Robert A. Palermo 83 Valley Way West Orange, NJ 07052
Chemistry Trivia-Not
How m u c h d o y o u really know a b o u t chemistry? You may h e able to r a t t l e off the n a m e s of all t h e crvstal svstems a n d t h e valences of every element known to man. B u t d o you know t h e year in which R o b e r t Boyle published h i s "Sceptical Chymist," or how m a n y uses for t h e p e a n u t were discovered h y George Washington Carver? So-called "trivia" auestions which relate to science have a certain value, for a n Lnderstanding of t h e development a n d historv of science is often of assistance in understandine t h e concepts. S u c h questions can be used b y teachers to i n t r o h c e a n d l o r reinforce new information. T r y t h i s brief test o u t o n yourself to indicate your level of masterv. All these uuestions haveeither a direct o r histc)ricnl associaiion w i t h some aspect of chemistry. Separately, these a n d other similar auestions find excellent use a s "bonus" questions o n o r d i n k y examinations a n d tests; either to "spice up" d r y material o r t o serve a s a memory a i d i n t h e learning of t h e particular topic to which t h e y relate. Together, t h e y m a k e a challenging h u t enjoyable change-of-pace classroom or homework exercise. I n common with ordinary trivia, t h e y a r e offbeat enough to provoke curiosity a n d difficult enough to provide a challenge.
Questions 1) Name the elements which make up the android robots in DC Comics' "Metal Men." 2) In what vears has the US. Post Office issued s t a m ~ honorine s t h r Amerirnn Chemiral Society and o r American Chemms'? :1) N'hnt Ammmn t'reridmt is respunrible for the only En~lish Kt, .3fc~ta/l,~o"by Gwrg trnnilarlm of the hlediwal cla~ric"lJ~, Bauer (Agricola)? 4) What chemical was used as fuel for the rocket engine in the Lunar Lander? 5) What two celestial constellations represent devices which might be found in a chemical laboratory? 6) Name the 19th-Century Chemist who perfected the soft drink "Dr. Peooer." 7) True or Fal-the Hammer used for throwing in Track and Field may be made of Tungsten. 8) Who is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in bath Chemistry and Physics? 9) BYwhat name is Theophrastus Bombastus von Hoenheim better known? 10) Who portrayed Pierre and Marie Curie in the movie about their lives? 11) Who was the first to prove that diamond was a form of pure carbon? 12) Which vitamin is sometimes known as the "Sunshine Vitamin" and why? 13) Does gold have any medicinal properties? 14) Does tea have a hixher caffeine content than coffee?
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This rule change was made spcatieollg to doaway with hammers made of tungiten. 11 was felt that users of these smaller implemmrs had an advantage due to decreased air resistance over larger ones of hrm* - .--- nr ... irnn ....... It i ~ a l s o interest tu note the rather unucual inas,of thir dewee, 7.21; kg. This numher is a nice "n,und"figure (16 lb, in Englrah mrasure. The rcaion for this is that b,)th the hammer anu the equallymnssiveshot are Englrsh Scottish inoricin. O n theorhrr hand, the routs in Eujewlm tRWg, and t h e d ~ r r u sIi kg, have their h~rtor~cnl rrlpe, n fnct refle,tcd by the d u r of their masses.
Really Trivial
15) What famous football coach started out as a chemistry teacher? 16) Choose one: Laboratory glassware has a higherflower coefficient of expansion than ordinary soft glass. 17) Is the lactic acid produced hy our muscles the same as that found in milk? 18) What was Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen's main contribution to the science of Chemistry? 19) How did eomic-book crook Eel @Brian become Plastic Man? 20) What chemical can he used to forecast economic trends?
Answers: 1) Tin, iron, lead, mercury,gold, and platinum.Their fictieious inventor, Will Magnus, chose these metals for the properties they would give each robot (eg., gold-malleability, etc.) 2) 1951 and 1976. These dates correspond to the 75th and 100th anniversaries of the ACS. 3) The English translation of this 1556 work was done in 1912 by Herberl Hoowr, a mining cngmrcr by profcs~ion. 4, Hydrazinc. NIH,. 'l'hc uxidi71ngagent was nitrogen retrouidc. iX-,O,. Thew twu ehemirnls hurn on contact w ~ r h m tnerd uf n spark. 5) Fornax, the furnace; Libra, the balance. 6) R. S. Lazenby. The chemistry of flavors is of considerable ecanomic importance. 7) False. The hammer can he made of any material no softer than brass, but a recent IAAF regulation increasing the minimum diameter of the hammer to 110 mm has effectively eliminated tungsten and other unusual metals, since the massof the implement (7.26 kg) remains constant.' 8) Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for Phvsics in 1903and r w e w d the ('hem~rtryprne in 1911. 91 Pnrareliur. the Idh-ienturs alrhcmi-t crrditnl with the modrrn discovery of zinc. 10) Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson. 11) Humphrey Davy demonstratad this in 1814 by burning a diamond in oxygen and producing carbon dioxide, the same product as from the burning of charcoal. This paved the way for the concept of Allotropy. 12) Vitamin D is produced by the UV irradiation of certain steroids-these reactions take place in the skin exposed to sunlight. 13) Gold salts have some uses in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, hut their use has decreased since the discoveryand subsequent development of the corticosteroids. 14) While tea leaves have a higher caffeine content than coffeebeans, the prepared beverages contain the same dose of caffeine, about 100-150 mg. 15) Knute Rockne. 16) Borosilieate glass (Pyrex," Kimaxe) has a lower coefficient of expansion, 3.5 as compared to 9.3 for soft glass. This property enables it to withstand the extreme changes of temperature to which it is exposed in the laboratory, whieh ordinary glass cannot. 17) No. These chemically identical compounds differ in their three-dimensional structure. They are optical isomers. 18) Bunsen's main contribution was the development of the teehnique of Spectroscopy with his colleague Robert Kirehhaff. The well-known burner was simply one of the tools that was part of this development-Faraday had used a similar burner earlier. 19) A vat of acid spilled on him and entered his bloodstream, endowing him with elastic properties. In reality, acids are used as catalysts in the production of many flexible polymeric comoounds. ~
Volume 57, Number 10, October 1980 1 729
I would like to offer thanka to J. Brian Faught, Halifax Grammar School, Halifax, Nova Scotia, who in the process of reviewing this paper for publication added a most interesting question of his own: Which Nohel Prize winners were the sons
S E C 0 N D A R
Y S C
n 0 0 L
C H E M I S T R Y
790 1 Jownal of Chemical Education
or daughters of other Nohel Prize winners? (Answer: (1)Irene Joliot-Curie, Chemistry 1935-daughter of Marie Curie, Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911; (2) Aage Bohr, Physics 1975-son of Neils Bohr, Physics 1922.)
