Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Quiz

Answer: Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton, also known as the Father of Dynamics, was best known for his three laws of motion. According to physicsclassroom.com, Newton's first law of motion is stated as follows: "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."

The original joke, taken from
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2.html#chicken_27 is:
Q : Why did the chicken cross the road?
Isaac Newton: Chickens at rest tend to stay at rest. Chickens in motion tend to cross the road.

Answer: Pierre de Fermat

Pierre de Fermat was known as "the king of amateurs". He was a lawyer. Fermat's last theorem states that there is no solution for the equation x^n + y^n = z^n, where n is any integer greater than 2. He first formulated this theorem in 1637. This theorem remained unsolved for centuries until it was proven by Andrew Wiles in 1995. The proof was published in the renowned mathematics journal, "Annals of Mathematics" in May 1995.

Fermat wrote in "Arithmetica", "It is impossible to separate a cube into two cubes, or a fourth power into two fourth powers, or in general, any power higher than the second, into two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain." The original text was in Latin.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/1.html#chicken_1 is:
Q : Why did the chicken cross the road?
Pierre de Fermat:
1: I just don't have room here to give the full explanation.
2: It did not fit on the margin on this side.

Answer: Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 for his groundbreaking work in atomic theory. He was a good friend of Albert Einstein.

In 1935, he proposed his famous cat experiment. The thought provoking experiment goes something like this: A cat and a vial are put in a sealed box. The vial contains a poison, which will be released and eventually kill the cat if the Geiger counter detects radioactivity in the box.

The explanation given by the superposition principle of quantum mechanics (Copenhagen interpretation) is that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2_10.html#chicken_38 is:
Q : Why did the chicken cross the road?
Erwin Schrödinger:
1. Since the wording of the question implies the absence of an observer(else the fowl's motivation might easily be deduced), it is evident that the chicken simultaneously did and did not cross the road. In the face of this, any speculation as to the bird's purpose must be viewed as mere sophistry -- and as such is beyond the bounds of this discussion.
2. Chicken? Chicken!? Where's my cat?
3. Until the actual act or non-act of crossing the road was observed, the act remained a cloud of probabilities.

Answer: August Möbius

August Möbius was credited with the discovery of the Möbius strip, which is a three-dimensional object with a two-dimensional surface, yet it has only one side. To construct a Möbius strip, just take a long strip of paper and give it a half-twist before joining the ends of the paper together. Now, if you cut the Möbius strip in half along its length, instead of getting two loops, you would actually end up getting a larger loop.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/1_6.html#chicken_6 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip?
A: To get to the other ... er, um ...

Answer: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein proposed both the general theory of relativity (a more general form of Newton's law of universal gravitation) and the special theory of relativity.

An explanation of the theory of special relativity, taken from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/what-is-relativity1.htm is:

"Einstein proposed the theory of special relativity, which boils down to this: The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames, and the speed of light is the same for all observers. Whether you're in a broken-down school bus, a speeding train or some manner of futuristic rocket ship, light moves at the same speed, and the laws of physics remain constant. Assuming speed and direction are constant and there wasn't a window to peer through, you wouldn't be able to tell which of these three vessels you were traveling in."

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2_11.html#chicken_40 is:
Q :Why did the chicken cross the road?
Albert Einstein:
1. Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.
2. It was a relatively easy thing to do.

Answer: Werner Heisenberg

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is used widely in the field of quantum mechanics. It was first published in 1927. The principle states that at any given time, it is impossible to determine simultaneously the exact position and momentum of a particle.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2.html#chicken_23 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Werner Heisenberg:
1. We are not sure which side of the road the chicken was on, but it was moving very fast.
2. It was uncertain if it could make it, but wanted to try on general principles.
3. Because the chicken is moving very fast, you can either observe the chicken or you can measure the chicken, but you cannot do both.
4. We could tell you how it crossed the road, but we couldn't tell you where.

Answer: Zeno

Zeno of Elea was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. His paradox of Achilles and the tortoise was recorded in Aristotle's "Physics". Achilles and a tortoise participate in a footrace. The tortoise gets a 100m headstart. Now, suppose that Achilles is running at a speed of 10m/s and the tortoise is crawling at a much slower pace, namely 1m/s. With some algebra, we know that Achilles would eventually overtake the tortoise.

Mathematically speaking, let t be the time Achilles overtakes the tortoise. We are given that the tortoise is given a 100m head start, Achilles' speed is 10m/s and the tortoise's speed is 1m/s.

Distance travelled by Achilles = 100 + distance travelled by the tortoise
Speed of Achilles x time taken = 100 + Speed of the tortoise x time taken
10 x t = 100 + 1 x t
10t = 100 + t
100 = 9t
t = 100/9 = 11.11s

Thus, at the time t = 11.11s, Achilles will overtake the tortoise.

However, Zeno provided the following argument: After 10 seconds, Achilles will arrive at the place where the tortoise has started. But then, in those 10 seconds, the tortoise has travelled 10 x 1 = 10m. So we can conclude that after 10 seconds, Zeno is 10m behind the tortoise.

After another 1 second, Achilles will run another 10m, but the tortoise will also crawl another 1 x 1 = 1m. Zeno concluded that whenever Achilles reaches a particular point, the tortoise has been there before, so he can never overtake the tortoise.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2.html#chicken_33 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Zeno of Elea: To prove it could never reach the other side.

Answer: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, detailing the evidence for evolution. The phrase "survival of the fittest" was coined by Herbert Spencer after reading Darwin's book. He wrote, "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life."

In general, "fitter" individuals refer to the ones with better genetic traits. Hence, they can adapt to their environment better than the remaining individuals.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/4_6.html#chicken_52 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Charles Darwin:
1. The fittest chickens cross the road.
2. Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically dispositioned to cross roads.

Answer: Henry Louis Le Chatelier

Le Chatelier's principle states that if a chemical system at equilibrium is disturbed by some changes in concentration, volume, temperature or pressure, the position of equilibrium will shift in such a way to minimize the changes.

To illustrate, consider the following chemical system at equilibrium:

A + B = C + D (= is a double arrow that indicates an equilibrium reaction)

If the concentration of A is increased, the position of equilibrium will shift in such a way to decrease the concentration of A, so by Le Chatelier's principle, the position of equilibrium will move to the right.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/3.html#chicken_44 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Henry Louis Le Chatelier: The chicken crossed the road because there were too many moles of chicken on the reactants side of the road equilibrium.

Answer: André-Marie Ampère

André-Marie Ampère was a renowned French physicist who made great contribution in the field of electromagnetism. In 1826, he proposed Ampère's circuital law.

Tesla, farad and volt are the SI units for magnetic flux density, capacitance and potential difference, respectively.

The original joke, taken from http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/2.html#chicken_9 is:
Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
André-Marie Ampère: To keep up with current events.