Science Potpourri
40 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set
1.What color do you get mixing blue and yellow paint?
- A. Green
- B. Purple
- C. Brown
- D. Orange
Show answer
Green
Did you know? Mixing light gives different results.
2.What do magnifying glasses do to images?
- A. They add color
- B. They reverse them upside down only
- C. They make them darker
- D. They make them look bigger
Show answer
They make them look bigger
Did you know? Convex lenses bend light inward.
3.What color are most traffic safety cones worldwide?
- A. Blue
- B. Green
- C. White
- D. Orange
Show answer
Orange
Did you know? Orange stands out against most backgrounds.
4.What tool measures angles?
- A. A ruler
- B. A level
- C. A protractor
- D. A compass
Show answer
A protractor
Did you know? The drawing compass draws circles instead.
5.How many times does Earth orbit the Sun in one year?
- A. Twice
- B. Twelve times
- C. Four times
- D. Once
Show answer
Once
Did you know? One orbit equals one year by definition.
6.What does a car's odometer measure?
- A. Fuel level
- B. Total distance traveled
- C. Engine temperature
- D. Current speed
Show answer
Total distance traveled
Did you know? The speedometer handles speed instead.
7.Which is heavier: a kilogram of feathers or a kilogram of iron?
- A. The iron
- B. The feathers
- C. It depends on the room
- D. They weigh the same
Show answer
They weigh the same
Did you know? Density differs, mass does not.
8.Which food group is rice part of?
- A. Proteins
- B. Dairy
- C. Grains (carbohydrates)
- D. Fats
Show answer
Grains (carbohydrates)
Did you know? Half the world eats it daily.
9.How many centimeters are in a meter?
- A. 100
- B. 10
- C. 1000
- D. 50
Show answer
100
Did you know? Prefixes scale units by tens.
10.What is paper made from, mostly?
- A. Metal powder
- B. Plastic
- C. Sand
- D. Plant fibers
Show answer
Plant fibers
Did you know? Wood pulp provides the fibers.
11.Which is a renewable resource?
- A. Oil
- B. Sunlight
- C. Natural gas
- D. Coal
Show answer
Sunlight
Did you know? The Sun refills it every day.
12.What science studies life?
- A. Biology
- B. Geology
- C. Chemistry
- D. Physics
Show answer
Biology
Did you know? Its name means "study of life" in Greek.
13.How many milliliters are in a liter?
- A. 10
- B. 1000
- C. 100
- D. 500
Show answer
1000
Did you know? A teaspoon is about 5 mL.
14.What does a carpenter's level indicate?
- A. Whether a surface is perfectly horizontal
- B. Screw tightness
- C. Wood moisture
- D. Nail depth
Show answer
Whether a surface is perfectly horizontal
Did you know? The bubble centers when it is level.
15.What does the abbreviation "km/h" express?
- A. Kelvin meters
- B. Kilometers to hectares
- C. Kinetic mass hour
- D. Kilometers per hour
Show answer
Kilometers per hour
Did you know? Speed limits use it worldwide.
16.Which gas in fire extinguishers smothers flames without residue?
- A. Nitrogen
- B. Oxygen
- C. Carbon dioxide
- D. Hydrogen
Show answer
Carbon dioxide
Did you know? It smothers flames without leaving residue.
17.What does the fire triangle need, besides heat and oxygen?
- A. Carbon dioxide
- B. Water
- C. Nitrogen
- D. Fuel
Show answer
Fuel
Did you know? Remove any corner and the fire dies.
18.How does a microwave oven heat food?
- A. It shines ultraviolet light
- B. It heats the air inside strongly
- C. It makes water molecules vibrate faster
- D. It burns gas flames
Show answer
It makes water molecules vibrate faster
Did you know? The glass door's mesh blocks the waves.
19.What property decides a sound's loudness?
- A. Amplitude
- B. Material
- C. Frequency
- D. Wavelength
Show answer
Amplitude
Did you know? Whispering keeps amplitude small.
20.What does a rain gauge measure?
- A. Rainfall
- B. Sun hours
- C. Snow depth
- D. Wind speed
Show answer
Rainfall
Did you know? A simple cylinder does the job.
21.What keeps a ship carrying heavy steel afloat?
- A. Motors push it up constantly
- B. Salt freezes under it
- C. Its hull displaces a huge volume of water
- D. Steel is lighter than water
Show answer
Its hull displaces a huge volume of water
Did you know? Average density, not material, decides floating.
