Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Fritz Haber was a Jewish-German scientist during world war I. Billions of peoples lives exist today because of his contributions. The unfortunate chance discovery following his original discovery allowed him to develop a legacy of killing mass quantities of people in a particularly cruel fashion. What was his contribution that ultimately won him the Nobel Prize in 1918?
2. What popularly used technology did Percy Spencer discover when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket?
3. What discovery was made after a botched experiment concerning the stomach secretions in the digestive system of dogs?
4. Roentgen was not specifically attempting to make his discovery while experimenting with vacuum tubes. What did he discover that was stunning enough to motivate his wife, Anna Bertha Ludwig, to exclaim "I have seen my death!"
5. Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish researcher who went on a two week vacation. Upon arriving home he noticed that his experiment had been contaminated with mold. What world altering drug did he discover?
6. Using a large horn radio antenna in 1964-65 to map the Milky Way galaxy, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson only got signals similar to static interference. What astronomical phenomenon had they stumbled across at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey?
7. This drug was originally tested by Pfizer to treat angina, a heart condition. Serendipity took charge when an unexpected side effect was reported. Sildenafil was the original intended name for what popular drug?
8. The Michelson-Morley experiment (1881-1887) was intended to test for the existence of luminiferous aether. This was meant to be shown by measuring the speed of light at different times of the day and comparing it with the earth's speed around the sun. What idea, inspired by the failure of this experiment, catapulted much of modern physics?
9. What substance, made from potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur, did the early Chinese alchemists accidentally discover while searching for a recipe of immortality in the ninth century?
10. George de Mestral was a Swiss engineer who took notice of the weeds that his dog regularly dragged into the house. What idea did he patent in 1955 that was inspired by close inspection of these weeds?
Source: Author
mitchcumstein
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
rossian before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.