TouchéGet the appScience trivia questions
Ten questions to try. Pick an answer to see why.
01What gas do red blood cells carry to the body's tissues?Try itHide
Answer: Oxygen
WhyA red blood cell throws out its own nucleus to make more room for oxygen. What is left is a bag of hemoglobin with no DNA. It laps the body about once a minute and lasts around four months.
02What is the chemical symbol for carbon?Try itHide
Answer: C
WhyA plain capital C stands for carbon, the backbone element of all known life. It shows up in everything from diamonds to the graphite in a pencil. Ca, Co and Cr belong to calcium, cobalt and chromium instead.
03Which bone is known as the thigh bone?Try itHide
Answer: Femur
WhyYour thigh bone is about a quarter of your height, and that holds for almost everyone. The ratio is steady enough that scientists can estimate how tall a person was from a single femur.
04What is a substance made of one type of atom called?Try itHide
Answer: Element
WhyAn element cannot be broken down into anything simpler by ordinary chemical means. Gold, oxygen and carbon are all elements on their own. Combine two or more elements chemically and you get a compound instead.
05What is pure water's pH considered?Try itHide
Answer: Neutral
WhyPure water sits right in the middle of the pH scale, neither acidic nor basic. Add lemon juice and it tips acidic; add baking soda and it tips basic. Most tap water is close to neutral but not perfectly so.
06What is the chemical formula for carbon dioxide?Try itHide
Answer: CO2
WhyCO2 means one carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is what you exhale, what plants absorb, and what makes soda fizzy. CO, missing one oxygen, is carbon monoxide, a dangerous gas in its own right.
07Which part of the brain controls balance and coordination?Try itHide
Answer: Cerebellum
WhyThe cerebellum sits at the back of the skull and fine-tunes every movement the body makes. Damage to it can leave someone able to move but unable to move smoothly. Its name comes from Latin for "little brain."
08How many bones are in an adult human skeleton?Try itHide
Answer: 206
WhyBabies are born with around 300 separate bones, and many fuse together as they grow. By adulthood that settles at 206. Roughly half of them are packed into the hands and feet alone.
09What is the smallest bone in the human body?Try itHide
Answer: Stapes
WhyThe stapes sits deep in the middle ear and is smaller than a grain of rice. It is one of three tiny bones that pass sound vibrations to the inner ear.
10What is stainless steel mostly made of?Try itHide
Answer: Iron and chromium
WhyStainless steel is mostly iron with at least 10 percent chromium mixed in. That chromium forms an invisible protective layer that stops rust from spreading. Without it, plain steel corrodes far more easily.
That was 10 of 200.
The rest are in the app, each with the story behind the answer.