Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. We begin with Daniel, who spent the first decade of the 18th century learning to make scientific instruments. His studies led him to create the first mercury thermometer in 1714, and he used this instrument to devise a temperature scale using what units bearing his name?
2. Anders made most of his contributions to meteorology and astronomy, and was the first to realize that the auroras at the poles were caused by magnetism. He is famous today, however, for his temperature scale, now used by most of the world. Which temperature units, based on this scale, are named after him?
3. William worked largely on the dissipation and conservation of energy and patented some 70 inventions. Among his many accomplishments was supervising the 1866 laying of the first transatlantic cable, but his name endures in his scale measuring temperature from absolute zero. What units does it use?
4. Pierre came from a family of scientists and spent the early part of his career studying crystallography and piezoelectric effects. Marie received her doctorate degree in physics the same year she won the Nobel Prize. What unit of radioactivity is named for this famous couple?
5. James helped develop the law of conservation of energy, one of the most important in modern physics. A corollary to that law, stating that electrical conductors produce heat, bears his name, as does what international unit for energy?
6. Isaac's contributions to the sciences are legendary. He formulated laws that governed the field of mechanics until Einstein's theory of relativity, and these laws still provide a good understanding of basic mechanics. When the mathematics of his era proved inadequate for the physics he was doing, he derived an entire branch of mathematics. He is honored today in the name of what international unit of force?
7. Blaise did much of his work in mathematics, working with Fermat to formulate the theory of mathematical probability and doing additional work on conical sections. His chief contribution to mechanics, however, was his experiment proving that the level of mercury in a barometer is related to the atmospheric pressure. What unit of pressure is named in his honor?
8. James spent his life inventing and refining the modern steam engine, inventing such important techniques as the condensing steam engine, sun-and-planet wheels, and the centrifugal governor for speed regulation. What unit of power is given his name?
9. Heinrich expanded Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic nature of light, proving that electricity can be transmitted in the form of electromagnetic waves. His name is used today for what unit of frequency, one of which is equivalent to a single cycle per second?
10. Anders pioneered the science of the spectral analysis of stars, mapping the solar spectrum for the first time and discovering hydrogen in the atmosphere of the sun. He is remembered today in what unit of length, often used by astronomers to measure light waves?
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CellarDoor
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