Physics Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 63
What does a phosphoric substance emit when exposed to ultraviolet radiation?
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light
What is the force that gives us weight and prevents us from floating into space?
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gravity
What is the term that describes the point around which a body's weight is evenly balanced, other than the center of mass?
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gravity
What simple device consists of a small weight swinging back and forth at the end of a string?
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pendulum
In 1913, who was the first to precisely measure the charge of a negative atomic particle?
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electron
What device, found in watches, mattresses, and automobiles, can store mechanical energy?
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spring
What is the branch of physics that is divided into statics and dynamics, and also refers to individuals fixing your car parts?
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mechanics
What spread of colors is produced when light is passed through a prism?
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spectrum
In theoretical particle physics, tachyons are proposed to exist only at speeds exceeding what?
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light
What device uses a ruby crystal whose atoms are excited to emit pulses of light?
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laser
What is the third fundamental state of matter on our planet, besides solid and liquid?
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gas
What basic state of matter has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape?
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gas
What natural force causes objects that go up to come back down?
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gravity
What device did Galileo discover could measure consistent time intervals through regular swinging?
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pendulum
What property made lodestones a useful tool for sailors in the 11th century?
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magnetism
What type of 3-dimensional photography uses a laser but no lens?
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holography
What is the fourth dimension in the Einsteinian space-time continuum, alongside time, length, and width?
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height
What is the term for sound that is reflected from an object back to its source?
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echo
Which basic state of matter tends to expand indefinitely when unconfined?
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gas
In the context of colors, what is typically lacking when a color is described as saturated?
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white
What is linked with time in a continuum in the special theory of relativity?
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space
Which part of the spectrum has wavelengths shorter than violet light but longer than X rays?
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ultraviolet
What did Einstein's theory describe as traveling in a stream of particles, leading to the invention of the 'electric eye'?
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light
What travels at a speed of 332 meters per second at sea level?
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sound
What type of intensity is measured in candelas?
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light
What color corresponds to the longest wavelengths of visible light?
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red
What term did Max Planck use to describe the smallest amount of energy that can be emitted as electromagnetic radiation?
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quantum
Which term, coined by Michael Faraday from the Greek word 'ienai' meaning 'to go', describes an atom with an electrical charge?
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ion
What device involves a small mass swinging at the end of a very light string?
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pendulum
What force provides the propulsion for the cars in the All-American Soap Box Derby?
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gravity
Which German physicist has a radiation detection device named after him?
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hans geiger
Which physicist formulated the uncertainty principle stating that a particle's position and momentum cannot both be precisely known at the same time?
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werner heisenberg
What simple device functions as an inclined plane wrapped in a spiral around a shaft?
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screw
What is measured using the unit rads?
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radiation
What do you create if you wrap a wire around an iron bar and send a current through the wire?
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electromagnet
What scientist has units of force, abbreviated as N, named after him?
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isaac newton
What element is removed from a light bulb to prevent the tungsten filament from burning up?
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oxygen
What is the name of the electrically uncharged subatomic particle discovered by James Chadwick?
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neutron
What is transferred between objects by conduction, convection, and radiation, and is measured in calories?
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heat
Who is the scientist for whom a unit measuring the intensity of radiation is named, known for discovering X-rays?
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wilhelm röntgen
What is the term for the ability of a body to float or rise in a fluid?
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buoyancy
Which author of 'A Brief History of Time' became a professor of gravitational physics at Cambridge in 1977?
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stephen hawking
What is the unit of measurement for the rate of flow of electric current that is named after a French physicist?
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ampere
What is the term for the distance between one crest and the next or between two troughs in the science of sound?
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wavelength
What force causes variations in the acceleration of falling objects from place to place?
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gravity
What branch of physics deals with light and vision?
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optics
What is the name of the first subatomic particle discovered by J.J. Thomson 100 years ago?
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electron
What is the study of the propulsion and motion of projectiles called?
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ballistics
What gas has a nucleus that is identical to an alpha particle, containing 2 neutrons and 2 protons?
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helium
What is the unit of frequency that equals 1 cycle per second and is named after a German scientist?
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hertz
Who formulated the law stating that resistance in a DC circuit is the ratio of volts to amps?
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georg ohm
Who was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of energy quanta?
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max planck
A magnetic field is measured in units called gauss or what other unit, named after a prominent inventor known for his work with coils?
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nikola tesla
Who is the professor of physics in Berlin who published his quantum theory in 1900?
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max planck
Which simple machine would Archimedes use to 'move the Earth' if he had a firm place to stand?
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lever
What force did Isaac Newton find to depend on mass and distance?
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gravity
Which name for a quantum of light was coined by American physicist Arthur Compton?
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photon
What hypothetical particle was discovered by scientists in 1995 and is the top one of these?
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quark
Who is the Hungarian-American physicist known as the principal architect of the hydrogen bomb?
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edward teller
Which physicist proposed in 1905 that photons are the carriers of electromagnetic energy?
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albert einstein
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