Physics trivia

180 Physics trivia questions, no sign-in. Review your misses in the LoreUp app.

• Which physical quantity puts a number on how hot or cold something is?Thermodynamics
• In quantum mechanics, which quantity grows harder to know precisely the more precisely a particle's position is known?Quantum physics
• Which process has an excited atom prompted by a passing photon to release one more identical photon?Quantum physics
• Which cryptographic technique uses the fact that measuring changes the state to catch an eavesdropping attempt?Quantum physics
• What is the least energy needed to knock a single electron out of a metal surface called?Quantum physics
• Which phenomenon has the measurement outcome of one particle locked to the state of another even when the two are far apart?Quantum physics
• The limit the uncertainty principle speaks of is a technical one that better measuring equipment can overcome.Quantum physics
• Adding one more qubit doubles the number of states that can be handled together.Quantum physics
• In the double-slit experiment, switching on a detector that reveals which slit the electron went through makes the interference pattern vanish.Quantum physics
• A photon has zero rest mass yet carries momentum, so it can push on an object.Quantum physics
• As quantum mechanics took hold, Newtonian mechanics for the everyday world was discarded as a wrong theory.Quantum physics
• What is the phenomenon in which a material's electrical resistance falls to zero at very low temperature called?Quantum physics
• What is the quantum state in which a qubit can hold 0 and 1 at the same time called?Quantum physics
• Which device makes light of a single wavelength whose phase is aligned, so the beam runs straight without spreading?Quantum physics
• What is it called when energy can take only certain separated values instead of a continuous range?Quantum physics
• Because quantum physics deals only with the very small, it has nothing to do with everyday devices such as smartphones and computers.Quantum physics
• Among the colours of visible light, which one carries the most energy in a single photon?Quantum physics
• An atom is mostly empty space, and its mass is packed into a tiny nucleus.Quantum physics
• A photon carries a negative charge, so its path bends as it passes through an electric field.Quantum physics
• A quantum computer simply runs every calculation today's computers do, only faster.Quantum physics
• Even when the same experiment is repeated under identical conditions, quantum mechanics cannot pin down each single outcome and predicts it as a probability.Quantum physics
• Which material is an insulator, letting electricity pass only poorly?Electromagnetism
• Which kind of radiation penetrates so weakly that a single sheet of paper can stop it?Atoms and nuclear energy
• Sound travels well even through a vacuum, where there is no air.Waves and sound
• The first law of thermodynamics is the law that heat flows from the hotter side to the colder side.Thermodynamics
• Convection is heat transfer in which the material stays in place and the heat passes through collisions between particles.Thermodynamics
• Special relativity holds that two events simultaneous for one observer are simultaneous for another observer as well.Relativity
• When you push a wall with your hand, the wall stays still and only your hand exerts a force.Mechanics
• Which formula correctly relates a wave's speed v, frequency f, and wavelength λ?Waves and sound
• What is it called when an ambulance siren sounds at a different pitch coming toward you than going away?Waves and sound
• What do we call sound too high in frequency for the human ear to hear?Waves and sound
• Which property of sound makes an echo come back when you shout in the mountains?Waves and sound
• What does sound need in order to travel?Waves and sound
• Which physical quantity sets the pitch of a sound?Waves and sound
• What is it called when you shout at a mountain or a building and the sound comes back?Waves and sound
• Which phenomenon appears when sunlight is refracted, reflected, and dispersed in raindrops?Waves and sound
• What is the unit of frequency?Waves and sound
• Roughly what is the speed of sound in air at room temperature, about 20 degrees C?Waves and sound
• In air, light spreads more slowly than sound.Waves and sound
• When light reflects, the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are equal.Waves and sound
• The speed of a wave is written as its frequency divided by its wavelength.Waves and sound
• When light passes from air into water, it generally slows down.Waves and sound
• When a sounding object moves toward an observer, the frequency the observer hears rises.Waves and sound
• The higher the frequency of a sound, the lower the note we hear.Waves and sound
• The larger the amplitude of a sound, the louder it generally sounds.Waves and sound
• Light can travel through a vacuum.Waves and sound
• Sound travels far faster than light.Waves and sound
• When water in a pot is heated, warm water rises and cold water sinks. Which mode of heat transfer is this?Thermodynamics
• Which quantity gives the heat needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one kelvin?Thermodynamics
• Which law states that energy may change form but is never created or destroyed?Thermodynamics
• Which change of state turns a solid into a liquid as it takes in heat?Thermodynamics
• Which equation gives the relation between the pressure P, volume V, amount n, and absolute temperature T of an ideal gas?Thermodynamics
• When you touch the handle of a hot pot, by which mode does heat pass into your hand?Thermodynamics
• What is the SI unit of thermodynamic absolute temperature?Thermodynamics
• When water in a kettle is heated, the hot water below rises and spreads the heat. Which mode of transfer is this?Thermodynamics
• What is the SI unit of energy, heat included?Thermodynamics
• The Sun's heat reaches the Earth because the air of outer space carries it here.Thermodynamics
• A black surface tends to absorb thermal radiation better than a white one.Thermodynamics
• Water has a fairly high specific heat, so its temperature changes relatively slowly for the same amount of heat.Thermodynamics
• A gas that expands and pushes a piston can do work on its surroundings.Thermodynamics