The Science Trivia Quiz

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?

thedrowner

Originally posted by Dataisgod
Chemistry

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

4??? please tell me i got this one right, PLEASE! i studied the damn thing for 2 years!

thegills

Earth / Snooker Ball; I would imagine that the ration of the highest mountain in the world to the size of the earth would be far smaller than the imperfections on a snooker ball hence making it smoother.

Q. Whats so special about the number 170

Woden

4??? please tell me i got this one right, PLEASE! i studied the damn thing for 2 years!

4 it is drowner

Victor

Originally posted by Gordon
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.

Probably, but the Earth's diameter at the equator is greater than that through the poles (centrifugal forces). So the snooker ball would have a slight wobble in it.

dudeRancher

Define Kaluza-Klein theory.

Victor

Chemistry: What constituent differentiates brass from bronze?

Congoose

Originally posted by Victor
Chemistry: What constituent differentiates brass from bronze?

Is it zinc?

Woden

philipm got all the physics ones right bar the final one. it is radiowaves which possess the correct energy to flip the spin of an electron in an atom

edit my mistake it should be radiowave are possess the correct energy to change the nuclear (not electron) spin in an atom which is responsible for NMR

drowner got the first chemistry one.

these still stand

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.

Woden

guess that kaluza-klein theory relates to nuclear physics?

same klein who's name is in the klein-nishina formula?

dudeRancher

The Kaluza-Klein theory offers an answer to the paradox of a light wave passing through a vacuum (where there is nothing to wave). It suggests that what we are actually seeing is a vibration of the fourth spatial dimension. I think.