How much do you know about science topics?

[donheff]

100% correct. I too didn't like the astrology answer since the correct answer on a science test shouldn't be psuedo-science.

[HFWR]

The magnifying glass question was easy, if one spent their childhood setting stuff on fire...

[ERD50]

RE: boiling points versus altitude (air pressure actually, which is a function of altitude - but we can vary air pressure in a sealed container, regardless of altitude ):

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Originally Posted by audreyh1 I've experienced otherwise. Couldn't get those beans done in time in Denver! Anybody who does serious baking has probably run across recipes where times were adjusted for altitude.

I wonder how many recognized that the boiling point changes, but got the direction wrong?

A more casual observer might recall the cooking directions, but unless they live at high altitude, might not recall if it was a longer or shorter cooking time (why bother noting this if it doesn't apply to you?). Further, even if I recall that cooking times are longer, I might use a somewhat reasonable line of thought that says "Hmmm, it takes longer to cook, so maybe that means the boiling point is higher, so it takes longer to come to a boil, and therefore longer to cook?" That's wrong, it's the lower boiling point temperature that results in longer cooking, but the thought process has some merit.

Now I have enough science background, and general curiosity, and some 1st hand experience with all this to know the correct answer, but I still hesitated a bit, and thought it through so I didn't give a "DOH!" wrong answer when I knew what was right.

A couple real-life examples:

Pressure cookers - high pressure raises the boiling point, increasing the cooking temperature, lowering cooking time.

Car radiators - they are sealed, and allow higher temperatures w/o boiling over.

But unless you are the type to notice and think about these things, it might escape you, and just seem like some useless trivia you were taught in high school.

I may try this later today - looks like fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5mkf066p-U

And this thread also led to some other reading, and I learned that freeze dried food works by freezing the food, then subjecting it to a vacuum which causes the ice to sublimate (turn directly to a gas w/o turning into water first - like 'dry ice'). This leaves the structure of the food mostly intact, and it re-absorbs water readily into all these little pockets left behind.

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Originally Posted by Meadbh Not arresting them when they bring their inventions to school would be a good start.

I hate to 'try people in the media', but I'll go as far as to say a kid needs to think before bringing a case filled with a digital clock and wires into a school. Did you see that thing? It looks a lot like the Hollywood/TV depiction of a bomb a terrorist would use.

On the surface, it appears they over-reacted with the arrest and so forth (but we don't know everything behind this), but clearly they had to take the situation very seriously. Can you imagine if they shrugged it off and it did turn out to be a bomb?

Schools are on high alert about these kinds of things. Right or wrong, I don't find it surprising that there was a strong reaction to this little project.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

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Originally Posted by donheff 100% correct. I too didn't like the astrology answer since the correct answer on a science test shouldn't be psuedo-science.

But isolating pseudo-science from real science is a reasonable way to access someone's understanding of science, no? In-line with some of the other less-than-perfectly-worded questions, would any other answer fit? You know those have nothing to do with people's behavior.

-ERD50

[harley]

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Originally Posted by Totoro 12/12 as well. I did get lucky with the polio question. Didn't know the guys name but knew who the three others were. It's more of a know-your-famous-people question anyway than actual science.

I don't think so. Those were scientists, not famous people. This is a group of famous people (I know who four of them are). I suspect a higher percentage of people could name which of these people did something than got the Jonas Salk answer right.

[ejman]

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Originally Posted by harley I don't think so. Those were scientists, not famous people. This is a group of famous people (I know who four of them are). I suspect a higher percentage of people could name which of these people did something than got the Jonas Salk answer right.

Oh dear, I got 12/12 on the test (physics major) but I can't recognize ANY of the people above! As a young friend of my son would say "Epic fail"

[Fermion]

You could say the earth's core question and the boiling water were similar enough that if you got one right you should get the other right.

At the central core, the pressure on the iron is so great that even though it is as hot as the sun, it is solid, not liquid.

[Amethyst]

I only got 4 (all women) and it took me a while...and I am a movie lover!

Science is just a lot more applicable to my daily life than celebrities are.

Also I have a teeny bit of prosopagnosia. If you gave me the celebrities' names I'm sure I would recognize them all.

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Originally Posted by ejman Oh dear, I got 12/12 on the test (physics major) but I can't recognize ANY of the people above! As a young friend of my son would say "Epic fail"

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound PS. If you pull a vacuum on the water, it would boil at even below room temperature. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point.

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Originally Posted by stepford which is why you really want to wear a pressure suit above 60,000 feet or so... pesky boiling blood.

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Originally Posted by ERD50 RE: boiling points versus altitude (air pressure actually, which is a function of altitude - but we can vary air pressure in a sealed container, regardless of altitude ): A couple real-life examples: Pressure cookers - high pressure raises the boiling point, increasing the cooking temperature, lowering cooking time. Car radiators - they are sealed, and allow higher temperatures w/o boiling over. But unless you are the type to notice and think about these things, it might escape you, and just seem like some useless trivia you were taught in high school. -ERD50

The above 3 examples are good everyday facts that demonstrate the effect that lower pressure reduces the boiling temperature of water or most (all?) liquids. However, many casual people do not notice this corroboration to put them together. If they did, it would reinforce the knowledge making it more difficult to forget, in contrast with having to remember something harder like a trigonometric identity.

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Originally Posted by ERD50 DW has many wonderful qualities, but an understanding (or interest) in scientific principles is not one of them. I know better than to ask, especially to ask her to explain her score.

