The Science Trivia Quiz

daveirl

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Raptor

Some guesses, some random selections

1 d)combustion
2 honestly havent a clue
3 b)
4 d)7/8 (.875)
5 c)cryometer (cryogenics etc, just kinda seems right)

My "interesting" questions

Maths
You throw drop and object, A, of mass m straight down, and fire an identical mass, B, m horizontally at the same instant. Ignoring air resistance and uneven ground, what happens?
a) A hits the ground first
b) B hits the ground first
c) They hit the ground at the same time
And why?

Chemistry
What are the 3 isotopes of hydrogen called?

Physics
What quantum number is given to an electron to describe its spin?

Kinda lame questions, ill post more if i think of any.

seamus

1. Combustion
2. Dunno
3. c?
4. 7/8, if I know what correctly what a periodic non-terminating decimal is
5. Cryometer

Answer to Raptor's maths question:

A hits the ground first. Why? The path taken by B will be in an arc, more specifically, in a quarter-circle shape. The path taken by A will be equal to the radius of that whole circle. So some simple maths - the distance taken by B = (2xPIxr)/4 = (PIxr)/4 ~= 1.571r

Therefore the distance B travels is just more than 1.5 times the distance A travels, so A must hit the ground first (If A and B were thrown at the same speed)

Specky

1. combustion
2. Transistor
3. (a) perhaps
4. erm...7/8 I tink
5. hmmm...cryometer I tink again

yay....liven up the science board!!

Woden

eh hydrogen isotopes,

hydrogen, deuterium and tritium (check spelling)

Quantum number to describe electron ms= +/- 1/2 i think

must admit to being stumped by a couple of the 1st ones

Woden

couple of my own you's have probably heard before.

Maths
Whats so special about the number 26?

Physics
Name the radiation produced when something travels faster then the speed of light in a medium?

Chemistry
Whats the repulsion that stops you pushing two atoms (say a diatomic molecule) closer together? (Note its not electrostatic)?

daveirl

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daveirl

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Woden

hints and clarification,

Name the radiation produced when something travels faster then the speed of light in a medium?

particles can travel faster then the speed of light in media other then vacuum, e.g water what happens in this situation?


Whats the repulsion that stops you pushing two atoms (say a diatomic molecule) closer together? (Note its not electrostatic)?

yeap i want to know what stops you pusing to hydrogen atoms in a H2 molecule together as it has been shown that the electrostatics sums to 0 i believe. its is another interaction which causes the repulsion.

Woden

6. i'll try sedimentary
7. No idea
8. Try hydrogen
9. 14+15+16
10. i'll try b

daveirl

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The_Bullman

Yup, the speed of light in a vacuum is the fastest thing there is.

You must be thinking of sound, which speeds up as the medium gets denser, though can't exist in a vacuum

Specky

I agree on the speed of light issue but there are arguments that contradict this because of the quantum paradox issue.

My memory is a little rusty on this issue so maybe someone else can help out, but when you're considering an electromagnetic wave in a waveguide, the wave front is travelling at the speed of light, so if the waveguide is bent, the outer edge of the wavefront actually has to be travelling faster than the speed of light in order to keep up.

This applies in fibre optics too.

maybe someone can un-rustify my quantum physics/electromagnetic waves memory??

Woden

i'm not trying to get into a speed of light discussion here. i agree the fastest possible speed (known) is the speed of light in vacuo. However in a media such as water the speed of light slows down. In this situation if you have for example particles moving faster then the speed of light in water a radiation is produced known as cherenkov radiation and can loosely be thought of of the equivalent in light terms of a sonic boom

check it out.

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/cherenkov.html

daveirl

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daveirl

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Woden

Answers:

Whats so special about the number 26?

Its the only number that lies between and perfect square and a perfect cube. 5^2=25, 3^3=27

Name the radiation produced when something travels faster then the speed of light in a medium?

As mentioned its Cherenkov Radiation.

Whats the repulsion that stops you pushing two atoms (say a diatomic molecule) closer together? (Note its not electrostatic)?

The reason you can't push two atoms right through each other is electron spin. The probability of two electrons with the same spin occupying the same region of space is zero (Pauli exclusion principle) so when you push to atoms together the electron "clouds" overlap and there is a repulsion due to like spin.

thedrowner

i can't believe i nearly have a degree in this and i can't answer most of those! (well....i'm not studying any of them anymore so at least i have some crappy excuse)

the only question i can think of to put forward at the moment is....what's a palindrome? (it's a genetics question)

i could try design a cross. i loved working them out.

