Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In the lower case, the first letter of the Greek alphabet is used as the symbol for angular acceleration, the co-efficient of linear expansion of solids, as well as to indicate proportionality. The brightest star in a constellation usually has a Bayer designation containing this letter. This letter is also used to denote a form of strongly ionising particle radiation, consisting of helium nuclei. Which Greek letter is being referred to here?
2. High-energy electrons emitted by certain radioactive nuclei such as potassium-40 are designated with this Greek letter, the second in the alphabet. A version of a software product, which is still in its development stage but is released for testing purposes, is referred to by this letter ... which is it?
3. The third in the alphabet, this Greek letter gives its name to a unit of magnetic flux density, the equivalent of 1 nanotesla. In the lower case, it is used to represent a photon (in layman's terms, a "packet" of electromagnetic energy), as well as a high-energy form of electromagnetic radiation. Which Greek letter is this?
4. The fourth in the Greek alphabet, this letter is used to express a change or difference in values, in the upper case. A triangular area of alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river is named after this letter, because its shape resembles this letter in the upper case. Which letter is this?
5. In the lower case, this letter, the fifth in the Greek alphabet, is used as the symbol for a very small quantity in mathematics, as well as the permittivity of a medium in physics. This letter is also used to express set membership in mathematics. Which letter is this?
6. This letter, the eighth in the Greek alphabet, is very commonly used as a symbol for a plane angle in trigonometry and geometry. Which is it?
7. This letter, the 11th in the Greek alphabet, is used to denote the wavelength of a wave in physics. It also lends its name to a phage (a small virus that infects only bacteria) that inhabits the bacterium E. coli. Which letter am I talking about?
8. In number theory, this letter is used to denote the Möbius function, named in honour of the German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius, who introduced it in 1931. This letter is also the symbol used to represent the coefficient of friction between two surfaces, and permeability in electromagnetism. In particle physics, it is used to denote a subatomic particle, the muon. The 12th in the Greek alphabet, which letter is this?
9. In the lower case, this letter, the 13th in the Greek alphabet, is frequently used as a symbol for the frequency of a wave. In particle physics, this letter is used as the symbol for any of three kinds of neutrinos- almost mass-less subatomic particles. Which Greek letter is this?
10. This Greek letter, the 16th in the alphabet, is used to denote the smallest positive "x" for which sin(x) = 0. Or, more simply put, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter...
11. In physics, this Greek letter is used as the symbol for the density and resistivity of materials. It also lends its name to a protein found in prokaryotes, especially E. coli. The 17th in the alphabet, which letter is this?
12. This letter, the 18th in the Greek alphabet, is commonly used as the symbol of the summation operator in mathematics. In the lower case, this letter represents the famous Stefan-Boltzmann constant of blackbody radiation. Which letter is this?
13. The 19th letter of the Greek alphabet is used as a symbol for torque, the rotational "force" in mechanics. This letter is also used to denote the lifetime of a spontaneous emission process (the process by which matter loses energy resulting the creation of a photon). Which letter is this?
14. This letter, the 21st of the Greek alphabet, looks like an "o" with a vertical line through its centre. In the lower case, it is the symbol for the famous golden ratio in mathematics, art and architecture. It is used to denote Euler's totient function in number theory. Along with the letter theta, this letter is commonly used to represent a plane angle. Often (albeit mistakenly), it is used to denote the empty set in mathematics. Which Greek letter is this?
15. The last of the Greek alphabet, this letter lends its name to entire classes of fatty acids. In the upper case, this letter is used to represent the SI unit of electrical resistance, the ohm. In the lower case, this letter denotes the angular velocity of a body. Which Greek letter is this?
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achernar
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