Quiz Round 1: Physics & Space

Our three contestants each took on a set of physics & space questions - but how well can you do? Answers at the bottom!

Chris

1. Schrodinger’s famous cat thought experiment was produced in correspondence with which famous physicist? (Take a guess!)
2. If the source of a wave is moving towards you, does the wave's frequency get higher or lower?
3. Name any two of the four fundamental forces in physics.
4. What’s the standard unit for measuring energy?
5. A torque is what kind of force?
6. A solenoid is a kind of electromagnet, made out of metal in what shape?
7. Whose law states that the farther away a galaxy is from the Earth, the faster it is moving away from the Earth? He's also got a famous telescope!
8. The brightest and most energetic events observed in the universe are bursts of what type of radiation?
9. Who was the first person to reach outer space?
10. What percent of the actual universe is the visible universe?
    A) 95%
    B) 50%
    C) 5%

Bhavesh

1. The Twin Paradox is a thought experiment where a twin ends up younger than their sibling after taking a high-speed spaceship journey. What physics phenomenon is it describing?
2. Are sound waves transverse or longitudinal waves?
3. What fundamental particle is the most recent one to have been discovered - in 2012?
4. What is the standard unit for measuring temperature?
5. If you have a lightbulb powered by a circuit, and you add a second lightbulb in parallel with the first, what will happen to the brightness of the original bulb?
6. How many poles does a magnet have?
7. What do you call the boundary around something like a black hole, where anything happening beyond that boundary can’t affect in any way an outside observer?
8. What extraordinarily dense object is the result of the core collapse of a giant star?
9. In which direction are rockets generally launched - east or west?
10. What theory of the universe describes how we expanded from an initial state of extremely high temperature and pressure?

Megan

1. Archimedes' principle is that the force upwards on a floating object is equal to the weight of what?
2. A standing wave is a wave whose peaks and troughs don't move through space. True or false?
3. True or false: neutrino radiation is the most deadly form of radiation.
4. What is the standard unit for measuring mass?
5. Which of the following is not a vector quantity?
   A) Kinetic energy
   B) Force
   C) Acceleration
   D) Velocity
6. Name a common magnetic material. (Specifically ferromagnetic - for nitpickers)
7. How long is a light year in metres? Is it:
   A) 9.5 billion metres
   B) 9.5 trillion metres
   C) 9.5 quadrillion metres
8. What colour is the sun?
9. The first animals sent into space were fruit flies aboard a V2 rocket. But what was the first animal in orbit?
10. How old is the universe?
    A) Millions of years
    B) Billions of years
    C) Trillions of years