1) Toss Up - Astronomy - Multiple Choice
How are the Moon and eclipses related?
W) The Moon's shadow falls on the Earth at a solar eclipse
X) Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon at a lunar eclipse
Y) The Moon's gravity bends light away from the Earth at a solar eclipse
Z) Both W and X
1) Bonus - Astronomy - Multiple Choice
Colors are perceived differently by our eyes because of their different
W) speeds
X) wavelengths
Y) particles
Z) amplitudes
2) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
What small device largely replaced vacuum tubes in their roles as signal amplifiers?
ANSWER: TRANSISTOR2) Bonus - Physics - Multiple Choice
An object is orbiting the Earth with a velocity of 4,000 meters per second. If its mass is doubled, at what velocity must it travel to remain in the same orbit?
W) 3,000 m/s
X) 4,000 m/s
Y) 9,000 m/s
Z) 18,000 m/s
3) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
Answer The ratio of the magnitudes of electric field and current density is known as what property?
ANSWER: RESISTIVITY3) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
Answer A piece of pure silicon has a resistivity of 2,300 ohms times meters at room temperature. A silicon wire has a length of 10 meters and a cross-sectional area of 0.25 meters squared. What is the resistance, in ohms, of the wire?
ANSWER: 920,000 OHMS (ALSO: `9.2 * 10^5` OHMS)4) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
A 9 volt battery is in series with a 3 ohm resistor. How much energy does the resistor dissipate over 5 seconds?
ANSWER: 135 JOULES4) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
What physical quantity has the SI units of meters per second cubed?
ANSWER: JERK5) Toss Up - Astronomy - Multiple Choice
Which of these is NOT a reason on why the Martian water is gone
W) It evaporated due to high temperature
X) It escaped into space
Y) It exists as permafrost
Z) It is contained in the Martian Polar Caps
5) Bonus - Astronomy - Short Answer
What feature do only Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus have incommon?
ANSWER: rings6) Toss Up - Chemistry - Short Answer
Give the name of the periodic table group that contains elements that are silver in color, soft, and react explosively with water.
ANSWER: ALKALI METALS (ACCEPT: GROUP 1 OR GROUP 1A)6) Bonus - Chemistry - Short Answer
A particle has a de Broglie [duh broh-GLEE] wavelength of `3 xx 10^-10` meters when it is traveling at `1.1 xx 10^7` meters per second. Expressing your answer in kilograms and in scientific notation to one significant figure, what is its approximate mass?
ANSWER: `2 xx 10^-31`7) Toss Up - General Science - Multiple Choice
Which of the following is the BEST description of an ecological niche:
W) a situation in which a species is well adapted to a specific set of environmental conditions
X) the biomass load of a given environment
Y) a pollutant that becomes concentrated in organisms as it moves up through the food chain
Z) all the environmental conditions, plants, and animals of an isolated area
7) Bonus - General Science - Short Answer
Lichens are a symbiotic relationship of what 2 general types of organisms?
ANSWER: GREEN ALGAE AND FUNGI (ACCEPT: ALGAE OR CYANOBACTERIA FOR GREEN ALGAE)8) Toss Up - Energy - Multiple Choice
What percent of the energy used by humans has a geothermal source?
W) 1%
X) 7%
Y) 15%
Z) 20%
8) Bonus - Energy - Short Answer
Which type of coal contains the most energy?
ANSWER: Anthracite9) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
A coil of current-carrying wire which creates a magnetic field running through the center of the coil is known as what?
ANSWER: SOLENOID9) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
What is the name for a geometrically frustrated magnet with randomly distributed ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic moments?
ANSWER: SPIN GLASS10) Toss Up - Energy - Multiple Choice
The use of which of the following energy sources does not normally produce nitrogen oxides as a byproduct?
W) gasoline
X) coal
Y) nuclear
Z) natural gas
10) Bonus - Energy - Multiple Choice
What country generates the most electricity from nuclear power?
W) Japan
X) United States
Y) France
Z) Russia
11) Toss Up - Astronomy - Short Answer
Which planet is 14.5 times the Earth’s mass, has a rotational rate of 17.2 hours, and a year length of 84 Earth years?
ANSWER: URANUS11) Bonus - Astronomy - Short Answer
What are generally considered the most common and most primitive type of meteorites?
ANSWER: CHONDRITES12) Toss Up - Biology - Short Answer
Most plants and animals use what molecule as their final hydrogen acceptor in cellular respiration
ANSWER: OXYGEN12) Bonus - Biology - Short Answer
What is the main neurotransmitter that excites skeletal muscles?
ANSWER: ACETYLCHOLINE13) Toss Up - Physics - Multiple Choice
The light output of digital projectors is measured in what SI unit?
W) lumens
X) candelas
Y) candlepower
Z) radiants
13) Bonus - Physics - Multiple Choice
Who is the grandfather of Olivia Newton John and a Nobel Physics laureate?
