Laws and Theories of Physics Trivia

1. When a beam of white light experiences dispersion, the result is light which shows all of the colors in a rainbow. Through which device is this most commonly demonstrated?

From Quiz Wave Laws in Physics

Answer: a prism

A prism is the device most commonly used; the famous artwork for the cover of the Pink Floyd album 'The Dark Side of The Moon' demonstrates this effect. Primaquine is a medicine used to treat malaria, a Pringle is an individual potato snack marketed by Kellogg's, and prindle is the pronunciation for the initials that make up the gears on an automatic transmission (park, reverse, neutral, drive, and low [gear]).

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: seconds

Resistance is measured in ohms, and capacitance is measured in farads. The formula for finding the time constant, tau τ, is resistance multiplied by capacitance. Thus, an ohm-farad is a second.

From Quiz Who Needs Airbags?

Answer: The law of inertia

Newton's first law, that of inertia, states that an object in motion tends to remain in motion, unless acted upon by another force. For example, in a car crash, the car is brought to a sudden stop. However, YOU continue moving forward until another force acts upon you -- hopefully, the airbag!

From Quiz Gas Laws

Answer: Ideal Gas Law

The ideal gas law has 5 variables. Given 4 of the variables, it is possible to determine a fifth variable. Pressure x Volume = Moles x Gas Constant x Temperature

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: volts

Current is measured in amperes, and resistance in ohms. Ohm's Law states that the current multiplied by resistance gives the voltage (or potential difference). Thus, an ampere-ohm is equal to a volt.

From Quiz Who Needs Airbags?

Answer: No; the air did move forward during the crash -- you just didn't notice it.

All objects with matter have inertia. Period, no questions asked. Since the air has an extremely small mass compared to, say, the car, it moves forward relatively little, but the air DID move forward.

From Quiz Gas Laws

Answer: 0.0821

The variable "R" in the ideal gas law always will be the same if the pressure is measured in ATM and the temperature is measured in Kelvin. "R" is known as the gas constant.

From Quiz Theories of Matter

Answer: Aristotle & Aristoteles

The thory was based on the idea that all matter is made up of four basic substances: earth, water, air, and fire. Aristotle and his followers believed that each of these basic substances had different combinations of four specific qualities: dry, moist, cold, and hot.

From Quiz Wave Laws in Physics

Answer: amplitude

The amplitude describes the distance of a wave from the equilibrium state. The period is the length of a full wave measured in time while wavelength is the full length measured in distance. Frequency is the number of wave crests passing a point in a specific time, often measured in hertz which represent one wave passing in one second.

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: weber

Magnetic field strength is measured in tesla, and cross-sectional area in square metres. Magnetic flux density is calculated by multiplying the magnetic field strength with the cross sectional area, and is measured in webers. Therefore, a tesla-square metre is equal to a weber.

From Quiz Gas Laws

Answer: Pressure and volume

Boyle's law relates the pressure and the volume of a gas as long as the temperature remains constant.

From Quiz Ohm's Lore

Answer: The Greek letter "Omega"

Ohms are symbolized by the upper-case Greek letter omega. Although most Greek letters have been commandeered for use by scientists, omicron has mostly escaped this fate because it resembles an "O" and would be confusing in formulae.

From Quiz Relativity From a Relative Layman

Answer: If the medium existed, it would not be possible to detect it.

Michelson never accepted relativity and continued to conduct additional experiments using refined versions of the original apparatus. Even after Michelson's death in 1931, Kennedy and Thorndike conducted one additional similar experiment in 1932.

From Quiz Wave Laws in Physics

Answer: The tendency for light waves to travel in a straight line

Light waves tend to travel in a straight line. When viewing the partially submerged object, it appears to bend in the water because the density of air and water are different, and therefore the speed of light is different in each medium.

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: joules

Charge is measured in coulombs, and voltage is measured in volts. Work is calculated by multiplying charge by voltage. Hence, a coulomb-volt is equal to a joule.

From Quiz Who Needs Airbags?

Answer: has an equal and opposite reaction.

Newton's third law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. For example, if I am in a rolling chair and I push the desk, the desk pushes back on me, resulting in backwards motion.

