100 Top Science Trivia Questions and Answers
100 Top Science Trivia Questions and Answers
100 Top Science Trivia Questions and Answers
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6. What does ATP stand for? Adenosine triphosphate, the molecule that is used
for energy by all cells
9. Which is the hottest planet in the solar system? Venus, surface temperature
460oC
10. How far is the moon away from Earth? Around 376 600 km away.
14. How much salt does the average human body contain? Around 250 grams.
15. If I kept walking in a straight line on a flat surface with no visible features, is it possible to walk in
circles eventually? People often favor one leg over the other. It is possible that over time the
discrepancy between the two leg strides may indeed cause you to walk in circles.
16. Why do bubbles pop? They get too dry from the surrounding air.
17. What is the Law of Conservation of Energy? The energy of the Universe is
constant; it can neither be created or destroyed but only transferred and
transformed.
18. True or false – there are 206 bones in an adult human body and 300 bones
in an infants body? True. Some bones in infants skulls have not yet fused
together.
19. True or false- most of the dust in your home is made of human skin? True –
up to 70%!
20. Can you lick your elbow? No. Now be honest, did you try?
21. If you go into space, do you get taller? Yes, the cartilage disks in your spine
expand under zero gravity.
23. What is the unit measurement for the activity of a radioactive source? The
Becqueral (Bq). 1 Bq = 1 disintegration per second
24. If you mix all light colours, do you get black, white or a
rainbow? White. Technically adding all colours of light together is called colour
addition.
25. How many separate patents did Thomas Edison file? 1093!
29. Why do bubbles pop? They get too dry from the surrounding air.
30. What is the Law of Conservation of Energy? The energy of the Universe is
constant; it can neither be created or destroyed but only transferred and
transformed.
31. What is the name given to planets outside our solar system? Extrasolar
planets
32. Which is the rarest blood type in humans? AB negative. <1% of the
population
33. Why does eyesight change as you get older? The eye’s lens continues to
grow throughout life, becoming thicker and less transparent.
34. True or false; nitroglycerine can be used to treat heart attacks? True. It
dilates blood vessels.
36. What is Xylem?The hollow woody tissue in plants that carries water and
minerals from the roots to throughout the entire plant
38. Where is the largest known meteorite crater on Earth? Vredefort Ring in
South Africa, 299km diameter!
41. What is a buret? A long tube of glass usually marked in 0.1mL units that’s
equipped with a stopcock for the controlled addition of a liquid to a receiving
flask
42. What is the hardest substance in the human body? Tooth enamel.
44. What is the longest type of cell in the body? The nerve cell (neuron).
45. What does bile do in you body? Emulsify fats in the small intestine
46. Which is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature? Mercury
(melting point of -38.87 deg Celsius). Room temperature is usually defined as
25 deg. Celsius. Gallium gets close to also melting at room temperature > it’s
melting temperature is 29.78 deg. Celsius… almost made it!
49. Where would you find your pinna? It’s your outer ear (the bit you see made
out of cartilage)
53. True or false; when lighting hits a tree the water inside the tree boils and
expands, blowing the tree apart? True
57. Is a Tsunami and a tidal wave the same thing? No. Tsunamis are caused by
water displacement as a result of an undersea earthquake or a landslide. Tidal
waves are caused by the moon & Sun’s gravitational pull combined with
prevailing winds and water currents.
58. What is the definition of dust? A particle small enough to be carried by air
currents.
59. When was the first seismograph invented? Approximately A.D. 200 in China
60. Is the stratosphere above or below the troposphere? Extending 50km above
the troposphere
64. Where are the three smallest bones in the human body? What are they
called? In the middle ear. Collectively called ossicles, the 3 bones are the
Malleus (hammer), Incus (anvil) & Stapes (stirrup).
65. What’s the lifespan of a human red blood cell? Around 120 days.
67. What is the collective name of animals and plants that live on a lake
bottom?Benthos
68. What is the largest living structure on Earth?The Great Barrier Reef,
Australia
71. What’s the highest recorded surface wind speed? 372km/h! Over Mt
Washington, New Hampshire on April 12, 1934.
73. True or false – is lightning 3 times hotter than the Sun? True
74. What formation on Earth can have the names tabular, blocky, wedge, dome,
pinnacle, dry dock, growler or bergy bit? Icebergs
77. True or false – sterling silver is pure silver? False. It contains up to 7.5%
copper
78. Which chemical causes the burning taste sensation when eating chilies?
Capcaicin
80. What is the sun made out of? – The Sun is at present, about 70% hydrogen
and 28% helium by mass everything else amounts to less than 2%
83. Does the sun rotate? – The movements of the sunspots indicate that the
Sun rotates once every 27 days at the equator, but only once in 31 days at the
poles.
84. How big is the Milky Way? – The Milky Way is actually a giant, as its mass is
probably between 750 billion and one trillion solar masses, and its diameter is
about 100,000 light years.
85. Who was the last president of the Soviet Union? – Mikhail Gorbachev.
86. What political system was gradually dismantled in South Africa, starting in
1989? – Apartheid.
89. How much bigger is the sun than the earth? A: The Earth is about 13
thousand kilometers (8000 miles) wide, whereas the Sun is roughly 1.4 million
kilometers (900,000 miles) across. If the Sun were a hollow ball, you could fit
about one million Earths inside of it!
90. How old is the earth? -The earth is about 4.5 billion years old.
91. How old is the universe? – The Universe is at least 15 billion years old, but
probably not more than 20 billion years old.
92. Which planet spins the fastest? – Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our
solar system rotating on average once in just under 10 hours.
95. What bird was domesticated first? The first bird domesticated by man was
the goose.
97. What is the Milky Way? – The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.
98. What star other than the sun is closest to the earth? – It is Proxima
Centauri, the nearest member of the Alpha Centauri triple star system.