Question

Water holding capacity is one of the qualities of-
A. Soil
B. Plants
C. Water
D. Animals

Answer 1

Hint:
To have a great water holding capacity, there should be a large surface area and the particles should be tiny to hold the water which further increases the holding capacity.

Complete answer:
Water holding capacity is the ability to physically hold water against the force of gravity. If we look at the last option i.e., Animals. Animals cannot hold water against the force of gravity because they are organisms which do not have surface area to hold the water. This option gets eliminated clearly.
Moving on to the option C i.e., Water. How water can hold itself. Water cannot have holding capacity for water. Water is in liquid form and it cannot have surface area to hold water. This option is clearly not the right one.
Now the option B i.e., Plants. Plants do not have any water holding capacity. Water is given to the plants for their processes like photosynthesis which gets absorbed by the soil. Therefore, water holding capacity cannot be the quality of plants.
Last option is Soil which is the correct one. Soils have great water holding capacity. The soil particles have much larger surface area if we compare it to the sand particles. The larger surface area can hold a better quantity of water than the smaller surface area. Clay particles have the most water holding capacity because the particles of clay soil are so tiny and they have many small pores spaces that makes the water move slower and hence it has great water holding capacity. But the sand has the least water holding capacity because their particles are not that tiny and the water moves faster which decreases the holding capacity of water.

Thus, the correct answer is option A. i.e., Soil.

Note: Soil has great water holding capacity and it is one of their qualities. Clay soil has the most and sand has the least water holding capacity. These are based on the pores spaces, larger the pore space lower is the water holding capacity. Likewise, smaller the pores spaces larger will be the water holding capacity.