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Artificial way of causing rainfall to reduce air pollution makes use of

  1. Silver iodide and potassium iodide
  2. Silver nitrate and potassium iodide
  3. Silver iodide and potassium nitrate
  4. Silver nitrate and potassium chloride

Explanation

Option (a) is correct
  • Cloud seeding is a weather modification technology that artificially stimulates rainfall by spraying chemical substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation nuclei. Cloud condensation nuclei are small particles upon which water vapour condenses to form clouds. The chemical substances used are silver iodide, potassium iodide, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) or liquid propane. It works only when there are enough pre-existing clouds in the atmosphere.

Additional Information: Different Cloud Seeding Methods

  • Hygroscopic Cloud Seeding: Salts are sprayed through explosives in the lower portions of clouds.
  • Static Cloud Seeding: Chemicals like silver iodide crystals are sprayed into clouds.
  • Dynamic Cloud Seeding: Vertical air currents are boosted to encourage more water to pass through the clouds, which translates into more rain.
Answer: (a) Silver iodide and potassium iodide; Difficulty Level: Medium

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