Discoveries in Chemistry Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford discovered the proton around 1920, after he had performed many radioactive experiments. He suggested that the nucleus contained a particle with a positive charge, which he named the proton.

Answer: James Chadwick

James Chadwick discovered the neutron. The discovery was made in 1930, when beryllium bombarded by alpha particles emitted a very energetic stream of radiation. This stream was originally thought to be gamma radiation. The neutron is a sub-atomic particle without any charge, and its mass is slightly larger than that of a proton.

Answer: J.J.Thomson

J.J.Thomson discovered the electron in 1897, when he was studying cathode rays. He proposed that atoms weren't totally solid and indivisible but they were made up of smaller subatomic particles.

Answer: Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming, a Scottish doctor was running some experiments in his laboratory. He had been growing bacteria in a Petri dish. He noticed that one of the samples contracted mould, which killed the bacteria and from this penicillin was developed.

Answer: Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner developed the first successful vaccine in 1796. He followed his observation that milkmaids who had earlier caught cowpox, did not later catch smallpox and created a vaccine from cowpox.

Answer: Alexander Parkes

Alexander Parkes, in 1855, created the rather deftly named Parkesine. An inventor, Parkes intended for this plastic to be used as a waterproof coating for fabric clothes.

Answer: Henri Becquerel

Henri Becquerel was examining why certain materials glow in the dark. He noticed that uranium changed the colour of light-sensitive sheets, even when there was a paper layer between the sheet and the element. He realised that it emitted something that he could not see with his eyes. This was called radio-activity.

Answer: Martin Heinrich Klaproth

Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered uranium in 1789. The metal was named after the then recent discovery of the planet Uranus. He also discovered zirconium (1789), and cerium (1803). He described them as distinct elements, though he did not obtain them in the pure metallic state.

Answer: Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, started the development of the periodic table in 1869, arranging chemical elements by atomic mass. He predicted the discovery of other elements, and left spaces open in his periodic table for them.

Answer: Henry Cavendish

English scientist Henry Cavendish discovered hydrogen as an element in 1766. To discover the element, Cavendish used zinc and hydrochloric acid. He noticed that a gas was produced when zinc or iron was dropped into an acid. He called this gas "inflammable air" (known today as hydrogen). He found that hydrogen produced water when it burned.