22.Which liquid conducts electricity, salt water or pure water?
- A. Both equally
- B. Pure water
- C. Salt water
- D. Neither
Show answer
Salt water
Did you know? Dissolved ions carry the current.
23.Which instrument has strings, a body and is played with a bow?
- A. The drum
- B. The guitar
- C. The flute
- D. The violin
Show answer
The violin
Did you know? Bow hair is rosined to grip the strings.
24.What is a turbine's job in a power station?
- A. Filtering smoke
- B. Cooling the reactor
- C. Spinning a generator to make electricity
- D. Pumping water uphill
Show answer
Spinning a generator to make electricity
Did you know? Steam, water or wind all spin it.
25.What extinguishes an oil fire on a stove?
- A. Water
- B. More oil
- C. Fanning with a towel
- D. A lid and turning off the heat
Show answer
A lid and turning off the heat
Did you know? Water explodes burning oil into vapor.
26.What property of a sound wave decides its pitch?
- A. Amplitude
- B. Speed
- C. Frequency
- D. Color
Show answer
Frequency
Did you know? Bigger amplitude decides loudness instead.
27.Which household device works by evaporation cooling?
- A. A swamp cooler (evaporative cooler)
- B. A toaster
- C. An electric heater
- D. A microwave
Show answer
A swamp cooler (evaporative cooler)
Did you know? Dry climates make it work best.
28.What does a pH of 3 mean for a liquid?
- A. It is basic
- B. It is acidic
- C. It is neutral
- D. It is pure water
Show answer
It is acidic
Did you know? Lemon juice sits near this level.
29.Which unit would measure the mass of a liter of water?
- A. One kilogram
- B. One gram
- C. One meter
- D. One newton
Show answer
One kilogram
Did you know? The liter was defined from the kilogram first.
30.Which metal melts in your hand, at about 30 °C?
- A. Tin
- B. Gallium
- C. Mercury
- D. Lead
Show answer
Gallium
Did you know? Practical jokes use spoons of it.
31.What happens to a solution's salt if the water evaporates completely?
- A. It disappears
- B. It evaporates with the water
- C. It turns to gas
- D. It stays behind as crystals
Show answer
It stays behind as crystals
Did you know? Only the water leaves; salt has no vapor to speak of.
32.Why do bicycle gears help on hills?
- A. They add an extra engine
- B. They remove friction completely
- C. They trade speed for easier pedaling force
- D. They reduce the bike's weight
Show answer
They trade speed for easier pedaling force
Did you know? Low gears spin faster with less force per stroke.
33.What is the largest fish in the ocean?
- A. The swordfish
- B. The great white shark
- C. The whale shark
- D. The blue whale
Show answer
The whale shark
Did you know? The blue whale is a mammal, not a fish.
34.Which famous scientist was also a plumber's apprentice?
- A. Michael Faraday
- B. Louis Pasteur
- C. Isaac Newton
- D. Albert Einstein
Show answer
Michael Faraday
Did you know? Bookbinding first opened his road to science.
35.Which liquid is used in many thermometers instead of mercury today?
- A. Colored alcohol
- B. Salty water
- C. Honey
- D. Cooking oil
Show answer
Colored alcohol
Did you know? Alcohol reads lower temperatures without freezing fast.
36.Which instrument magnifies sound of the heart for doctors?
- A. The microscope
- B. The sphygmomanometer
- C. The thermometer
- D. The stethoscope
Show answer
The stethoscope
Did you know? The last one measures blood pressure.
37.Which battery chemistry powers most modern phones?
- A. Lithium-ion
- B. Nickel-cadmium
- C. Alkaline dry cells
- D. Lead-acid
Show answer
Lithium-ion
Did you know? Car starters still use lead-acid instead.
38.What does a thermometer's narrow bore help with?
- A. Making small temperature changes visible
- B. Measuring pressure
- C. Keeping mercury cold
- D. Adding color
Show answer
Making small temperature changes visible
Did you know? A tiny expansion rises noticeably in a thin tube.
39.Why do stars twinkle but planets usually do not?
- A. Stars actually flash on and off
- B. Twinkling is an eye illusion
- C. Starlight passes through shifting air as tiny points
- D. Planets give their own light
Show answer
Starlight passes through shifting air as tiny points
Did you know? Planets look like tiny discs, steadier in the air.
40.What color is the black box flight recorder, traditionally?
- A. Red
- B. Orange
- C. Yellow
- D. Black
Show answer
Orange
Did you know? The name is a misnomer from old films.
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