Gordon

lol! that's hard core cross questioning!

Sorry:
Cryogenics because it means cold in Greek (I know the answer has been said, just a nice thing to know)

Woden

palindrome doesnt that have some meaning as well to do with words, perhaps words that spell the same backwards as well as forwards or is that something else? i could be just typing out my arse though. i'll look into it.

Woden

some online dictionary says


Palindrome is

1) A word, phrase, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward or forward. For example: A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
2) A segment of double-stranded DNA in which the nucleotide sequence of one strand reads in reverse order to that of the complementary strand.

i'll sleep better tonight knowing that.

Woden

New questions

Chemistry:
What does H20 have a higher boiling point 100C then H2S at 60C. even though H2S is the heavier molecule?

Physics:
What property of H20 allows ice skating to be possible?

Astronomy:
What is the closest star to the out of our solar system?

thedrowner

data is god: if i see you today you're going to get an awful slagging for admitting that

i just dont think its fair for someone to know EVERYTHING even when they haven't a clue and they're only just guessing they still hit upon the right answers!

daveirl

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Woden

"data is god: if i see you today you're going to get an awful slagging for admitting that"

admitting what?

Answers:

Chemistry:
What does H20 have a higher boiling point 100C then H2S at 60C. even though H2S is the heavier molecule?

Yeap its hydrogen bonding and a similar arguement applies to why NH3 has a higher boiling point then PH3.

Astronomy:
What is the closest star to the out of our solar system?

yeap proxima centuari is the closest star outside our solar system or alpha centuari C as its also known, alpha centuari A and B is a binary system just a little further away.


Physics:
What property of H20 allows ice skating to be possible?

The physics of ice-skating, water in its solid state is less dense then in its liquid form (this can also be attributed to hydrogen bonding if i remember correctly). Pressure equals Force/Area, so with an ice skate you have a large force over a small area and hence a large pressure, this pressure applied to the ice causes it to basically collapse into an less dense form i.e water, and this thin layer of water is then a lubricant for skating.

Woden

daveirl scores 2/3

Physics:
Name the three different types of neutrino (excluding there corresponding anti-particles)

Astronomy:
If light from a galaxy is "blueshifted", is the galaxy travelling
a) towards us?
b) away from us?

Chemistry:
Why are some compounds coloured and others are not?

Chemistry:
A compound is said to be paramagnetic if it contains:
a) no unpaired electrons
b) a filled d-orbital
c) unpaired electrons
d) none of these what the hell are you talking about

sceptre

Originally posted by Dataisgod
binary system just a little further away.

"Just a little further away" being 13000AU if I remember rightly - that's 1209 billion miles (A and B are 23AU (2.1 billion miles) away from each other)

Everything is relative I suppose

Woden

of course Sceptre its all relative

Congoose

Originally posted by Dataisgod

Astronomy:
If light from a galaxy is "blueshifted", is the galaxy travelling
a) towards us?
b) away from us?

If "blueshifted" means that we see the light as blue, then I think it must be b) travelling towards us because when wave sources approach us, the wavefronts are squeezed together at the front and pulled further apart at the back. Blue light has shorter wavelength than the other constituent colours, so we see the light as blue. (Not sure!)

bonkey

Its difficult trying to think of questions that can't be answered by a quick google search, so I didnt really bother trying

1) Light, travelling in a vacuum, can neither accelerate nor decelerate. True or false?

2) The planet in our solar system farthest from the sun is :

3) Why are black holes not truly "black", and what is this known as?

4) If you have two containers, one (A) filled with a litre of blue liquid and the other (B) with a litre of redliquid . The liquids are miscable. You take 10ccs out of A, and add it to B. Then, *without stirring*, you take 10ccs out of B, and add it to A. Does A contain more of B than B does of A, or vive versa?

5) You have ten freezers operating in an enclosed room with their doors open. What is the effect on the room temperature, and why.

6) You have three lightswitches connected to three lightbulbs (in a different room). You are only allowed to look at or examine the lightbulbs once. What is the minimum number of light-switch "switches" you need to make in order to be sure you know which switch connects to which bulb, and how do you do it.

7) Why can an immovable object never meet an irresistable force?

jc

bonkey

Originally posted by Dataisgod
Physics:
Name the three different types of neutrino (excluding there corresponding anti-particles)

Astronomy:
If light from a galaxy is "blueshifted", is the galaxy travelling
a) towards us?
b) away from us?

Chemistry:
Why are some compounds coloured and others are not?

