fall, they can destroy crops and property because of their size and speed.

3. What happens in convectional rainfall and where does it occur?

• Convectional rainfall happens when the sun heats the ground, making air rise, cool, and form rain clouds, often with thunder. It occurs daily in equatorial areas like the Congo and Amazon basins in the afternoons.

4. How does orographic rainfall work and give an example?

• Orographic rainfall occurs when moist winds rise over mountains, cool, and drop rain on the windward side, leaving the leeward side dry. In Maharashtra, the Western Ghats get more rain on the west side than the east.

5. What is cyclonic rainfall and why is it stormy?

• Cyclonic rainfall happens when air moves to a low-pressure center, rises, cools, and rains, often over large areas. It’s stormy because cyclones bring strong winds and heavy rain, common in temperate zones.

6. How do we measure rainfall with a rain gauge?

• A rain gauge collects rain in a funnel and bottle, and the water is measured in millimeters using a jar. It’s placed 30 cm above ground in an open area to get accurate readings, checked every 3 hours in heavy rain.

7. What is the difference between dew and frost?

• Dew forms as liquid water droplets when moist air touches cold objects, like grass, at night. Frost is when these droplets freeze below 0°C, turning into solid ice on surfaces, seen in winter.

8. Why does fog reduce visibility and affect transport?

• Fog forms when water vapor condenses into tiny droplets near the ground, making the air thick and hard to see through. It slows down or stops roads, railways, and flights, sometimes causing accidents.

9. How does acid rain form and why is it harmful?

• Acid rain forms when polluted gases like sulfur or nitrogen mix with water vapor, creating acids that fall as rain. It harms plants, animals, and buildings because the acids damage living things and materials.

10. Why is rainfall important for India’s economy?

• Rainfall, especially monsoons, waters crops that farmers grow, supporting food production and income. Without good rain, droughts hurt farming and the economy, while too much causes floods.