Which of the following questions is a divergent question ?

The correct answer is Option 3: What if there was no gravity on the earth ?

Understanding Convergent vs. Divergent Questions:

1. Convergent Questions:
These are questions that have a single, fixed, or correct answer. They usually focus on facts, specific scientific definitions, formulas, or standard scientific reasons. Examples include asking about facts, formulas, or standard physical laws where everyone arrives at the exact same conclusion.

2. Divergent Questions:
These are open-ended questions that encourage creative thinking, hypothetical reasoning, critical thinking, and multiple possibilities. They do not have just one single textbook answer. Instead, they require individuals to explore various scenarios, imagine possibilities, and express creative ideas.

Evaluating the Options:

• "Why does a ball thrown up comes down ?" and "How does gravity vary with the altitude ?"
These are factual science questions with precise, fixed scientific answers based on established physics principles and formulas (e.g., gravitational force pulling objects toward Earth's center, or the inverse-square formula for gravity with distance). Therefore, these are convergent questions.

• "What would happen to gravity if the size of earth is reduced to half ?"
While asking about a hypothetical change, this question targets a specific, single quantitative/formulaic result based on the law of gravitation.

• "What if there was no gravity on the earth ?"
This is a broad, hypothetical "what-if" open-ended question. It prompts students to think freely and consider wide-ranging effects across physics, biology, daily life, atmospheric science, and human survival (e.g., objects floating away, atmosphere escaping into space, ocean waters dispersing, changes in building architecture, etc.). Because it allows for infinite creative answers and critical exploration, it is a divergent question.