Chemistry:
A compound is said to be paramagnetic if it contains:
a) no unpaired electrons
b) a filled d-orbital
c) unpaired electrons
d) none of these what the hell are you talking about

Physics : Electron, muon and tau.
Astronomy : Towards us - away would be red-shifting.
Chemistry1 : I would imagine its connected to the absorbtion bands of the constituent elements, but thats probably wrong.
Chemstry2 : no clue, but I'd guess c or d.

Originally posted by Dataisgod

Maths
You throw drop and object, A, of mass m straight down, and fire an identical mass, B, m horizontally at the same instant. Ignoring air resistance and uneven ground, what happens?
a) A hits the ground first
b) B hits the ground first
c) They hit the ground at the same time
And why?

Being pedantic, I would imagine it would depend on the ballisttics of B. Even firing it horizontally could cause it to climb initially, which would give an answer of A. If, on the other hand, it doesnt climb from ballistics, then the answer is C, as gravity is going to effect each body equally, regardless of horiyontal velocity.

jc

daveirl

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Woden

Answers

Physics:
Name the three different types of neutrino (excluding there corresponding anti-particles)

yep electron, muon and tau

Astronomy:
If light from a galaxy is "blueshifted", is the galaxy travelling
a) towards us?
b) away from us?

yeap blueshifted galaxies are moving towards us.

Chemistry:
Why are some compounds coloured and others are not?

compounds will typically be coloured if there is a gap between energy levels with an energy which corresponds to that of visible light in the 400-700nm region. the energy is given by E=h*c/lambda

where h is planck's constant
c is the speed of light in vacuo
and lambda is the wavelength of the incident light

usually in complexes of transition metals for example the 5 d orbitals are not degenerate (of equal energy) and electrons are promoted to d orbitals of higher energy and drop back to the orbitals of lower energy emitting the photon that gives the compounds or complex its colour


Chemistry:
A compound is said to be paramagnetic if it contains:
a) no unpaired electrons
b) a filled d-orbital
c) unpaired electrons
d) none of these what the hell are you talking about

c paramagnetic compounds are ones which contain unpaired electrons, oxygen is paramagnetic. diamagnetic compounds are compounds which contain no unpaired electrons. nitrogen is diamagnetic.

bonkey i think you get 4/4 as i think i get what you are on about for the colour question and we'll take c as correct for the chemistry one

congoose 1/4

Woden

right bonkey i'll take a stab

1)light can accelerate or decelerate in vacuum as it can be changed direction e.g by stars (think this was used to confirm relativity)

2)eh think pluto is furthest out at the moment though neptune was out there for a while can't recall if it is still there or not

3)not sure if this is what you are looking for but black holes still emit radiation (i.e radiation can escape) known as Hawking radiation after the man himself. so they are not truly black?

4)not sure if you can tell this one as the mixture isn't stirred it is not uniform and there is no way of knowing how much A is transferred back to A on the second 10cc transfer

5)eh seems deceptively simple i think the room temperature drops reaching a thermal equilibrium as if there is a thermodynamic potential between two items they will reach and equilibrium. Maybe described by newtons law of cooling.

6)have to think about it

7)would an immovable object have to have an infinite mass and hence no irrestible force?

bonkey

Originally posted by Dataisgod
right bonkey i'll take a stab

1)light can accelerate or decelerate in vacuum as it can be changed direction e.g by stars (think this was used to confirm relativity)

2)eh think pluto is furthest out at the moment though neptune was out there for a while can't recall if it is still there or not

3)not sure if this is what you are looking for but black holes still emit radiation (i.e radiation can escape) known as Hawking radiation after the man himself. so they are not truly black?

4)not sure if you can tell this one as the mixture isn't stirred it is not uniform and there is no way of knowing how much A is transferred back to A on the second 10cc transfer

5)eh seems deceptively simple i think the room temperature drops reaching a thermal equilibrium as if there is a thermodynamic potential between two items they will reach and equilibrium. Maybe described by newtons law of cooling.

6)have to think about it

7)would an immovable object have to have an infinite mass and hence no irrestible force?

1 & 3 are correct.
(Black holes are not strictly "black" - they emit radiation, and have temperature. Thus, they "glow" slightly. Indeed, through this emission, it is possible for black holes to shrink, and as they do so, their temperature will actually increase. It is theorised that white-hot micro-black-holes could exist.)

2 is mostly correct - Neptune will remain furthest from the sun until 2026.

4 can be answered definitively, with a simple reason.

5 is Incorrect

7 is mostly correct.

