Would You Like To Take A Short General Science Knowledge Quiz ?
http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/science-knowledge/
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Test your knowledge of science facts and applications of scientific principles by taking our short 12-question quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with a nationally representative group of 3,278 randomly selected U.S. adults surveyed online and by mail between Aug. 11 and Sept. 3, 2014 as members of the Pew Research Centers American Trends Panel.
When you finish, you will be able to compare your scores with the average American and compare responses across demographic groups. The analysis of the findings from the poll can be found in the full report, A Look At What the Public Does and Does Not Know About Science .
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"Science Knowledge Quiz Results
I missed one-- the one where the light passes through a magnifying glass. Oh well!
Fun quiz! Thanks!
Damn! I thought I'd do better than 9 out of 12. I knew I was guessing wrong on the boiling water and the lens when I answered them.
10.
I disagree with the magnifying glass answer; if you move it further from the object it magnifies, doesn't the object appear larger, as in magnified?
12
The quiz was as much about taking science quizzes, as it was about general science knowledge. Some of those questions have been asked about a hundred times since grade school, in exactly the same structure.
I agree, fairly generic questions, and very basic also....
2. Diffusion
3. Refraction
4. Reflection
Refraction is the principle of bending light to a focus point. Which appears either larger or smaller depending upon focal length x the angle of bend. (magnification/reduction)
I got 12, too! But then again, I am a science teacher, so it would have been a major bummer if I didn't.
there was two questions designed to trip someone up, the Lens question, and the Altitude/boiling water question.
Although basic, both very specific areas of a hard science curriculum.
The story says that the median for the 3200 or so people who originally took the quiz was 7.9 correct.
...
I suspect the "average" American would do noticeably worse. The people who even have the inclination to take such a quiz from Pew Research are going to be more intelligent/and or/ educated than the average person. The "sample" was probably skewed toward a decent score based just on who will take the quiz.
I seriously doubt if the average person who doesn't work with scientific info knows what causes loudness in sound, and a handful of these other questions either.
The phrase is "Amp it UP!"
Most people who have ever had a stereo system should know the answer to that one.
That's what I thought. Using a magnifying glass doesn't flip the image...
Now, it makes sense!
Funny!
I used to understand all that-- but then, I read an article in the Smithsonian about how the old master's used lenses and light boxes to sketch out their paintings, and lost it... Sigh!
Damn, got 13 out of 12 correct.
What! impossible you say. Well, math wasn't my best subject.
If A.Mac is right, then I got a 10.
Those were 2 of the 3 I got wrong. I can't remember what the other one was.
Obviously you were better with science than with math.
The third was the sound question I would guess. Amplitude is the power signature of sound when measured across an oscilloscope. Not something readily apparent to people outside the specific sound engineering genre.
Essentially the height of the sound wave traveling thru the air, it is indicative of the power behind the sound which reveals itself as loudness to the ear.
In order to MAGNIFY the image, beyond the focal point the light diverges.
Correct!
Beyond the focal point with the light reflected from the object flowing thru the lens the object appears flipped to the eye.
With a fixed focal distance, moving the lens closer or farther away tends to magnify or reduce the image seen thru the lens.
Telephoto lenses use two optics to effectively change the focal distance by changing the angle of the light that passes thru the lenses. Making farther away subjects appear closer than they actually are. The binocular principle.
I got 11 of 12
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I think I missed the sugar/cavity question.
10 out of 12. I got the boiling water and sugar consumption questions wrong. Meh.
Probably an underlying deep seated desire to eat a Snickers bar without feeling guilty.
They make my teeth hurt and I haven't bought the rider on my medigap insurance for dental yet.
12
Fun!
Point of fact: Refraction is the bending of light waves, period. They can be bent to a focal point or not, depending on the nature of the substance(s) they are passing through.
The lens shown in the diagram, assuming a constant index of refraction , would concentrate the light due to its convex curvature.