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Science General Knowledge #1

Can you answer these random questions from the realm of science?
Quiz idea and some questions from Kestrana
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 10, 2025
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First submittedMay 15, 2016
Times taken159,587
Average score70.0%
Rating4.52
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Question
Answer
In what galaxy is the solar system located?
Milky Way
What species is the closest living relative to humans?
Chimpanzees
What is equal to mass times acceleration?
Force
What is the chemical formula for water?
H2O
Who was the first person to see the moons of Jupiter?
Galileo Galilei
What is the hardest known naturally-occurring material?
Diamond
What is pencil "lead" made from?
Graphite
What element are both of the above minerals made from?
Carbon
The sun is currently a yellow dwarf. What type of star will it become in
about 5 billion years?
Red Giant
What are the two types of particles in the nucleus of an atom?
Proton
Neutron
What astronomer, born in modern-day Poland, postulated that the Sun is at the
center of the solar system?
Nicolaus Copernicus
What process do plants use to turn light into energy?
Photosynthesis
Where would you find Olympus Mons?
Mars
What does a chronometer measure?
Time
What is the duodenum a part of?
Small intestine
What type of sugar does the brain use for energy?
Glucose
Two elements of the Periodic Table are named after U.S. states.
Name either element.
Californium /
Tennessine
What is the largest asteroid in the solar system?
Ceres
What do most humans have 23 pairs of?
Chromosomes
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109 Comments
tschutzer
+55
Level 93
May 16, 2016
Though it is located in the asteroid belt, the answer you list for the largest asteroid is not actually an asteroid. It was promoted to dwarf planet status years ago. I suggest you change the question to read: "What is the largest object orbiting within the solar system's asteroid belt?"
samiamco
+3
Level 68
Jun 7, 2016
Was just about to post the same thing. +1.
Quizley
+9
Level 66
Jul 20, 2016
I thought the same, but the fastidious, possibly picayune writers/editors on Wikipedia state that Ceres is both a dwarf planet and an asteroid.
Ghostbuster
+51
Level 93
Jun 16, 2017
A plasteroid, if you will.
FiddleyDiddleyDoo
+1
Level 16
Jun 30, 2017
^ I love it
GeographyGeek42
+1
Level 65
Aug 27, 2018
Then, I won't
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 92
Nov 13, 2018
The writers of Wikipedia are anyone with an internet connection.
sumguy
+12
Level 87
Jul 20, 2016
Ceres is a dwarf planet and an asteroid, just as Pluto is a dwarf planet and a Trans-Neptunian Object, a Kuipier belt Object, and a Plutino. All minor planets between Mars and Jupiter are asteroids, even if they are also dwarf planets.
SmarterThanEinstein
+2
Level 38
Dec 11, 2016
There is are still many arguments about ceres, it's shaped like you would expect a asteroid to be but is incredibly large..
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Mar 13, 2020
As Quizley and sumguy have pointed out, Ceres is both an asteroid and a dwarf planet. The question is correct.
howard38
+2
Level 61
Mar 28, 2020
Nasa considers it a dwarf planet. That's enough for me.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 71
Oct 13, 2020
I was surprised by this question as well, but quizmaster is correct. Learned something new today! Very cool.
jacerbeast
+1
Level 17
Dec 13, 2025
ceres in round cause of his own gravity (or atleast close enough) and it orbits the sun. Since it has not cleared out his orbit it is considered a dwarf planet. It is an asteroid if it is not round in shape by his own gravity. But since ceres is it is considered a dwarf planet.
howard38
+1
Level 61
Mar 28, 2020
Vesta or whatever is the actual largest asteroid should be acceptable even if Jetpunk insists on Ceres as an answer.
Ferbin
+1
Level 79
Dec 18, 2023
No, it actually isn't. Ceres is considerably larger. Vesta doesn't even have a spherical shape (Ceres does). This is because it hasn't reached hidrostatic equilibrium, which indicates it's quite small.
RobNobody
+1
Level 80
May 10, 2025
I don't think they're arguing that Vesta is bigger than Ceres, but that Ceres isn't an asteroid, since its classification as a dwarf planet.
jacerbeast
+1
Level 17
Dec 13, 2025
but ceres isn't a asteroid
jacerbeast
+1
Level 17
Dec 13, 2025
