Physics is the science that underpins everything else and helps us to understand how the world works. Test your knowledge now with these fun physics trivia questions and answers!
Physics Trivia Questions
1. Famed physicist Albert Einstein was born in what country?
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Germany.
2. Which British physicist is credited with discovering the electron?
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J. J. Thomson.
3. In physics, multiplying the mass of an object by its velocity gives you what property?
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The momentum of the object.
4. Who was the English physicist who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation describing electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon?
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James Clerk Maxwell.
5. In the study of physics, what distinguishes a scalar from a vector?
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A scalar only has magnitude. A vector has magnitude and direction.
6. Which famous physicist wrote a book called “A Brief History of Time”?
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Stephen Hawking.
7. Which physicist discovered and qualitatively described electromagnetic induction?
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Michael Faraday.
8. What does EMF stand for in physics?
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Electromotive force.
9. Which Danish physicist developed a model of the hydrogen atom that gives its possible energy levels?
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Niels Bohr.
10. Composer Philip Glass in 1976 wrote an opera about what physicist?
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Albert Einstein.
11. What property in physics is defined as the rate of change of velocity?
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Acceleration.
12. Who was the United States physicist who directed the Manhatten Project at Los Alamos that produced the first nuclear weapons?
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J. Robert Oppenheimer.
13. Hadrons are composite particles made up of two of more of which elementary particle?
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Quarks.
14. Which physicist discovered the laws of motion and universal gravitation?
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Isaac Newton.
15. What is the SI unit of power?
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The Watt.
16. Which physicist was said to have shouted “Eureka!” from a bath tub?
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Archimedes.
17. What type of energy is stored by a capacitor?
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Electrical energy.
18. Which physics property describes the tendency to keep object remain its state of motion?
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Inertia.
19. Who is the only person to win Nobel prizes in both physics and chemistry?
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Marie Curie.
20. Which law states that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance?
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Hooke’s law.
21. What does the acronym LASER stand for?
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Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
22. What physical constant did Henry Cavendish first determine using two weights and a cantilever?
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The gravitational constant.
23. What is the antimatter equivalent of an electron?
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A positron.
24. What is the rotational equivalent of linear momentum?
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Angular momentum.
25. Which physicist discovered x-rays in 1895?
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W. C. Röntgen.
26. What name is given to the random, uncontrolled movement of particles in a fluid as they constantly collide with other molecules?
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Brownian motion.
27. What sort of electricity is created when you rub two balloons together?
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Static electricity.
28. In physics, what term is used to describe the change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to another caused by its change in speed?
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Refraction.
29. What unit of measurement, used to express astronomical distances, is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers?
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A light year.
30. What term is used to describe the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source?
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The Doppler effect.
Physics Trivia Quiz
If you enjoyed our physics trivia quiz, why not try some of the other fun free trivia questions you can find at LaffGaff, such as these:
