Question

The arrow of wind vane points to the __________
(A) Direction from which the wind is blowing
(B) Opposite direction from which the wind is blowing
(C) Vertical direction from which the wind is blowing
(D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: A wind vane an instrument that tells the direction of the wind. It is one of the oldest meteorological tools. In graphical representation or pictograms, arrows are used to point the direction.

Complete answer:
Wind vane, which is also known as a weather vane is a traditional tool used to understand the direction in which the wind is blowing. The apparatus of weather vane contains a rode with two ends, one with an arrowhead shape which is known as the head and other with any shape such as rectangle or triangle having higher surface area, known as tail. This rode is placed on a support which balances the weight at both ends. The weather vane is placed parallel to both grounds, so it can only give the direction of horizontal winds. When the wind exerts much force on the larger surface area as it blows, the tail will experience much force and will swing away to the position where the force experienced is minimum. Thus the head of the weathervane will be pointing towards the direction from where the wind is coming. It also should be noted that weathervane cannot give the direction where the wind is going to, unlike where it is coming from, this is because of the reason that winds never blow in a straight direction.
Since the arrow of wind vane does not point towards the opposite or vertical direction from which the wind blows, the option (B), (C) and (D) are incorrect, hence the correct option is (A).

Note: The classic weathervane, wind sock, and digital wind vane are the three main types of wind vanes. Wind vanes have purposes including safety as well as weather observation. According to Guinness world records, the world's largest weathervane is located at Jerez, Spain.