Schroedinger's Cattery Trivia Quiz

Answer: CAThode

The cathode is the negative one of two matching terminals in a direct current circuit. The term can, but not necessarily has to, refer to the voltage source itself, and it can also be used for the two poles in an important circuit component such as a vacuum tube (diode) or an electrolysis element.

Its positive complement is the anode - and if you can't remember which is which, forget about all spelling for a moment and remind yourself that the CAThode is neCATive!

Answer: CATion

Confusing, isn't it? An anode is positive but an anion is negative and, conversely, the negative cathode matches the positive cation? However, this apparent paradox is the very reason for the naming of the ions: anions are, by the original definition, the ions found at anodes during an electrolysis process and cations are found at cathodes. Since opposite electrical charges attract each other, this definition directly led to the confusing crossed-over naming scheme.

Answer: CATalyst

A catalyst, by definition, is a substance that will modify the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed by it. Note that this does not imply that the catalytic element or compound does not take part in the reaction - quite often, an atom or molecule of the catalyst first reacts with one of the reaction partners, forming an intermediate product which then reacts with another partner, yielding the desired product as well as the original catalyst atom/molecule. Also, it is possible - although extremely rare in engineering practice - to have a catalyst that slows down a reaction. Usually, if a reduced reaction rate is required, it is much easier to simply control the rate or concentration at which the raw substances are added to the mix.

Answer: CATarrh

While many laypeople would associate a catarrh to be synonymous with a cough or cold, this is actually not true - those are merely manifestations of the actual catarrh which actually means an inflammation of a mucous membrane, usually (but not necessarily) in an airway.

Historically, the term catarrh was used to describe a whole spectrum of disorders related to the airways, an ambiguity which makes this term deprecated in modern medical texts, in favor of specific descriptions of the inflamed tissues such as rhinitis (nose) or sinusitis.

Answer: CATaract

Cataracts are caused by the deterioration of proteins in the lens of the eye, a process that is, at least to some extent a natural side effect of aging although the rate at which it occurs - and thus the extent to which it will cause any specific person problems - is widely dependent on a plethora of genetic and environmental factors. Affected patients will first notice glare or a reduction of visual acuity and the disease can progress to a point where the patient is effectively blind. Surgery is the only available treatment, but the procedure is common and carries a very low risk.

Answer: CATheter

The most commonly used catheters in medicine are the urinary catheter - a tube inserted into or even past the bladder to enable controlled urinary voiding in cases where bladder control is lacking or natural urination could pose a risk, for example to fresh wounds - and a venous catheter (port) as a reusable alternative to an injection or infusion needle.

However, catheters can also be placed into nearly any other tissue, often to drain fluids. As an exception to the terminology, while a nasal feeding tube would technically meet the definition of a catheter, it is typically not referred to as such.

Answer: CATatonia

While the state of catatonia is often associated with a complete, motionless stupor, this not actually required - the key characteristic of catatonia is the inability to gain an appropriate reaction from the patient via outside stimuli. A catatonic patient might repeat a simple movement or repetitively speak the same phrase - or they might even be excited and hyperactive, eagerly performing some senseless activity. Catatonia very rarely manifests independently.

It is almost universally a symptom of an underlying psychic disorder or a medication side effect.

Answer: CATabolism

Catabolism is a metabolic process during which large nutrient molecules, particularly proteins and starches, are broken down into their individual units (amino acids and sugars, respectively). Its opposite is anabolism, the process of concatenating these units into new building blocks of the cells as required.

In a living organism, catabolic processes dominate over anabolic ones as a substantial portion of the broken-down nutrients is oxidized for energy instead of being used as building blocks.

Answer: CATenation

Catenation is the ability of atoms to connect to long chains of the same element. Carbon is the only element that exhibits practically unlimited catenation; its group 14 successor silicon is second, forming stable chains of up to 8 atoms even though the silanes (silicon-hydrogen compounds) are all strongly reducing. Sulfur also chains up to 8 atoms (in the form of the S8 ring) and can form even longer chains at high temperatures.

Answer: CATheti

Pretty much everyone knows Pythagoras' theorem, but it may be less known that there are specific terms for the sides: The long side is called the hypotenuse and the two short sides, bordering the right angle, are called catheti (the singular is cathetus, but is even less frequently used). If you really want to impress, don't state the famous theorem as just "a square plus b square is c square" but use the pompous "the square of the hypotenuse is the sum of the squares of the catheti".

It will work wonders on your nerd factor!