Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): Leakages in household gas cylinders can be detected.
Reason (R): LPG has a strong smell.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A) is correct but (R) is not correct
Assertion (A): Leakages in household gas cylinders can be detected. True. A leak of cooking gas is noticed at once by its strong, unpleasant smell.
Reason (R): LPG has a strong smell. False. LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, mainly butane and propane) is odourless by itself. The smell comes from a small amount of ethyl mercaptan, a strong-smelling sulphur compound that is added to it on purpose so that a leak can be noticed.
Note: The LPG filled in household cylinders does smell, but only because of the added ethyl mercaptan; the answer given by NTA reads the Reason as a statement about LPG itself, which has no smell. One can argue that the Reason describes LPG as it reaches our homes; on that reading it would be correct and would explain the Assertion, which is Option (1).