How Fast, How Strong, How High Quiz

Answer: Joule

The BTU measures the amount of heat or energy needed to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. One of the definitions of the joule is the heat needed to raise one gram of water 0.24 degrees Celsius. The conversion rate between the two is approximately 1055 joules to one BTU.

The joule is named for James Prescott Joule, an English physicist who studied the nature and characteristics of heat.

Answer: Pound-force

A newton is a measurement of force. One newton would accelerate one kilogram of matter at the rate of one meter per second squared. Gravity on earth would exert about 9.8 newtons on a kilogram of matter. The pound-force measures the gravitational pull at the earth's surface of a one pound mass. A pound-force is equal to slightly less than 4.5 newtons.

The Newton was named for English scientist Isaac Newton who, among many other things, studied gravity.

Answer: Kelvin

The Fahrenheit scale was developed by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit. In this scale, water freezes at 32 degrees and water boils at 212 degrees. The Kelvin scale uses Absolute Zero (the coldest temperature possible in the Universe) as 0. Water freezes (or ice melts) at approximately 273 and water boils at about 373. Like the Celsius or Centigrade scale, there is a difference of 100 between ice becoming water and water becoming steam in the Kelvin scale.

The Kelvin scale is named for William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, a physicist whose work included the study of the laws of thermodynamics.

Answer: Quintal

The kilogram was originally defined as the mass of one litre of water. The quintal is sometimes also called a hundredweight and is equal to 100 pounds. In the United States, a quintal is equal to 100 pounds. A kilogram is equal to about 2.2 pounds in the Avoirdupois system.

The term kilogram is derived from a Greek prefix meaning "thousand" and a Latin word "gramma" meaning a small weight.

Answer: Lux

The foot-candle, though a US Customary unit, is based on a SI unit. One foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot. The lux is similar in that it is equal to one lumen per square meter. One foot-candle is roughly equivalent to 10.8 lux.

Lux is the Latin word for "light".

Answer: Horsepower

The watt is defined as the transfer of one joule of energy per second. The horsepower was meant to define the work exerted by a draft horse. A mechanical horsepower is the energy required to lift 550 pounds one foot in one second. The mechanical horsepower is roughly equivalent to 746 watts.


The watt is named for James Watt of Scotland, who made significant modifications to the steam engine. Ironically, Watt himself developed the concept of horsepower to describe the steam engines he developed.

Answer: Pascal

Just like it sounds, the standard atmosphere is equivalent to air pressure on earth at sea level. This is roughly equivalent to 14.7 pounds per square inch. The pascal is defined as one newton per square meter. The standard atmosphere is equivalent to 101,325 pascals.

The pascal is named for Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and physicist, who conducted experiments related to liquids and air pressure.

Answer: Peck

A litre is equivalent to 1,000 cubic centimetres. The litre was one of the original measurement units of the metric system. Ironically, the term litre was based on a French measurement "litron", which was based on weight, not volume. The peck is a unit for measuring dry volume. It is equivalent to two dry gallons. In the US Customary System, one peck is equal to about 8.8 dry litres.

A peck is also equal one quarter of a bushel. In the song "A Bushel and a Peck", the singer is saying that she loves the equivalent of five pecks. YMMV.

Answer: Hectare

Traditionally, an acre represented the amount of land that a team of eight oxen could plow in a working day. More precisely, the acre is 43,560 square feet with 640 acres in a square mile. The hectare is equivalent to 10,000 square meters. One hectare is equivalent to slightly less than 2.5 acres.

The hectare was based on the are which was 100 square meters. The are was one five basic units defined in 1795 in the French Revolution in "The law of 18 Germinal, Year III".

Answer: Chain

The metre is one of the core units for the entire International System. The original definition from 1793 for a metre was one ten-thousandth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a great circle. This definition has since been modified several times. A chain is a measurement of length used primarily in surveying and is equivalent to 66 feet. A chain would be approximately 20.1 meters long.

The word "metre" is based on both French and Greek words that mean "measure".