Raptor

Ok, firstly the answers to mine

Firing A, Dropping B. Answer is c, for reasons stated (gravity only acting in the y direction, both having no initial y velocity)

The 3 isotopes are called Protium, Deuterium and Tritium

The "number" is S. This was in a science quiz, and that was the answer given...........?

Bonkeys q's, which havent been already answered

4 A and B only refer to the volume of liquid in each container, and seeing as 10 ccs has been taken from one and placed in the other, the volumes are both equal.

5 There would be no change in temperature, as the freezers are merely heat exchangers, and thus any decrease in temperature inside the freezers would increase the heat at the back, and the overall temperature would remain constant.

6 Utter guess, ya turn on one, leave the second off, and keep flicking the 3rd until ya hear a bang, and you blow it.

On second thoughts, you turn on one and leave it for 5 mins, leave the 2nd off, and turn the 3rd on just before leaving the room. Then theres one off bulb, on cold on bulb and one hot on bulb

Me thinks

daveirl

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bonkey

OK...

1, 2, and 3 were answered by DataIsGod or my reply to him.

4 The answer is that A will contain exactly as much of B as B will of A.

Think of it like this. Each container starts and [/i] finishes with the same volume, as in each case we add 10cc and remove 10cc. Thus, whatever amount of red liquid was removed from B must have been replaced with an equal amount of blue liquid. The same logic (colour-reversed) works for A.

5. There would be an increase in temperature. Yes, a fridge works as a heat-exchanger, which (with the door open) would lead to a net effect of nothing as people have said...except that the motor powering the heat exchanger emits heat which is not offset by the cooling.

6. Raptor's second approach is the usually accepted solution, but attempting to blow the bulb is more appealing...isnt it

7. Was mostly correct by DataIsGod. There are two possible answers :

a) You cannot have an irrestible force and an immovable object as two distinct objects, as the terms are mutually exclusive. Its like saying you have a substance immune to all acids, and an acid which can eat through all substances. It is impossible that both statements are correct.

b) You can have both, as long as the irresistable force will get pulled towards (or pushed away from) the immovable object. This attraction or repulsion is what is irrestible - not the bodies it effects. Imagine a fishing boat with an unbreakable net which is entangled around a massive rock. While the net may never break, this does not mean that the boat can pull the rock. Any attempt by the boat to reel in its net (attractive force) will succeed - its just that the boat will pull itself toward the "immovable" rock.

jc

daveirl

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Gordon

C (it so happens that when Earth is closest to the sun is actually our winter)
D Graviton is my guess because it sounds "Trekky"!

And Parkinsons = extraction of the Mickey or Michael transmitter! (hee hee)

Woden

i'd like to agree with gordon. C for the first one, by eliminating A and B and think it isnt' D but can't be sure

however the graviton is the mediating particle of the four fundamental forces which is not yet observed and yeah it does sound the most trekky i think they have mentioned it a few times if memory serves.

My biology is almost non-existent so haven't a clue

daveirl

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Woden

i'll try

a)
b)

and don't known the last one

Victor

Originally posted by daveirl
Astronomy - What do astronomers call the point in the sky that is directly overhead? [/B]

Not sure, but builders call it the danger zone

bonkey

The point directly above the observer is the Zenith.

jc

daveirl

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DiscoStu

Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction I do belive.

daveirl

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Woden

Physics

In Beta minus decay which of these particles is emitted a) muon b)positron c) neutron d)electron.

Name the 6 different types of quarks.

A fermi meter is a) 10^-12 m, b)10^-15 m, c) 10^-18 m, d) 10^-21 m

Which is more stable a free neutron or a free proton?

What type of electromagnetic radiation is needed to flip the spin of an electron in an atom (i.e for NMR)

a)ultra-violet, b)gamma rays, c) infra-red d)microwaves e) radiowaves g)x-rays

Chemistry

A chiral centre of a carbon atom in a organic molecule has how many different substituents

What is the only element of the periodic table to adopt a simple cubic structure when solid

a)magnesium b)uranium c)helium d)polonium

What is the hybridisation of carbon in an alkane, alkene and alkyne repectively.

PhilipM.

Physics answers
6 quarks:
d (down),
u (up)
s (strange),
c (charm)
b (bottom),
t (top)


fermi metre 10E-15

beta minus decay
gives out antineutrino + electron.

free neutron decays into proton and electron in 1000seconds
ans proton

guess :ultra violet

Gordon

I have a question which I don't know the answer to.

A mate of mine some cycles of the sun ago told me that if the Earth was reduced in size to the size of a snooker ball - it would be smoother than a snooker ball.

Can anyone tell me if this is true?