formation-of-wind MCQs for UPSC Prelims

25 practice questions on formation-of-wind from the Pressure, Winds, Storms, and Cyclones section of the UPSC Prelims syllabus. 25 come with a written explanation. Try the sample set below - the answer stays hidden until you ask for it.

7 Easy 13 Medium 5 Hard

Sample questions

Q1
medium

Suppose the Sun heated every part of the Earth's surface exactly equally. What would we expect?

  1. A Much stronger winds everywhere on Earth
  2. B No change at all in the winds we have now
  3. C Far less wind, because differences in air pressure would be much smaller
  4. D Winds blowing only during the night
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - Far less wind, because differences in air pressure would be much smaller

Winds arise because uneven heating creates places of higher and lower pressure, so with even heating those differences would nearly vanish and the winds would die down. Removing the cause cannot make the winds stronger or leave them unchanged. There is no reason such winds would keep to the night.

Q2
easy

When a parcel of air is heated, it

  1. A turns into water
  2. B stays exactly where it is
  3. C becomes lighter for its size and rises
  4. D becomes heavier for its size and sinks
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - becomes lighter for its size and rises

Heated air spreads out, so the same amount of air takes up more space and becomes lighter for its volume, and it therefore rises. Cooler, denser air is the air that sinks. Heating certainly does set air moving, and warming air does not turn it into water; that happens only when water vapour cools and condenses.

Q3
medium

Two places A and B lie at the same height above sea level, and the air pressure at A is higher than at B. The wind between them will blow

  1. A from B to A
  2. B not at all, since the two places are at the same height
  3. C in both directions at the same time
  4. D from A to B
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - from A to B

Air travels from the place of higher pressure to the place of lower pressure, so it moves from A towards B. Blowing from B to A would mean air moving against the pressure difference. Wind cannot flow both ways along the same path at once, and equal height does not stop it, because it is the pressure that differs.

Q4
medium

The summer monsoon brings heavy rainfall because these winds

  1. A carry dust picked up from the desert
  2. B are much colder than the land they blow over
  3. C blow very slowly once they reach the land
  4. D travel a long way over the sea and carry a great deal of water vapour
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - travel a long way over the sea and carry a great deal of water vapour

Blowing across warm seas loads the air with water vapour, which condenses into clouds and falls as rain once the air rises over the land. The winds are warm and moist rather than cold. Their speed is not what produces the rain, and dust makes the air hazy but does not by itself bring downpours.

Q5
medium

When the air pressure over one region falls sharply while the pressure around it stays high, the wind blowing towards that region usually becomes

  1. A completely still
  2. B stronger
  3. C unchanged
  4. D weaker
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - stronger

The bigger the difference in pressure between two places, the faster the air rushes from the higher to the lower one, so the wind picks up. A sharper difference cannot make the wind gentler or leave it as it was. Only when the pressures become equal does the air stop moving.

Q6
medium

In summer the land of the Indian subcontinent becomes much hotter than the surrounding seas. As a result the monsoon winds blow

  1. A only in the upper sky, far above the ground
  2. B from north to south throughout the year
  3. C from the land towards the sea, carrying dry air
  4. D from the sea towards the land, carrying a great deal of water vapour
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - from the sea towards the land, carrying a great deal of water vapour

The strongly heated land has air rising over it and lower pressure near the ground, so moist air is drawn in from the sea. The land-to-sea flow belongs to the winter season instead. Monsoon winds reverse with the seasons rather than holding one direction, and they blow right down at ground level, which is why they bring rain to the fields.

Q7
medium

The ground near the equator is heated far more strongly by the Sun than the ground near the poles. One large-scale result of this uneven heating is

  1. A movement of air between the equator and the polar regions
  2. B no movement of air anywhere on Earth
  3. C air freezing solid over the equator
  4. D the poles becoming hotter than the equator
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: A - movement of air between the equator and the polar regions

Warm air rises over the equator and cooler air from higher latitudes flows in towards it, which sets up huge, steady movements of air. Uneven heating always creates pressure differences, so it cannot leave the air still. Equatorial air is warm rather than frozen, and heating the equator harder cannot make the poles the hotter region.

Q8
medium

When warm air rises from a place, what happens to the air pressure at that place near the ground?

  1. A It falls, but no other air moves in
  2. B It stays exactly the same
  3. C It falls, and cooler air from nearby moves in
  4. D It rises, and air moves away from the place
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: C - It falls, and cooler air from nearby moves in

Air leaving upwards means less air is left pressing down, so the pressure near the ground falls and neighbouring air flows in to fill the gap. Rising air cannot raise the pressure it leaves behind. A drop in pressure always sets air moving, so the pressure neither stays fixed nor drops without any inflow.

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