A lot of it has to do with aptitude. I have not asked my son to take the test, but would be very surprised if he fails any question. Yes, he is a mechanical engineer. His curiosity about the world around him is broad. For example, he studied the physics of knife sharpening, told us what we have been doing wrong, and proceeded to make all our knives a lot better.

[aaronc879]

I only got 9/12 of the science questions which I thought were not easy at all. As for the celebrities, i'm not 100% sure of the last one but I know the first and last names of all the others.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I hate to 'try people in the media', but I'll go as far as to say a kid needs to think before bringing a case filled with a digital clock and wires into a school. Did you see that thing? It looks a lot like the Hollywood/TV depiction of a bomb a terrorist would use. On the surface, it appears they over-reacted with the arrest and so forth (but we don't know everything behind this), but clearly they had to take the situation very seriously. Can you imagine if they shrugged it off and it did turn out to be a bomb? -ERD50

Except no one was evacuated...


Apparently no one was intelligent observant enough to say "there are no explosives attached to this device"...

[jollystomper]

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Originally Posted by hnzw_rui Lol, 11 of 12 for me. I've forgotten my gas pressure laws so I already knew I was going to get the boiling point question wrong. Instead of getting lucky on a guess, I deliberately chose the wrong answer on that one.

+1, same here.

[hnzw_rui]

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Originally Posted by harley I don't think so. Those were scientists, not famous people. This is a group of famous people (I know who four of them are). I suspect a higher percentage of people could name which of these people did something than got the Jonas Salk answer right.

I can recognize Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston so that's 2/10.

[Walt34]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound PS. If you pull a vacuum on the water, it would boil at even below room temperature. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point.

I did that in my 20's when I was working repairing A/C and refrigerators. I hooked up the vacuum pump to a baby food jar with a hole in the lid and used epoxy to attached a flared copper tube to the lid. The heat from my hand would make the water boil. Kinda neat to feel the temperature drop as the water boiled.

[Nodak]

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Originally Posted by harley I don't think so. Those were scientists, not famous people. This is a group of famous people (I know who four of them are). I suspect a higher percentage of people could name which of these people did something than got the Jonas Salk answer right.

I recognize Jennifer Aniston but am at a loss on the rest.

[harley]

Don't ask me, I just googled "group of celebrities" and chose a picture. I recognized Reece Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Denzel Washington (because I saw "The Equalizer" last night), and Matthew McConaughey(?). The lady between Denzel and McConaughey looks familiar, but no idea what her name is. Total blank on the others.


I didn't men to derail the thread, just making the point that "famous" means different things to different people. I suspect my daughter would do better on the celebrities than the science quiz. Sadly.

[Meadbh]

Top row (L-R): Reese Witherspoon, some guy, Jennifer Anniston, some other guy, some woman
Bottom row (L-R): Denzel Washington, some woman who might be Kate Hudson? Amy Schumer?, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Winslet, some other other guy.

Edited to add: it's Kate Hudson on the bottom row. So my score is 6/10.

http://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Te...0-List-7247541

[ERD50]

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Originally Posted by hnzw_rui Lol, 11 of 12 for me. I've forgotten my gas pressure laws so I already knew I was going to get the boiling point question wrong. ...

I generally don't rely on memory of some formula or laws for something like this. Memory can be fragile (esp mine!). I try to think it through, like the examples I gave in post #63.

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Originally Posted by harley ... I suspect a higher percentage of people could name which of these people did something than got the Jonas Salk answer right.

I think I can name most of the ladies, even though I don't watch much TV/movies - pick up some by osmosis (keeping in the science theme!) from my DW.

Reese Witherspoon, Jen Aniston, Jennifer Gartner. Not sure of the two on the bottom row - is the left Goldie's daughter (Kate...? Hudson - thanks google). Last one from the Titanic movie...maybe, wazz'ername?

The guys? - just kind of a blur, I don't see a thing

-ERD50

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I generally don't rely on memory of some formula or laws for something like this. Memory can be fragile (esp mine!). I try to think it through, like the examples I gave in post #63. I think I can name most of the ladies, even though I don't watch much TV/movies - pick up some by osmosis (keeping in the science theme!) from my DW. Reese Witherspoon, Jen Aniston, Jennifer Gartner. Not sure of the two on the bottom row - is the left Goldie's daughter (Kate...? Hudson - thanks google). Last one from the Titanic movie...maybe, wazz'ername? The guys? - just kind of a blur, I don't see a thing -ERD50

If that's Jennifer Garner she needs to get her money back from the plastic surgeon.

[aaronc879]

I'll fill in some blanks. First guy is Paul Walker from the Fast and Furious movies. Second guy is Zac Efron who became famous from the movie High School Musical. Then they made a second and third. He's in his 20's so no surprise that most here don't know him. First guy on the bottom is Denzel Washington. Last women is Kate Winslet. I'm not sure who the last person is...maybe Robert Pattinson from the Twilight movies?

[aaronc879]

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Originally Posted by Meadbh Top row (L-R): Reese Witherspoon, some guy, Jennifer Anniston, some other guy, some woman Bottom row (L-R): Denzel Washington, some woman who might be Kate Hudson? Amy Schumer?, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Winslet, some other other guy. Edited to add: it's Kate Hudson on the bottom row. So my score is 6/10. Teeflour's Top 10 List! | POPSUGAR Celebrity

Thanks for the link. I never heard of the last person but the rest where as easy for me as the science questions seemed to be to everyone but me.