Chemistry Trivia

1. Chemistry is divided into two broad sub-fields. What are they called?

From Quiz Chemistry for the Non Chemist

Answer: Organic and Inorganic

Organic chemistry, so named in 1807 by the Sweedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, is the chemistry of living things. Inorganic chemistry deals with non-living things, such as soil, water and air.

From Quiz Reading the Table

Answer: Burgium has two more electrons in its valence shell than Loonium

The group (or column) in which an element is found is a good indicator of the number of electrons in its valence (outermost) electron shell. Elements in group 1 have one valence electron, elements in group 2 have two valence electrons, and noble gases (in group 8 (or 18)) have a full outer shell of electrons.

From Quiz Chemistry of Candles

Answer: Alkane

As a chemical term, a paraffin is an alkane or saturated hydrocarbon. All alkanes have the formula CnH(2n+2) and consist of a straight chain of carbon atoms connected by single bonds. The carbons' valence electrons not needed to form the chain (two for an atom in the middle, three for each atom at the end) each bond with the single electron of a hydrogen atom. Paraffin wax is, to a large percentage, composed of actual paraffins with 20 to 40 carbon atoms.

From Quiz Interesting Industrial Processes

Answer: Losing Electrons

The first stage of the contact process is the oxidation of sulphur. The equation is (S + O2 ---> SO2). The result, as shown by the equation, is sulphur dioxide which is a gas. As an extra bit of chemical knowledge, oxidation means a gain in oxygen and a loss of electrons. It is the opposite of the process of reduction. When oxidation and reduction happen simultaneously in a reaction, it is said to be a redox reaction.

From Quiz The Chemistry of Living

Answer: a metal complex

Haemoglobin is red in colour because of the iron complexed in the molecule. The iron is at the centre of a porphyrin ring, which is made up of nitrogen-containing rings joined together to make one big heterocyclic structure (a heterocycle is a molecule containing rings of carbon atoms plus other atoms such as nitrogen and/or oxygen). The iron is complexed via the nitrogen atoms' lone electron pairs. Haemoglobin is vital for transporting oxygen around the body. Arterial blood is bright red in colour because of the oxygen coordinated to haemoglobin; when the oxygen is removed, water takes its place and venous blood changes colour to a dark purplish red.

From Quiz The Very Colourful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: chlorophyll

The chlorophylls are large organic molecules with a magnesium ion in the middle, a kind of molecule known as a metal complex. There are two different types of chlorophylls; a and b. The two types differ only in the type of side chain attached to one of the carbon atoms in the molecule. Chlorophylls absorb light in the 640-660 nanometre range (in the red region of the visible spectrum) meaning that they appear green or blue-green, which is the complementary colour to red.

From Quiz The Very Useful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: ethanol (alcohol)

Methylated spirits is basically ethanol (ethyl alcohol). The "methylated" part comes from the fact that a small percentage of methanol (methyl alcohol) is added to pure ethanol to stop it from being used to make alcoholic drinks (!). Methanol is very poisonous, unlike ethanol which, although toxic in large quantities, does not have the toxicity of methanol.

From Quiz Chemistry is Wonderful!

Answer: Lime water

This is a good test for carbon dioxide. Another good test is to put a lighted splint into a test tube of suspected C02 (carbon dioxide) and if the splint goes out the jar probably contains CO2. (This is a reason why CO2 is used in most fire extinguishers.)

From Quiz Chemicals: Origins Of Names

Answer: France

Paul Emile Lecoq was a Frenchman. His name itself indirectly refers to France as the cock ('gallus' (in Latin)) is the national symbol. Another French chemical element is francium(Fr). There is also a lutetium (Lu) after Lutetia (= Paris). Other examples are Germanium (Ge) and Rhenium (Re). From Magnesia, a district in Thessaly, came two names of elements: Magnesium (Mg) and Manganese (Mn). Elements 97 (berkelium) and 98 (californium) are as recent as 1949 and 1950 and were synthesized at, and named after, the University of California.

From Quiz Chemistry for the Non Chemist

Answer: A species of matter made exclusively of one type of atom having unique chemical and physical properties.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), the best known of the Greek 'natural philosophers' (what we would now call 'a scientist'), held that everything in our world (here on Earth as we would now say) was made up of four 'elements'. These were named earth, air, fire and water, while the heavens (the rest of space beyond the Moon) consisted of a fifth, totally different element or substance that he called aither. The word is more familiar to us in the Latin form of aether. Though, starting in the early seventeenth century, this theory of Aristotle's became increasingly shaky, it was not until the early twentieth century that it was definitively disproven. It is important to remember that, though sharing a name, the elements of Aristotle and the modern chemical elements as they are now understood are two different concepts, having in common only the fundamental idea that everything in the world is built from elements.

