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Quiz about Alexander Graham Bell
Quiz about Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell Trivia Quiz


Alexander Graham Bell is mostly known for being credited (albeit controversially) with inventing the telephone. However, our modern world is founded on Bell's ideas well beyond telecommunications.

A multiple-choice quiz by AlexT781. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
AlexT781
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
376,209
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
362
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
-
Question 1 of 10
1. Bell built and installed one of these devices to keep his own house cool in the summer. He never developed it further, and Willis Carrier ended up with the patent and credit for inventing it. Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Shortly before his death, in his final interview, Alexander Graham Bell spoke of a way to power and heat homes with system that wouldn't come to light for many decades after his death. Even though it's more efficient and cost-effective, what is the device Bell imagined, and has been successfully opposed by traditional coal-powered electricity providers? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Only four years after inventing the telephone and 20 years before the radio, Bell and his assistant in 1880 successfully transmitted a voice message 700 feet over a beam of light. What invention, nearly 100 years after, made transmitting messages through visible light practicable? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In 1881, Alexander Graham Bell hastily threw together a device to try to locate the bullet in President Garfield's body after his assassination. The president's doctors refused to move the president off the metal frame bed, and Bell's device failed to detect the bullet. What is this invention that Bell never further improved or patented? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In the early 1900s, Bell became interested in ship designs that would become known as hydrofoils. In 1919, his prototype, called HD-4, set a world marine speed record for hydrofoils that stood for well over 10 years. What speed did Alexander Graham Bell's prototype achieve? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Alexander Graham Bell founded the "Aerial Experiment Association" in 1907, after 15 years of tinkering with heavier-than-air flight. Two inventions developed by the AEA are today basic parts of all aircraft. Which two aircraft parts were NOT present until a decade after the first successful flight? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. After founding Volta Laboratory (today known as Bell Labs), Alexander Graham Bell experimented with, but didn't develop a prototype, using magnetic fields to imprint sound onto a storage device so it could later be accessed at any time. What device, very common these days, did the principles first discovered by Bell lead to? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Although his first experiments with sound were intended to help the deaf, some view Bell negatively because his early work was done with the goal of eliminating the teaching of sign language. However, Alexander Graham Bell received praise from a former student of his, known for overcoming both deafness and blindness. Who was it? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Bell's legacy of invention was carried on after his death by Bell Laboratories. While today Bell Labs may not have the prestige it once had, they have invented or refined countless devices that made our modern world possible. In 1947, what was invented at Bell Labs, that without, you would never reach FunTrivia? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. It seems every great inventor has at least prophetic vision, and Alexander Graham Bell had many visions. In 1906, he predicted people using a telephone would be able to do which of these? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Bell built and installed one of these devices to keep his own house cool in the summer. He never developed it further, and Willis Carrier ended up with the patent and credit for inventing it.

Answer: air conditioner

Far from being able to claim having a hand in the invention of air conditioning, Bell simply used his knowledge to install a primitive air conditioning system, supposedly consisting primarily of large fans and blocks of ice.
2. Shortly before his death, in his final interview, Alexander Graham Bell spoke of a way to power and heat homes with system that wouldn't come to light for many decades after his death. Even though it's more efficient and cost-effective, what is the device Bell imagined, and has been successfully opposed by traditional coal-powered electricity providers?

Answer: solar power

While not something he tried to develop, Bell believed solar power could be harnessed to eliminate pollution from traditional sources. He was something of an environmentalist, and toward the end of his life outlined ideas that weren't seriously considered for 50 years after Bell's death, and are still being fought by businesses dependent on fossil fuels.
3. Only four years after inventing the telephone and 20 years before the radio, Bell and his assistant in 1880 successfully transmitted a voice message 700 feet over a beam of light. What invention, nearly 100 years after, made transmitting messages through visible light practicable?