W) Isaac Newton
X) Max Born
Y) Gilbert Lewis
Z) Edwin Thall
14) Toss Up - Physics - Multiple Choice
Which of the following best describes mesons:
W) a subgroup of leptons
X) a subgroup of hadrons
Y) hadronic leptons
Z) particles with a spin of 1
14) Bonus - Physics - Multiple Choice
Which of the following most directly describes the de Broglie wavelength:
W) wavelength equals Planck’s constant over the quantity mass times velocity
X) wavelength equals mass times velocity over Planck’s constant
Y) energy equals Planck’s constant times frequency
Z) Planck’s constant equals mass times the speed of light over the frequency
15) Toss Up - Physics - Multiple Choice
When an electromagnetic wave reflects off of a medium with a lower index of refraction, its phase changes by
W) 0°
X) 90°
Y) 180°
Z) 270°
15) Bonus - Physics - Multiple Choice
An electromagnetic wave hits a medium at an angle of 45° from the normal. Some of it is reflected and some is refracted. The reflected rays will be polarized
W) perpendicular to the plane of incidence
X) parallel to the plane of incidence
Y) parallel to the direction of the ray before the reflection
Z) parallel to the direction of the ray after the reflection
16) Toss Up - Math - Short Answer
Simplify the following trigonometric expression completely: `(secA - cosA) / tanA`
ANSWER: `sin A`16) Bonus - Math - Short Answer
Find the sum of all interior angles, in degrees, in a regular polygon having 100 sides:
ANSWER: 17,64017) Toss Up - Math - Multiple Choice
Assuming a parametric distribution, which of the following statistical tests would be most appropriate to find whether 3 or more samples come from the same population:
W) single tailed t-test
X) two tailed t-test
Y) z-test
Z) ANOVA (pronounced: A-nova)
17) Bonus - Math - Multiple Choice
Which of the following is equivalent to the expression
`(sintheta/tantheta) +costheta`?
W) `2 cos theta` (read as: 2 times the cosine of theta)
X) `2 sec theta` (read as: 2 times the secant of theta)
Y) `2 csc theta` (read as: 2 times the cosecant of theta)
Z) `cos theta` (read as: the cosine of theta)
18) Toss Up - Astronomy - Short Answer
What is the name of the space probe that provided a close-up look at three asteroids in 1998 as they crossed Earth's orbit?
ANSWER: CLEMENTINE18) Bonus - Astronomy - Multiple Choice
Most radio galaxies, when viewed in the visible part of the spectrum, appear to be
W) spiral galaxies
X) elliptical galaxies
Y) irregular galaxies
Z) barred spiral galaxies
19) Toss Up - Earth Science - Multiple Choice
To keep track of pressure, weather maps are drawn with lines
connecting points of equal pressure. These lines are called
W) isotherms.
X) equibars.
Y) fronts.
Z) isobars.
19) Bonus - Earth Science - Multiple Choice
About how many years ago did water vapor begin to accumulate
in the Earth’s early atmosphere?
W) 4 million
X) 4 billion
Y) 40 million
Z) 40 billion
20) Toss Up - Biology - Multiple Choice
Which of the following would BEST describe the quaternary structure of collagen:
W) fibrous
X) globular
Y) planar
Z) transport
20) Bonus - Biology - Multiple Choice
Which of the following BEST describes what the term virulence means:
W) the specificity of a virus to cause disease in a certain host
X) the ability of a microbe to cause cellular damage
Y) any transmissible disease caused by a microbe
Z) the degree to which a microbe causes disease or harm to its host
21) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
What is the potential energy in Joules of a spring stretched 20 meters from its equilibrium position, if it has a spring constant of 8 N/m?
ANSWER: 1600 JOULES21) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
An 8 kg object that is undergoing simple harmonic motion on a spring with spring constant 4 N/m and a maximum displacement of 10 meters travels through its equilibrium position with what speed?
ANSWER: 5 * SQRT(2) METERS PER SECOND22) Toss Up - Physics - Multiple Choice
Protons are classified as
W) baryons
X) mesons
Y) bosons
Z) quarks
22) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
What is the name of the theoretical subatomic particle that always travels faster than the speed of light?
ANSWER: TACHYON23) Toss Up - Physics - Short Answer
What is the study of viscosity called
ANSWER: RHEOLOGY23) Bonus - Physics - MULTIPLE CHOICE
The only quark decay not occurring across generations that produces a daughter particle with a greater absolute charge is
W) strange -> charmed
X) top -> bottom
Y) charmed -> strange
Z) down -> up
24) Toss Up - General Science - Multiple Choice
Yellow fever is transmitted by what genus of mosquito:
W) Anopheles (read as: ann-off-a-lees)
X) Culex (reas as: CUE-lex)
Y) Aedes
Z) Culiseta (read as: cue-lee-see-ta)
24) Bonus - General Science - Short Answer
What is the least number of colors for any map on a sphere so that regions with common boundaries are distinguished by different colors?
ANSWER: 4 (Solution: 4 color map theorem)25) Toss Up - Physics - Multiple Choice
What are the voltage amplitude and frequency of electricity produced in the United States?
W) 120 Volts, 60 Hertz
X) 120 Volts, 120 Hertz
Y) 170 Volts, 60 Hertz
Z) 170 Volts, 120 Hertz
25) Bonus - Physics - Short Answer
A computer says that it draws 2.7 Amps from a 120-Volt 60-Hertz line. What is the average current running through the computer?
ANSWER: ZER