Everyday Science Mix

40 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which medicines kill bacteria, not viruses?
- A. blood types
- B. fever
- C. insulin
- D. antibiotics
Show answer
antibiotics
Did you know? Overuse breeds resistant bacteria.
2.Which physics concept moves heat with flowing fluids?
- A. a magnet's field
- B. inertia
- C. convection
- D. momentum
Show answer
convection
Did you know? Boiling water circulates by convection.
3.Where are the smallest bones in the human body?
- A. In the middle ear
- B. In the spine
- C. In the foot
- D. In the wrist
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In the middle ear
Did you know? The three ossicles transmit sound vibrations.
4.What force slows a parachute down?
- A. Gravity
- B. Buoyancy
- C. Air resistance
- D. Magnetism
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Air resistance
Did you know? The canopy traps air to increase drag.
5.Which space event lights up polar skies with charged particles?
- A. an eclipse of the Sun
- B. a shooting star
- C. a comet's tail
- D. the aurora
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the aurora
Did you know? Solar wind particles excite gases high in the atmosphere.
6.Which mirror type makes vehicles look closer than they are?
- A. A concave mirror
- B. A convex mirror
- C. A flat mirror
- D. A two-way mirror
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A convex mirror
Did you know? Convex mirrors widen the view on cars.
7.Which Apollo mission first landed humans on the Moon?
- A. Apollo 1
- B. Apollo 11
- C. Apollo 8
- D. Apollo 13
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Apollo 11
Did you know? Apollo 13 never landed after its oxygen tank failed.
8.Which unit is commonly used to measure the average Earth–Sun distance?
- A. Fahrenheit
- B. centimeter
- C. liter
- D. astronomical unit
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astronomical unit
Did you know? The astronomical unit is a common unit for the average Earth–Sun distance.
9.What was the name of the first space station to host crews long-term?
- A. ISS
- B. Salyut 1
- C. Skylab
- D. Mir
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Salyut 1
Did you know? Mir later orbited for 15 years.
10.The 1990s were which span of time?
- A. periods of ten years
- B. temperature on the scale where water freezes at 32
- C. frequency
- D. small masses
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periods of ten years
Did you know? The decade is commonly used to measure periods of ten years.
11.Which optical tool splits white light into a spectrum?
- A. energy
- B. an inclined plane
- C. gravity
- D. a prism
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a prism
Did you know? Newton demonstrated this with a glass prism.
12.What is the SI unit of electrical resistance?
- A. mole
- B. kilogram
- C. ohm
- D. pascal
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ohm
Did you know? The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm.
13.Which blood vessels carry blood back to the heart?
- A. veins
- B. insulin
- C. red blood cells
- D. the largest artery, the aorta
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veins
Did you know? Veins have one-way valves.
14.What is a light-year's closest cousin, the astronomical unit?
- A. The Earth–Sun average distance
- B. The Earth–Moon distance
- C. The Sun's diameter
- D. Earth's circumference
Show answer
The Earth–Sun average distance
Did you know? It is about 150 million kilometers.
15.Which sense fades first for most people as they age, near vision or hearing?
- A. Hearing
- B. Near vision
- C. Taste
- D. Smell
Show answer
Near vision
Did you know? Presbyopia fades near vision first; reading glasses appear around age 45.
16.What does an odometer measure?
- A. distance
- B. power
- C. large land areas
- D. the loudness of sound
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distance
Did you know? The meter measures distance.
17.Which unit is commonly used to measure very heavy loads?
- A. mole
- B. liter
- C. decade
- D. tonne
Show answer
tonne
Did you know? The tonne is a common unit for very heavy loads.
18.Which simple machine is a screwdriver's handle?
- A. A pulley
- B. A wheel and axle
- C. A screw
- D. A wedge
Show answer
A wheel and axle
Did you know? The wide handle multiplies turning force.
19.Which organ renews itself about every month?
- A. The liver
- B. The brain
- C. The lungs
- D. The skin
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The skin
Did you know? Skin renews itself about every month.
20.What percentage of the human body is water, roughly?
- A. About 60%
- B. About 20%
- C. About 80%
- D. About 40%
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About 60%
Did you know? Babies carry an even higher share.
21.Which moon has active geysers of water ice?
- A. Enceladus
- B. Titan
- C. Io
- D. The Moon
Show answer
Enceladus
Did you know? Its plumes feed one of Saturn's rings.
