The (perhaps rather difficult) Thursday Quiz!
The Thursday Quiz is, as always, a "Is It or Isn't It" game. From the list of twelve items, your job is to determine whether each IS or ISN'T a true example of the week's category.
Remember always the most fundamental rule of the cosmos:
No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. The Thursday Quiz is a POP quiz. Violators will have their names erased by fire from the great Book of Days.This Week's Category will get your feet back on the ground!
The Laws of Physics
There are surprisingly few basic physical laws of the universe. Some of the following are among those laws. The others are gibberish.
1. Bacon's Dictum: An object in motion will tend to increase in temperature proportionally to its rate of acceleration.
2. Boyle's Law: For a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, pressure and volume are inversely proportional.
3. Conservation of Energy: The total amount of energy in any closed system remains constant, although it may change forms.
4. Einstein's Theory of Relativity: The speed of light changes relative to the position, direction, and velocity of the observer.
5. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: Measurements of position and momentum taken in several identical copies of a system in a given state will each vary according to a probability distribution characteristic of the system's state.
6. Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion: The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci.
7. Newton's First Law of Motion: An object will remain at rest, or will continue to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force.
8. Newton's Second Law of Motion: Acceleration is determined solely by the force acting on an object, and is not related to its mass.
9. Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every force acting on an object, the object will exert an equal, yet opposite, force.
10. Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation: Every mass attracts every other mass by a force proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
11. Plank's Formula: Decay of mass is proportional to the square of the amount of radiation energy focused upon it.
12. Second Law of Thermodynamics: The entropy of an system will tend to increase over time.
Submit your answers in the only fashion allowed by the matrix within which we operate. Then, have a fabulous Thursday.
26 comments:
I don't know which is worse, be a chicken or be an idiot? Chicken might be better, so I'll be an idiot instead. So my guesses (some of these seem like trick questions...sounds about right, but maybe not):
1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. yes
6. yes
7. yes
8. no
9. yes
10. yes
11. no
12. yes
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
1. Isn't
2. Is
3. Is
4. Is
5. Is?
6. Is
7. Is
8. Isn't
9. Is
10. Isn't
11. Is?
12. Isn't... it decreases... right?
Hmm... Mrs 5000's response is making me nervous.
Art historian who took lots of science classes. Let's give this a shot.
1. Isn't. I think Bacon's dictum has something to do with truth, and nothing at all to do with temperature.
2. Is.
3. Is.
4. Isn't.
5. Quantum mechanics? Ack. Is.
6. Is.
7. Is.
8. Isn't. Mass counts too.
9. Is.
10. Ummm... guessing is.
11. My head hurts from thinking. Is?
12. Is.
I never once in my life took a Physics class. :)
1. Nah.
2. No.
3. Yes, yes I think that's correct.
4. Yes
5. Yeah...what he said.
6. Yes
7. Yes
8. Yes
9. Yeah
10. No
11. Yes
12. Yes
1. no. (but would make a good title for a nerdy porno)
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. yes
6. no
7. yes
8. no
9. yes
10. no
11. yes (i vaguely remember that there was a Planck and he had a theory, but I can't remember if this is it or not)
12. yes
mrs5k's answer made me laugh out loud.
2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12
rp
Some of those others, like Kepler's, sound right, but ... "one of its foci?" How many FOCI does an ellipse have?
Becky answered, so I think I have to, too. Also, my father the science teacher would probably want me to answer this... though I pray he never sees my answers, as he might disown me.
And, um, Bacon's Dictum is the one that I have most faith in. Especially if it involves bacon.
1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. no (speed of light is constant)
5. no
6. no
7. no--I don't think it's a constant velocity, is it? More about remaining in a state of motion?
8. no
9. yes
10. yarp! no?
11. no
12. yes! Finally. (Watch this be wrong. Wow, I'm pathetic)
1 is
2 is
3 is
4 isn't
5 is
6 isn't
7 isn't
8 isn't
9 is
10 is
11 isn't
12 is
Ok - I kinda think all Newton's laws are true, but I think they might be out of order.
I should also mentioned.... I failed the only class I ever took that had anything to do with Physics.
1. n
2. y
3. y
4. there is no “theory of relativity” there’s GR and SR.
