Science Trivia Questions About Nobel Prize Winners, the Earths Crust, Leap Years, Cosmology, Topaz, Plywood, Earths Orbit and More!

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Free science trivia questions and answers with topics like the transistor, the earth's crust, horsepower, leap years, cosmology, and more.

Fun Trivia questions and answers - Science.

What is the  most plentiful metal in the earth's crust?
A: Aluminum, most of which is extracted from bauxite.

What Nobel Prize winner admitted that he had contributed his sperm to a sperm bank in hopes of producing exceptionally gifted children?
A: William Shockley, inventor of the transistor.

How long is a day on Mars?
A: 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 seconds.

Even with leap year, the average year is about 26 seconds longer than Earth's orbital period. How many years will it take for those seconds to build up into a single day?
A: 3,323.

How many watts are there in one horsepower of energy?
A: 746.

How many calories are consumed during an hour of typing?
A: 110-- just 30 more an hour than the number consumed while sleeping.

Which celebrated chemist-inventor is credited with developing plywood?
A: Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and subsequent founder of the Nobel Prize.

What is cosmology?
A: The study of the origin and structure of the universe.

In the days when British sailors were given lime or lemon juice to prevent scurvy, what were Dutch sailors given?
A: Sauerkraut--or zourkool, as they called it.

How fast does lightning travel?
A: It travels 90,000 miles a second--almost half the speed of light.

What gives the gemstone turquoise its distinctive color?
A: Traces of copper.

What is the most plentiful element in seawater?
A: Chlorine.

What device was introduced commercially in 1934 as a "portable super regenerative receiver and transmitter"?
A: The walkie-talkie.

What color is topaz in its pure state?
A: It's colorless. Topaz takes on a variety of hues from trace elements, radiation and defects in its crystal structure. Pale gold-brown it its most common color.

Before the barometer was discovered, what animal did German meteorologists use to predict air pressure changes?
A: The frog. Frogs croak when the pressure drops.

At what temperature does water boil at the top of Mount Everest?
 A: At 150 F (or 70 C). At sea level, the boiling point of water is 212 F (100 C). As you get higher, the atmospheric pressure drops, and with it the boiling point of water.

What did a National Aeronautics and Space Administration employee buy at a wal-mart in 1995 to protect the space shuttle from woodpeckers?
A: Six plastic owls.

At what standard level above ground -- in feet-- do meteorologists measure wind speed?
A: 33 feet.

What planet has the greatest number of known satellites?
A: Saturn, with 20. Close behind are Jupiter, with 16, and Uranus, with 15.

How much further from Earth does the moon's orbit move every year?
A: About 1.5 inches. Scientists believe the moon has been inching away from Earth for billions of years.

What word was spelled out in the first neon sign?
A: Neon. The small bright red sign was created by Dr Perley G. Nutting, a government scientist, and exhibited at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis,  Missouri---15 years before neon signs became widely used commercially.

By definition, what is the lifting capacity of one unit of horsepower?
A: The ability to raise 33,000 pounds one foot high in one minute.