22.Which planet is closest to the Sun?
- A. Venus
- B. Mars
- C. Earth
- D. Mercury
Show answer
Mercury
Did you know? A year there lasts only 88 Earth days.
23.Which space object returns about every 76 years?
- A. the aurora
- B. a light-year
- C. the asteroid belt
- D. Halley's Comet
Show answer
Halley's Comet
Did you know? Halley's Comet last appeared in 1986.
24.What does a piano tuner adjust note by note?
- A. distance
- B. the average Earth–Sun distance
- C. frequency
- D. engine power
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frequency
Did you know? The hertz measures frequency.
25.Which unit is commonly used to measure periods of one hundred years?
- A. pascal
- B. watt
- C. hour
- D. century
Show answer
century
Did you know? The century is a common unit for periods of one hundred years.
26.What is the SI unit of force?
- A. horsepower
- B. newton
- C. Celsius
- D. liter
Show answer
newton
Did you know? The SI unit of force is the newton.
27.What is a comet's glowing head called?
- A. The coma
- B. The halo
- C. The corona
- D. The nucleus only
Show answer
The coma
Did you know? The Sun's heat boils gas and dust into it.
28.Which vitamin helps the body absorb calcium?
- A. Vitamin K
- B. Vitamin B12
- C. Vitamin C
- D. Vitamin D
Show answer
Vitamin D
Did you know? Winter sun rarely delivers enough in far latitudes.
29.Which unit is commonly used to measure large land areas?
- A. decade
- B. decibel
- C. Celsius
- D. hectare
Show answer
hectare
Did you know? The hectare is a common unit for large land areas.
30.On which scale do physicists measure the cold of deep space?
- A. power
- B. temperature starting at absolute zero
- C. the loudness of sound
- D. engine power
Show answer
temperature starting at absolute zero
Did you know? The kelvin measures temperature starting at absolute zero.
31.What do we call energy that comes from motion?
- A. Kinetic energy
- B. Thermal energy
- C. Chemical energy
- D. Nuclear energy
Show answer
Kinetic energy
Did you know? A rolling ball is storing it.
32.Which gas makes up about 4% of exhaled breath?
- A. Carbon dioxide
- B. Methane
- C. Hydrogen
- D. Oxygen
Show answer
Carbon dioxide
Did you know? Exhaled air still holds about 16% oxygen.
33.Which nerve connects the eye to the brain?
- A. The vagus nerve
- B. The auditory nerve
- C. The optic nerve
- D. The sciatic nerve
Show answer
The optic nerve
Did you know? Each eye sends signals through its own optic nerve.
34.What is the Sun mainly made of?
- A. Iron and nickel
- B. Lava and gas
- C. Hydrogen and helium
- D. Oxygen and carbon
Show answer
Hydrogen and helium
Did you know? Hydrogen alone is about three quarters of it.
35.Which scientific term is the streak of light from a burning space rock?
- A. the Hubble Space Telescope
- B. the International Space Station
- C. a meteor
- D. gravity
Show answer
a meteor
Did you know? Small rocks are meteoroids; the streak is a meteor.
36.What is the coldest planet in the Solar System, by atmosphere?
- A. Neptune
- B. Mars
- C. Pluto
- D. Uranus
Show answer
Uranus
Did you know? Uranus reads colder despite Neptune lying farther.
37.What does a stopwatch measure?
- A. time
- B. temperature on the water-freezes-at-zero scale
- C. small lengths
- D. volume
Show answer
time
Did you know? The second measures time.
38.On which scale is normal body temperature near 98.6?
- A. electric potential
- B. very heavy loads
- C. temperature on the scale where water freezes at 32
- D. volume
Show answer
temperature on the scale where water freezes at 32
Did you know? The Fahrenheit is commonly used to measure temperature on the scale where water freezes at 32.
39.How is a plane's speed over the sea reported?
- A. the speed of ships
- B. periods of one hundred years
- C. energy
- D. the average Earth–Sun distance
Show answer
the speed of ships
Did you know? The knot is commonly used to measure the speed of ships.
40.Which medical tools teach the immune system before infection?
- A. insulin
- B. vaccines
- C. fever
- D. adrenaline
Show answer
vaccines
Did you know? Smallpox was the first disease wiped out by them.

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