Answer: fiber-optic cable

While radio and cell phones transmit through light waves, they aren't visible to us. Fiber-optic cable, first installed in the early 1980s, allows usable messages to be sent through visible, "normal", light. If you were to bend a fiber-optic cable near to breaking, you should be able to see the light inside the cable if your surroundings are dim enough. Alexander Graham Bell was unable to improve his "Photophone".

However, he considered it his most important invention.
4. In 1881, Alexander Graham Bell hastily threw together a device to try to locate the bullet in President Garfield's body after his assassination. The president's doctors refused to move the president off the metal frame bed, and Bell's device failed to detect the bullet. What is this invention that Bell never further improved or patented?

Answer: metal detector

The failure of Bell's metal detector has been debated many times. Bell himself changed his mind after more experiments with the detector. Initially, Bell thought the metal springs inside the mattress overwhelmed the signal from the bullet. Nearly a year after, Bell concluded that the bullet was too deep for the device to detect.
5. In the early 1900s, Bell became interested in ship designs that would become known as hydrofoils. In 1919, his prototype, called HD-4, set a world marine speed record for hydrofoils that stood for well over 10 years. What speed did Alexander Graham Bell's prototype achieve?

Answer: 71 mph

Alexander Graham Bell, Walter Pinaud, and Casey Baldwin developed and tested the HD-4. Casey piloted the hydrofoil in the run that set the speed record. Like Bell's aircraft experiments, further development was left to his associates, and Bell took little part in the projects.
6. Alexander Graham Bell founded the "Aerial Experiment Association" in 1907, after 15 years of tinkering with heavier-than-air flight. Two inventions developed by the AEA are today basic parts of all aircraft. Which two aircraft parts were NOT present until a decade after the first successful flight?

Answer: ailerons and tail rudder

It's hard to imagine an airplane flying without ailerons or rudders, but it wasn't until approximately 10 years after the Wright brothers first successful flight that those parts were invented and tested. A member of Bell's team was Lt. Thomas Selfridge, who became the first person to die in an airplane crash.

After Selfridge's death, the U.S. Army Air Corps required all pilots to wear helmets.
7. After founding Volta Laboratory (today known as Bell Labs), Alexander Graham Bell experimented with, but didn't develop a prototype, using magnetic fields to imprint sound onto a storage device so it could later be accessed at any time. What device, very common these days, did the principles first discovered by Bell lead to?

Answer: hard disk drive

Many devices took advantage of Bell's early experiments. Cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and hard drives were all developed with the use of Bell's experiments' results. After not being able to develop a working prototype himself, Bell moved on to modifying the phonograph, making Edison's invention commercially practical.
8. Although his first experiments with sound were intended to help the deaf, some view Bell negatively because his early work was done with the goal of eliminating the teaching of sign language. However, Alexander Graham Bell received praise from a former student of his, known for overcoming both deafness and blindness. Who was it?

Answer: Helen Keller

Being blind as well as deaf meant sign language was initially of no use to Helen. While Alexander Graham Bell did not play a large role in Helen Keller's education, she nevertheless felt that he was "dedicated to helping the deaf, not discriminating them".
9. Bell's legacy of invention was carried on after his death by Bell Laboratories. While today Bell Labs may not have the prestige it once had, they have invented or refined countless devices that made our modern world possible. In 1947, what was invented at Bell Labs, that without, you would never reach FunTrivia?

Answer: the transistor

The transistor is the foundation of all computers. They enable computers today to run faster, thus processing more data, then possible with the old vacuum tubes. Two recent breakthroughs made at Bell Labs include in 1997, constructing the smallest working transistor then achievable (it was only 182 atoms wide), and in 2014, reaching data transmission speeds of 10 gigabits per second over traditional copper telephone lines.
10. It seems every great inventor has at least prophetic vision, and Alexander Graham Bell had many visions. In 1906, he predicted people using a telephone would be able to do which of these?

Answer: see each other

In 1906, Alexander Graham Bell said in an interview, he foresaw "the day will come when the man at the telephone will be able to see the distant person to whom he is speaking".
Source: Author AlexT781

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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