From Quiz Reading the Table

Answer: Mimoium has one more electron shell than Dazzium

Whilst the group number indicates the number of valence electrons, the period number tells us how many electron shells an element contains. For example, hydrogen, in period 1, has only one electron shell. Lithium, in period 2, has two electron shells, and so on.

From Quiz What Difference Does it Make?

Answer: Hydrogen and Oxygen

Production of hydrogen and oxygen in this manner requires a large amount of energy and hence is not performed on large scale. However, the use of renewable energy sources including solar and wind power to provide the energy required is continuing to make water electrolysis more attractive, which may be important in the future when cars fueled by hydrogen become more common. One unusual application of water electrolysis is that it provides the oxygen needed for the astronauts in spacecraft. The equation for this process is: 2 H2O (liquid) -> 2 H2(gas) + O2 (gas) You may notice that the number of hydrogen atoms on each side of the equation is equal (four) as is the number of oxygen atoms (two). This meets the requirement for Conservation of Mass in a chemical reaction - mass cannot be created nor destroyed in a (non-nuclear) chemical reaction.

From Quiz Bond, Covalent Bond

Answer: Avocado's Number

Avogadro's number is one of the most important constants in chemistry. It is equal to the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12.000 g of carbon-12. This number is also called the 'mole' and bears no resemblance to the mammal of the same name!

From Quiz Detective Chemistry

Answer: You have 22

Atoms are made up of protons (positively charged particles), electrons (negatively charged particles), and neutrons (uncharged particles). For ease of understanding, we say that one proton has a charge of +1 and an electron has a charge of -1. Therefore, in an uncharged compound, the electron number would have to balance the proton number. Electrons can be lost or gained by atoms/compounds, thus providing them with a charge. An example of this is in table salt. Chlorine (Cl2) reacts with 2 sodium atoms, each Cl atom in Cl2 gains one electron from a sodium atom. The result are negatively charged chloride ions and positively charged sodium ions which join together to form the ionic compound, sodium chloride (salt).

From Quiz Scintillating Structural Chemistry

Answer: 3p6

This form of electronic configuration is a more useful way to determine the properties of elements and is also used to predict how an atom would bond to other atoms. Electrons are arranged in atomic orbitals, three of which are: s-orbitals, p-orbitals and d-orbitals. S-orbitals can contain up to two electrons, p-orbitals up to six electrons and d-orbitals up to ten electrons. The order of electron notation is as follows: 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d. As argon has 18 electrons, it is notated in the form: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6.

From Quiz Interesting Industrial Processes

Answer: Oleum

Oleum is the chemical term for fuming sulphuric acid. This round-a-bout way of creating sulphuric acid is necessary despite the fact that adding water to the gas of sulphur trioxide creates sulphuric acid far quicker. The reason this isn't done in industry is due to the erratic nature of the reaction. It causes a mist of sulphuric acid which is difficult to control. The chemical formula for oleum is H2S2O7.

From Quiz The Chemistry of Living

Answer: hydrogen bonding

Hydrogen bonding is the strongest intermolecular force and occurs between electronegative atoms bearing lone pairs of electrons (such as nitrogen and oxygen) and hydrogen atoms attached to another electronegative atom. The phosphate-sugar backbone of each strand of DNA has a series of heterocyclic bases attached to it. These bases contain nitrogen atoms that enable the complementary strands to hydrogen bond to each other, thus forming the double helix that we all recognise as DNA.

From Quiz The Very Colourful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a brilliant white, non-toxic solid often used as a pigment in paints. Compounds of lead used to be used as pigments in paint, but have been phased out due to their toxicity. Titanium dioxide is also used in sunscreens and to coat paper.

From Quiz The Very Useful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: alpha-cyano acrylate

Superglue is a solution of a chemical called alpha-cyano acrylate. This chemical undergoes a process called polymerisation, and this is what forms superglue. When you squeeze some superglue from the tube, polymerisation of alpha-cyano acrylate is initiated by small amounts of water on the surface of the object (and on fingers also! ;)), and this leads to the rapid formation of the polymerised version of the chemical. Superglue is immensely strong - one drop can support 2000lb (900kg)! If you ever find yourself in a sticky situation with superglue, try using some acetone to dissolve it.

From Quiz Chemistry is Wonderful!

