Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "Good day. My name is Eustace Trivia, inventor and captain of the Trivia Time Treader. My friend Pill and I are just ready to begin our trivial research into electricity. I have set the Treader subject to "electricity" and the category to "history". Go ahead, Pill, push the button." Pill pushed the button. The room blurred, then faded, and they found themselves standing in front of a table. Behind the table, sat a longhaired, bearded man in a white robe. As they watched, he rubbed a glassy object with an animal fur. He held the glassy object over a small pile of pigeon feathers, and the feathers leapt up and stuck to the glassy object.
"What is that?" Pill inquired, pointing at the glassy object.
The man, noticing Pill and Eustace for the first time, held up the glassy object. "Elektron," he said emphatically. There was a flash, and Pill and Eustace found themselves back in the laboratory.
"Wow," gushed Pill, "that had to be Thales. We must have gone all the way back to 600 BC to see him perform the first known experiment with static electricity. But what did he rub with the fur?" (What was it that Thales called "elektron"?)
2. Eustace stood next to the Time Trivia Treader. The subject was still set to electricity. "Pick a new category, Pill," Eustace invited. Pill chose "music" and pushed the button. The room faded away, and they found themselves standing in a music studio. On a chalk board was scrawled "Band: Electric Flag" and "Track: Another Country." At first it seemed they were listening to a collage of noise; but then there was a drum riff, the noise faded and they stood enraptured, as they listened to an astonishing guitar solo. The solo began in a jazz style, but it gradually built to a rock-blues crescendo that left them awed and breathless.
Pill tapped the sound technician on the shoulder, pointed to the lead guitarist and asked, "Who is that?" Before the technician could answer, there was a flash, and they found themselves back in the laboratory. (Who was the guitarist?)
3. Eustace stood in the laboratory with Pill, next to the Time Trivia Treader. "We need to lighten things up a bit," he said. Leaving the machine set for electricity, he set the category dial for "games" and pushed the button. The room faded, and they found themselves standing in Pill's younger cousin's bedroom. The two were sprawled on the floor around a Monopoly board. One had just rolled 11 and landed on the "Electric Company" square.
"Well," said the lad who had rolled to his cousin, "I guess I owe you $44."
"You wish," said the cousin. "I own the Water Works too." There was a flash, and they were back in the laboratory. (How much rent was owed on the "Electric Company"? They are playing the American version.)
4. Eustace and Pill again stood at the controls of the Trivia Time Treader. "I want to choose this time," Pill said. She left subject set to electricity, changed the category to "travel" and pushed the button. The room faded, and Pill and Eustace found themselves standing in a forest, looking down into a gorge at a swiftly flowing river.
"All right," said Eustace, disappointed, "this is all very nice. But, this is wilderness. What does this have to do with electricity?"
Pill replied in her best "Spock" imitation. "It's only logical, Captain. The Trivia Time Treader has brought us to the river in the United States that has the greatest potential for producing hydroelectric power. "
Just before the flash that brought them back to the laboratory, Eustace said, "Brilliant Pill! But I bet you don't know the name of the river?" (What is the river's name?)
5. Eustace and Pill were back in the laboratory with the Trivia Time Treader. The subject was still set to electricity. "Let's go for an animal this time," Pill suggested.
"I'm not too fond of animals," Eustace objected.
"Afraid of them, you mean." Pill corrected, as she spun the category dial to "animal" and pushed the button. The room faded, and they found themselves standing in chest deep water. Eustace watched, horror stricken, as an eel flashed toward him.
"Oh no," Eustace screamed, "it's an Electrophorus electricus!" Just as the eel's head touched his bare arm, there was a flash, and they were back in the laboratory.
Eustace was shaking. "Did you get shocked," Pill asked anxiously.
"Oh, of course not." Eustace answered. (Why didn't Eustace get shocked?)
6. Eustace and Pill were back in their laboratory after an encounter with an electric eel. "Eustace," asked Pill, "if that eel had shocked you, how many coulombs might he have delivered?"
"I'm surprised at you, Pill," answered Eustace. "You should know the proper measure for electric potential." (What are the units with which electrical potential is measured?)
7. Eustace and Pill stood in front of the Trivia Time Treader. "Let's go to the movies," Eustace exclaimed. Leaving subject set to electricity, Eustace set the category dial to "movies" and pushed the button. The room faded around them, and they found themselves standing on a movie set. Pill gasped, for she immediately recognized Robert Redford - a young Robert Redford. She noticed on a chalkboard that the movie being filmed was "The Electric Horseman". A woman talking to Redford had her back to Pill. There was a flash, and they were back in the laboratory. (Who was Robert Redford's co-star in "The Electric Horseman"?)
8. Once again, Eustace and Pill were back in the lab with the Trivia Time Treader. "I suppose," said Eustace resignedly, "we should do sports."
"Yes, let's do" Pill agreed. In no time the subject was set to electricity and category to "sports". Pill pushed the button, and the room faded. They were in a packed football stadium. A team in white was running a play from the other team's 23-yard line. There were lightning bolts on the other team's helmets. Pill glanced at the clock and scoreboard. "This is the last play of the game and the team in white needs a touchdown to tie," she thought. The white quarterback was looking for a receiver. No one was open. As he was tackled, he flipped the ball forward. It rolled toward white #40 at the 11-yard line. White #40 kicked the ball forward to the 5-yard line. There, white #87 kicked it into the end zone and fell on it. And suddenly Pill knew where she was. "This is an historic game!" she thought. Then there was a flash, and she and Eustace were back in the laboratory. (In what city did the NFL team with lightning on their helmets play, at the time of this incident?)
9. Eustace reset the Trivia Time Treader yet again. The subject setting remained on electricity. The category was changed to "television". The room faded and they found themselves in a television studio. A sign proclaimed "General Electric Theater - 1958". Eustace and Pill immediately recognized the host. (Who was he?)
10. "Well," said Eustace, "that ought to about wrap it up."
"How so?" replied Pill. "We have haven't done a very important category."
"And that is?" Eustace inquired.
"It is electricity we're researching." Pill said. "How about science, hmmm?"
"Right, science." said Eustace. "Well, we don't have to travel for that. How about this question, Pill? Imagine a clock with a wire coil around its rim. An electrical current is running clockwise through the wire. In which direction will the magnetic field that the current creates point?"
Source: Author
uglybird
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