Question

Provided that the beaker shown in the figure is kept at room temperature and boiling water is added to the beaker, the middle seed would germinate because it has access to:

• A. oxygen but not water.
• B. water but not oxygen.
• C. both water and oxygen.
• D. nitrogen gas.

Answer 1

The correct option is C both water and oxygen.

• The middle bean is able to germinate because it has access to both water and air/oxygen.
• The topmost seed doesn't germinate as it has access to air/ oxygen but not to water.
• The bottom-most seed has access to water but not oxygen (as the boiling water removes oxygen dissolved in water), so it doesn't germinate.
• Nitrogen gas does not help in germination and it's only oxygen gas which is essential for a seed to germinate.