Science Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- What colour does copper turn when it oxidises?
- A. Blue
- B. Black
- C. Yellow
- D. Green
- Which metal is considered the most precious and expensive in the world?
- A. Platinum
- B. Rhodium
- C. Gold
- D. Palladium
- What is the gravitational acceleration on Earth?
- A. 9.8 m/s²
- B. 20 m/s²
- C. 5 m/s²
- D. 1 m/s²
- Which is the main gas responsible for the greenhouse effect?
- A. Helium
- B. Nitrogen
- C. Oxygen
- D. Carbon dioxide
- Which neurotransmitter, about 90% of which is produced in the intestine, is often nicknamed the 'feel-good chemical'?
- A. Oxytocin
- B. Dopamine
- C. Endorphin
- D. Serotonin
- Through what can sound not travel?
- A. Rock
- B. Water
- C. Ice
- D. Vacuum
- What is the lightest metal?
- A. Titanium
- B. Aluminium
- C. Beryllium
- D. Lithium
- What is the process called when a body passes from the solid to the vapour state?
- A. Deposition
- B. Sublimation
- C. Super-evaporation
- D. Evaporation
- How many wheels does a bicycle have?
- A. 2
- B. 1
- C. 3
- D. 4
- Where does the barcode come from?
- A. Developed for tracking postal parcels in the 1950s
- B. Designed for supermarkets: patented in 1952, first used at a checkout in 1974
- C. Inspired by Morse code and used from the 1920s
- D. Created to identify library books in the 1960s
- How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?
- A. 1 second
- B. 8 minutes
- C. 1 hour
- D. 1 day
- Which major discovery did Michael Faraday make in 1831?
- A. Electromagnetic induction
- B. Ohm's law
- C. Radio
- D. The transistor
- What unit is frequency measured in?
- A. The hertz
- B. The decibel
- C. The watt
- D. The newton
- Why is salt spread on roads in winter?
- A. Because it warms the tarmac
- B. Because it absorbs snow
- C. Because it gives tyres more grip
- D. Because it lowers the temperature at which water freezes
- What happens to the difference between liquid and gas beyond water's 'critical point', around 374 °C and 221 bar?
- A. It disappears: there is only a single fluid
- B. The liquid turns into scalding ice
- C. The gas becomes a glowing plasma
- D. Water breaks down into hydrogen and oxygen
- Why can some insects, such as the pond skater, walk on water?
- A. They are lighter than air
- B. The water is denser where they walk
- C. They produce a gel that solidifies the surface
- D. Surface tension makes the surface behave like a stretched membrane
- Why do strawberries sprinkled with sugar release juice after a while?
- A. Sugar dissolves the strawberries' skin
- B. Sugar reacts with the fruit's acidity
- C. The strawberries absorb the sugar and burst
- D. Through osmosis: water in the cells passes through their membranes towards the more concentrated sugar
- What principle is dialysis, which takes over the work of the kidneys for some patients, based on?
- A. The blood is heated to destroy toxins
- B. A powerful magnet draws waste out of the blood
- C. A membrane lets small unwanted molecules pass from the blood into a rinsing fluid
- D. The blood is completely replaced at each session
- For which discovery did Albert Einstein receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921?
- A. The theory of relativity
- B. The formula E = mc²
- C. Inventing the atomic bomb
- D. Explaining the photoelectric effect
- Why is a 'quartz' watch so accurate?
- A. A tiny quartz crystal, driven by a voltage, vibrates at a very stable frequency, 32,768 times a second
- B. The quartz picks up a time signal sent by satellite
- C. The quartz slows the gears down evenly
- D. Quartz expands very little with heat
Answer key — Science Quiz
- D. GreenThe colour of oxidised copper is called verdigris.
- B. RhodiumRhodium is a rare and expensive metal used in catalytic converters.
- A. 9.8 m/s²The standard value is 9.8 m/s².
- D. Carbon dioxideCO2 is the main greenhouse gas.
- D. SerotoninSerotonin is associated with wellbeing.
- D. VacuumSound requires a physical medium.
- D. LithiumLithium is the lightest metal.
- B. SublimationIt is sublimation.
- A. 2A bicycle has 2 wheels.
- B. Designed for supermarkets: patented in 1952, first used at a checkout in 1974Its inventors, Woodland and Silver, drew on Morse code and designed it with supermarket checkouts in mind.
- B. 8 minutesIt takes approximately 8 minutes for light to reach us.
- A. Electromagnetic inductionMichael Faraday discovered that a changing magnetic field could generate an electric current, a fundamental principle behind electric generators and transformers.
- A. The hertzOne hertz is one cycle per second. The unit honours Heinrich Hertz, who proved the existence of radio waves in 1887…
- D. Because it lowers the temperature at which water freezesSalty water only freezes at temperatures well below 0 °C. But below about -10 °C, salt becomes much less effective…
- A. It disappears: there is only a single fluidUnder high pressure, water no longer visibly boils: beyond the critical point there is no surface between liquid and vapour, just a single fluid with in-between properties.
- D. Surface tension makes the surface behave like a stretched membraneWater molecules attract each other strongly, creating a kind of 'skin' at the surface.
- D. Through osmosis: water in the cells passes through their membranes towards the more concentrated sugarCell membranes let water through but hold back sugar. So water moves outwards, where the sugar concentration is higher, forming a syrup.
- C. A membrane lets small unwanted molecules pass from the blood into a rinsing fluidBlood flows on one side of a semi-permeable membrane, dialysis fluid on the other.
- D. Explaining the photoelectric effectSurprisingly, it was not relativity, then considered too controversial, that was rewarded.
- A. A tiny quartz crystal, driven by a voltage, vibrates at a very stable frequency, 32,768 times a secondQuartz is piezoelectric: it deforms under a voltage and produces a voltage when deformed.