5. y
6. n
7. y (though false as stated)
8. n
9. y
10. y (again false)
11. n
12. y (though might be violated)
i think i missed the point of this. i'm so awkward at tests.
that's an odd way to put #5 and i think you've parsed it in a way that physicists would not all agree with.
every ellipse has 2 foci, otherwise it would be a focus.
okay, why not?
1. is
2. is not
3. is
4. is not
5. is
6. is
7. is
8. is not
9. is
10. is
11. is not
12. is
OK!
Basically, fingers nailed it right out of the blocks.
The wrong ones were "Bacon's Dictum" (a mishmash), "Einstein's Theory of Relativity" (the approximate opposite of General Relativity), "Newton's Second Law of Motion" (inverted), and "Plank's [sic] Formula" (plausible-sounding gibberish).
Scoring a little tricky this week, but:
The gold goes to Vice-Dork fingerstothebone, her first!
Then, several newcomers claiming their first TQ stars:
The silver is the first star in several weeks to leave U.S. soil. Becky claims it for Spain.
Mr. Shain, similarly, brings the blue star home to beautiful Oklahoma.
Two green stars this week; one is the first TQ star for recent MQ winner Missy, and the other goes to... anyone? Yes, of course: Mr. Rex Parker!
Congrats all around.
@Laura: Don't let her make you nervous. She's very nice.
@d: She often has that effect on me. In a good way.
@Rex: See Mr. Shain, above.
@Mr. Shain: Eh, I think you get the gist. You give answers to demonstrate your knowledge. The only real test-taking hitch was #4, where your lack of faith in the test led you away from the simple answer: false. 1/2 point.
The HUP is notariously difficult to parse, and naturally I didn't do my own parsing. I can't imagine that many physicists would find this version problematic for the purpose of a recreational online quiz.
@everyone: Thanks for playing. Fine turnout for a brutal topic, I thought.
Why am I even trying? I feel about 50% to 75% sure of about 50% of these. Not too hot.
1. Isn't (Bacon's Dictum: An object in motion...)
2. Is (Boyle's Law: For a fixed amount of gas ...)
3. Is (Conservation of Energy: The total amount of energy ...)
4. Is (Einstein's Theory of Relativity: The speed of light changes relative ...)
5. Isn't (The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: Measurements of position and momentum ...)
6. Is (Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion: The orbit of every planet ...)
7. Is (Newton's First Law of Motion: An object will remain at rest, or ...)
8. Isn't (Newton's Second Law of Motion: Acceleration is determined solely ...)
9. Is (Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every force acting on an object ...)
10. Is (Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation: Every mass attracts ...)
11. Isn't (Plank's Formula: Decay of mass is proportional ...)
12. Isn't (Second Law of Thermodynamics: The entropy of an system will tend ...)
You know, I started out taking this normally, and the Bacon business seemed pretty bogus, but then I hit a string of very right-sounding laws, and I had a hallucination (probably pyramid-induced) that all was just fine with the universe, and this message was being transmitted via the Thursday quiz. . . surrendering to belief every law became a just law. . . well, you see where it got me. I haven't seen a star for weeks. I'm gonna have to steal one out of the desk drawer where he keeps them under the postage folders. . .
Yay, my first gold star! Thank you, thank you, muah! Muah! Muah! I'll forgive you for not giving me Brunei...
I clearly don't know what "FOCUS" means in the world of ellipses. I imagine the "FOCUS" as the point around which something in an elliptical orbit ... orbits. Are the FOCI simply the points farthest from the center of the ellipsis? Grrren star. Ugh.
Science! My one weakness! I mean my one of many weaknesses!
OK, here goes:
1. I think not
2. Indeed it is
3. true
4. uh, more or less?
5. I think I know what the uncertainty principle is, but I can't make head or tail of what you write here. I mean, it has to do with the existence of quarks, doesn't it? Uh... yes?
6. oh yes
7. yes!
8. no, the opposite! f = ma!
9. yes!
10. what? yes?
11. i don't think so
12. um... yes?
*sobs*
dang! you already gave out the answers and scores! should have checked the comments before playing!
I do not know the answers but if there is a single guy that does, given the right experience (age) I probably would be attracted to him.
That's got to be law too. The Law of Unattainable Attraction maybe.
And I forgot! My name must be erased from the Book of Days for wiki peeking in the past. However, I will beg leniency as it has not proved to help much given my multiple ineptitudes at both wiki peeking and timely quiz responding.
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