Answer: It is flammable

A good test for Hydrogen is to put a lighted splint into a jar of suspected Hydrogen and see if it burns with a 'pop'. If it does, the gas could be Hydrogen.

From Quiz Chemicals: Origins Of Names

Answer: stench

Arsenic (As) got its name from the Greek arsenikhos, which means 'strong'. Bromos means 'strong smelling', so stench is the correct answer.

From Quiz Chemistry 101: Elements and Compounds

Answer: Hg

Mercury is an unusual element in that it is one of only two elements to occur as a liquid at room temperature (25 degrees C). The other element to fall under this category is bromine.

From Quiz Equilibrium Reactions

Answer: 50

It is necessary to write down the balanced equation of the reaction first. CO + 2H2 ⇌ CH3OH Thus the equilibrium expression would be: (Concentration of Methanol)/(Concentration of Carbon Monoxide) * (Concentration of Hydrogen)^2 You will get the correct answer after plugging in the values. Although the units are mostly not needed for Kc, it would be moles^-2 dm^6.

From Quiz What Difference Does it Make?

Answer: Rapidly expanding gas from the combustion

The combustion of gasoline (petrol) creates a number of products including water vapor (gas) and carbon dioxide plus many other gases in smaller amounts. The important feature is that when a liquid is turned into a gas, a very large expansion takes place as gas is far less dense than the liquid. These gases are rapidly created in the confined chamber of the cylinder therefore creating great pressure that is then used to push down the piston, therefore creating the mechanical energy to drive the motor and the car.

From Quiz Chemistry of Candles

Answer: Capillary action

Capillary action is actually not a chemical process but a purely physical one. Molecules of a liquid are drawn to the surface of a solid because the adhesion between the liquid and the solid is greater than the cohesion between the liquid molecules and thus they tend to spread along the surface which, in a capillary medium, is highly porous. The molecules evaporating in the flame cause surface spots to become vacant to which molecules from further down the wick then move and so on.

From Quiz The Very Beautiful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: To harden the enamel of my teeth.

These days, many toothpastes contain fluoride, often as sodium fluoride (NaF). Other sources of fluoride in toothpaste are stannous fluoride (SnF2) and sodium monofluorophosphate (Na2PO3F). This additive is present only in small amounts (my toothpaste is 0.22% sodium fluoride), but it plays a major role in keeping teeth healthy. The enamel covering our teeth is mostly made up of hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2). Fluoride in toothpaste is thought to strengthen the enamel by replacing some of hydroxyapatite's OH groups with fluoride ions, to give fluoroapatite, which is stronger and resists acid wear better than the original hydroxyapatite.

From Quiz Scintillating Structural Chemistry

Answer: Dative Bond

A dative bond (also known as a co-ordinate bond) is formed between an atom containing a pair of non-bonded electrons (a lone pair) and a vacant orbital on another atom. A common example of this type of bond is the bonding involved in the formation of a molecule of ammonium (NH4+) from its constituents, ammonia (NH3) and a hydrogen ion (H+). The hydrogen is an ion as it has no electrons compared to the one electron found in its orbitals as an atom.

From Quiz The Very Colourful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: carotene

I was surprised to learn that the pigment that gives carrots their orange colour is also responsible for giving oranges their colour, too! Carotene is a large organic molecule that absorbs light at around 450 nanometres (the blue region of the visible spectrum), meaning that it appears orange. Green oranges contain chlorophyll in their skins, but this is gradually lost and replaced with carotene as the fruit matures.

From Quiz The Very Useful Chemistry Quiz

Answer: sodium hypochlorite

Household bleach is a 3-6% solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in water. There is no actual "chlorine" (Cl2) in bleach at all, although it does contain a chlorine atom (Cl). Sodium hypochlorite is, however, prepared from chlorine (Cl2) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is perhaps where the name "chlorine bleach" comes from. It is a very useful chemical in that it not only kills germs, but is also an excellent stain remover. Under normal household use, sodium hypochlorite breaks down into sodium chloride (table salt), oxygen and water, and has been recently found by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute to pose no environmental problems provided it is used in the correct manner. (Thanks to howstuffworks.com - an incredibly interesting website. If you haven't checked it out, make sure you've got a spare hour or three when you do go have a look!)

From Quiz Chemistry is Wonderful!

Answer: crimson

Lithium is a very reactive metal. It is in Group 1 of the Periodic Table. See if you can experience the experiment mentioned in the question. The flame is very nice to look at.

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Last Updated Jul 12 2025 5:44 AM

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