From Quiz Gas Laws

Answer: Law of volumes

Charles's Law is named for Jacques Charles who carried out experiments in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He described how gases expanded when heated and contract when they cool.

From Quiz Ohm's Lore

Answer: Joseph and Michael

The unit of inductance is called the henry, after Joseph Henry (1797-1878), American physicist and first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The unit of capacitance is called the farad, after Michael Faraday (1791-1867), British inventor of the electric motor, the dynamo, the transformer, and the generator. One farad is equivalent to one coulomb of stored charge per volt of applied potential difference. (Are you wondering what a coulomb is? Have you ever also wondered what the name of one unit of trivia is? Yes, these are things that make you go "Ohmmmm"...)

From Quiz Theories of Matter

Answer: cathode ray tube

J.J. Thomson (1856-1940) used the most primitive tool of the listed above since he could not have an electronic microscope or a mass spectrometer at the time. CANDU is a Canadian-designed nuclear reactor system.

From Quiz Wave Laws in Physics

Answer: Christian Doppler

Christian Doppler originally stated this phenomenon as a way to explain the color of binary stars, first described in 1842. The other choices are scientists known more for their works in chemistry rather than wave physics.

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: tesla

Force is measured in newtons, current in amperes, and distance in metres. Force can be calculated using the formula F=BIl, where F is the force, B is the magnetic field strength, I is the current, and l is the distance. Rearranging this for B, we find that a newton per ampere-metre is a tesla.

From Quiz Gas Laws

Answer: P-1 + P-2 + P-3 = P-total

John Dalton created this law showing that the sum of all the gas pressures is equivalent to the total pressure.

From Quiz Ohm's Lore

Answer: Siemens

Mho is the the inverse of a resistance, in other words 1/r. If we look at our now-familiar formula V=IR, we see that it could also be configured as I=V/r = I=V*(1/r), which is I=V*Mho German electrical engineer Werner von Siemens did some studies with this and the unit was renamed after him. (It is interesting to note that while the unit is now called a siemens, "mho" is still a viable Scrabble word, and I encourage its use as such.)

From Quiz Wave Laws in Physics

Answer: refraction

The amount of refraction that occurs is defined by the refractive index of the material. Reflection occurs when a wave bounces off a surface. Diffraction happens when a wave encounters an obstacle and its path is disturbed. Magna fluctus is the Latin phrase for a large wave.

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: amperes

Charge is measured in coulombs, and time is measured in seconds. Current is equal to charge divided by time, and so one coulomb per second will produce one ampere of current.

From Quiz Who Needs Airbags?

Answer: gravitation

While it's true that all objects with mass have density, volume and gravitation, Newton's first law states gravitation specifically. What Newton means is that every object has some degree of influencing objects around it. A rock will not have as much as, say, the Earth, but it's still something.

From Quiz Relativity From a Relative Layman

Answer: The theory of invariants

Einstein sought to determine what was invariant in all reference frames. Accordingly, Einstein's original title for his theory was the "Theory of Invariants". (Max Planck persuaded Einstein to change it to the "Theory of Relativity.") Einstein is often wrongly quoted as having said, "Everything is relative." He did not. In fact, Einstein became disenchanted with quantum theory in large measure because of the inherent uncertainty that quantum theory requires. After completing his work on relativity, Einstein spent the rest of his career unsuccessfully attempting to devise a "unified field theory" that would explain all known forces and banish Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

From Quiz Theories of Matter

Answer: alpha particles

Alpha particle is basically the nucleus of a helium atom produced by radioactive decay of uranium.

From Quiz Kinetic Theory of Gases and Related Laws

Answer: Most probable speed

The y-axis represents the number of molecules and the x-axis represents the molecular speed. Consequently , the x-coordinate at the peak would show the speed at which you will find the maximum amount of molecules. The most probable speed can be found by using the following formula: c* = square root of ( 2*R*T/M) where R is the universal gas constant, T is the temperature and M is the molar mass of the gas species concerned.

From Quiz Replace Those Units!

Answer: watts

Current is measured in amperes, and resistance in ohms. Power is equal to the square of the current multiplied by the resistance. Thus, one ampere-squared per ohm is a watt.

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Last Updated Oct 13 2025 8:29 AM

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