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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 7 Fuel at home — Discuss

Book page 120 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
What kind of fuel do you use at home for cooking?
Answer

Different homes in India use different cooking fuels. Say which one your home uses, and why.

Sample answer: “We use LPG cooking gas. It comes in a red cylinder. We chose it because it lights at once, gives no smoke in the kitchen, and the flame can be made big or small.”

These are the fuels your classmates are likely to name:

FuelWhere it is usedWhy people use it
LPG cooking gas (cylinder or pipeline)Most towns and, more and more, villagesFast, clean, easy to control
FirewoodVillages, hill areas, outdoor cookingAvailable nearby and costs nothing to collect
Cow-dung cakes (uple)Farming householdsMade at home from what the cattle give
Coal in an angeethiSome homes and roadside shopsStays hot for a long time
Kerosene stoveSome homesSmall, easy to carry
Electricity (induction plate)Town flatsNo flame, no smoke in the kitchen
Sunlight (solar cooker)Sunny places, some schools and hostelsFree, and it does not pollute at all
Why the answers differ: A family uses the fuel that it can most easily get and afford. Wood is easy in a forest village. Gas is easy in a town. So there is no single right answer here — but there is a cleaner answer and a smokier one, and that is what the next question is about.
Q2.
What are the problems using too much wood or coal?
Answer

Burning a lot of wood or coal makes smoke and harmful gases. That dirties the air, harms our health, and forests are cut down to get the wood.

  • Smoke inside the kitchen. A wood or coal fire fills the room with smoke. It makes the eyes burn and water. Breathing it every day gives coughs and chest illness — and the person cooking breathes the most of it.
  • Dirty air outside. The smoke carries harmful gases and fine soot into the air of the whole village or town. This is pollution — air that has been made dirty.
  • Trees are cut. Firewood comes from trees. If everyone burns a lot of wood, forests shrink. Fewer trees means less shade, more soil washed away, and homes lost for birds and animals.
  • Coal will not last. Coal is dug out of the ground. It took millions of years to form. Once we burn it, it is gone; nobody can make more.
  • Hard, slow work. Wood and coal have to be collected, carried, stacked and kept dry. The fire is slow to light and hard to control.
  • Ash and dirt. The pots turn black underneath and there is ash to clean up every day.
Why the book warns us: Wood and coal do give good heat — that is not in doubt. The trouble is what comes out along with the heat. As the chapter says, burning wood or coal creates smoke and pollution, so we must use it carefully.
What helps: a smokeless chulha with a chimney that leads the smoke outside; a solar cooker on sunny days; cooking gas where a family can get it; keeping a window open while cooking; and planting a tree for every one that is cut.
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