Four, Forever Trivia Quiz

Answer: Trapezium

A pair of parallel lines are ones that will never meet if extended forever. A rectangle has four sides, and has two pairs of parallel sides. At each intersection of sides in a rectangle, there is a 90 degree angle. A rectangle technically is a parallelogram, as a parallelogram has two pairs of parallel sides and whose opposite sides and angles are of equal length.
Similarly, a trapezium is a four-sided shape with one pair of parallel sides, but one of these sides will be longer than the other, meaning the other lines will not be parallel to each other.
An octagon is an eight-sided shape.

Answer: Incisor

The incisors are the thin teeth at the front of the mouth, and we use them to cut food into smaller pieces. The canines are pointy and typically larger than the other teeth and can be used to hold food in place in the mouth. Meanwhile, the molars and premolars grind the food down into smaller pieces. Ultimately, the aim here is to make the food as small as possible so, when the food is swallowed, it can easily be digested, which gives us the energy we need to survive.

Answer: Venus

A terrestrial planet is one that is primarily made up of metals or rocks, and Mars, Earth, Mercury and Venus are the four terrestrial planets in our solar system. Venus is the hottest of the planets. This is because Venus's atmosphere is comprised of 96.5% carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide helps to keep heat in the atmosphere. Venus is also bright, because it has sulphur dioxide clouds that reflect the sun's light away from it, meaning that Venus's surface gets less light as a consequence. In addition, Venus has many large volcanoes on its surface, giving its land a charred appearance. But, Venus does not sustain any lifeforms, so at least nobody has to live there...

Answer: Greece

The four elements in question were fire, air, water and earth. Although Empedocles never referred to them as such, he came up with the original concept that the world is made up of the combination and interaction of the four elements, which were indestructible.

He was an ancient Greek philosopher and his theory was one of the earliest cogs in the chemistry engine. Later philosophers, such as Democritus and Aristotle, would build on these ideas, and although the elements as Empedocles described aren't believed in now, the notion of 'indestructible' matter has remained over time.

Answer: The tilt of the Earth as it rotates around the Sun

The Earth orbits the Sun once every year, as well as spinning on its axis a full revolution once every day. The axis is a slight angle of about 23.4 degrees perpendicular to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, but stays the same wherever the Earth is in its orbit. Using England as an example, in summer, England will be facing closer to the Sun than in winter, because of the axial tilt.

This means, when facing closer, England gets more light in summer, making its days longer and increasing its temperature. Earth being closer to the Sun at certain times does not account for seasonal variation, and is a common misconception. If anything, the Earth is closer to the Sun in the northern hemisphere's winter, so the distance is not the deciding factor here.

Answer: Second prime number

A prime number is greater than 1 and only divides by 1 and itself. The second prime number is 3, rather than 4. A composite number is on the other side of the fence, and does divide by something other than 1 and itself. In 4's case, it divides into 2 and 2.

A square number is a product of a number multiplied by itself, and since 2 is the second positive integer, it is thus the second square number. Since 2 is the smallest prime number (and first prime number), it is also the smallest squared prime number.

Answer: Adenine

The four bases of DNA are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine. They attach to sugars in in DNA, and code for instructions based on the order of the four bases. Just as we're told what to do sometimes, the cells are told what to do by the genetic instructions found in DNA.

Adenine, specifically, is part of adenosine triphosphate, which is used in metabolism to transfer energy. In DNA, adenine binds to thymine, and cytosine to guanine, and this helps maintain the pretty double helix structure of DNA.

Answer: Blood groups

A, B, AB and O are the four blood groups in humans. One difference between groups are the proteins expressed on the blood surface, which differ between groups. In addition, each group makes different antibodies, which fight disease. The simplest consequence of these groups is that, when transfusing blood from one human to another, some groups are incompatible with each other because the presence of the new blood causes certain antibodies to attack it.

Not much about the effects of the individual groups is actually known, however.

Answer: Beryllium

Beryllium has an atomic number of 4, which means it has four protons in the nucleus (centre) of its atoms. It is rare and generally only exists in combination with other elements, for example in gemstones such as emeralds or crystals like beryl. In addition, beryllium is often used in x-ray windows, as its low atomic number means that x-rays are rarely absorbed by it, which means that the x-ray image is not compromised.

Answer: Plasma

A state of matter can be thought of as a phase based on how the matter interacts with the space it fills. For example in a solid object the matter holds a fixed object and shape, but in a plasma, its form and volume is uncertain unless enclosed in a container, but can form structures under a magnetic field. Despite plasma being one of the less well-known states of matter, it is the most common form of matter in the universe. In terms of the phases, plasma is ionised gas, and if de-ionised, it will become a gas. Also, although it is comprised of many charged particles, its overall charge is neutral as the ions cancel each other out.

In "Star Wars", plasma weaponry involves the firing of plasma, which is typically depicted to severely burn and cut upon impact. They have featured in many video games as well as literature. As a side note, a Tribble is a cute fluffy creature which has a remarkable reproduction rate, and comes from "Star Trek" which also topically has some plasma weaponry within.