went to the comments to report this
Instrumental
+3
Level 68
Jul 20, 2016
Missed Copernicus and Ceres. For shame!
JackintheBox
+1
Level 82
Mar 13, 2019
I missed those two (and only those two) as well!
Sulps
+3
Level 55
Jul 20, 2016
Damn all you fancy-shmancy Latin names, Estonians simply call it "kaksteistsõrmiksool" ("twelve-finger-intestine"). P.S. I have absolutely no idea why.
Quizley
+9
Level 66
Jul 20, 2016
As duodenum comes from the Latin for "in twelves," the pattern holds.
Malbaby
+3
Level 70
Jul 20, 2016
The 'Fancy-shmancy Latin names' you mention make it possible for all nations and languages to have a common scientific names for all people. What use would it be if the official international name for the 'Duodenum' was 'kaksteistsormiksool' and dodekadaktlylos and zwollffingerdarm etc etc ........ nobody would have a clue what they were talking about. Every doctor/scientist in the world understands what the word 'Duodenum' is referring to.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 71
Dec 12, 2023
In common language, most people still call it a kaksteistsõrmiksool.
prdoz
+1
Level 76
Jul 20, 2016
As of Jun 2016, you need to allow Tennessine as an element named after a US state
plattitude
+1
Level 95
Jul 20, 2016
Think that's jumping the gun a bit, as the name hasn't been confirmed yet. Last timeline I saw put approval likely in November.
BrosephStalin
+3
Level 70
Jul 20, 2016
I never knew Copernicus was Polish. That's hardly a Polish last name.
ruudsje
+16
Level 68
Jul 20, 2016
He was born as Mikołaj Kopernik. In those days scientists, writers, composers and such folk used to give a Latin ring to their names, to give them more street cred.
jmellor13
+1
Level 68
Jul 21, 2016
This is a very interesting piece of information. I knew Copernicus was Polish, but I had always wondered about his name.
Swanbabe
+1
Level 37
Aug 24, 2016
Pretty sure there's some element of myth wrapped up in Copernicus. As though he smashed established thought regarding celestial movement, when actually it was generally accepted that the earth was round and went round the sun. Galileo in his war against the church made a lot of brash statements that kind of left a legacy of the church propogating ignorance, but according to the sources I've read, the immanence just doesn't seem to have been there.
RobNobody
+1
Level 80
May 10, 2025
It was indeed generally accepted at the time that the Earth was round, but heliocentrism definitely was not. A number of other people had proposed heliocentrism before Copernicus, but they were never more than fringe theories.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 92
Nov 13, 2018
It was his gangsta rap name?
camus
+2
Level 80
Mar 28, 2020
There seems to be no source calling him Mikołaj Kopernik during his lifetime. He was spelled Niclas Koppernigk, Nicolaus Kopperlingk, Nicolaus Copernik, Nicolaus Cop(p)ernicus, Nicolaus Coppernic(k), Nicolaus Coppernig, Nicolaj Copphernicj. Fixed spelling wasn't a thing back then. See here and here.
Malbaby
+3
Level 70
Mar 6, 2018
Aristarchus of Samos was an ancient Greek scholar that first wrote about the earth and planets going round the sun. Copernicus in his notes to be published gave credence to Aristarchus as the first. Copernicus' editors convinced him to cross out any reference to Aristarchus and his claim to be the first made him famous.
mizu
+1
Level 59
Mar 28, 2020
was also going to point this out
CatholicLion
+1
Level 43
Jun 9, 2022
He wasnt polish. He was prussian.
koblo3000
+2
Level 63
Oct 24, 2023
He was born in Toruń, so he was Polish
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 71
Dec 12, 2023
I'm gonna make a quiz calling Copernicus French, just to enrage the Polish nationalists.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2025
This has been fixed. Copernicus was German, not Polish.
johnnybna
+3
Level 70
Jul 21, 2016
element named after US State?

"Tennessine! Tennissine! Tennissine!" shouts the man from Tennessee. (New name for element 117) :)

jmellor13
+3
Level 68
Jul 21, 2016
That sounds like the opening to a country song.
Moosefight
+5
Level 59
Jul 28, 2016
It's the opening line of my new single, "Tennesseein' is Tennebelievin'"
bb11145
+1
Level 46
Apr 21, 2018
should have been oakridgium and sung by ... well, you know
Djilas
+1
Level 86
Dec 4, 2016
It's been official since last Monday (28th November 2016) – the 18th question has two possible answers :)
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 5, 2016
Updated!
BullIJB
+1
Level 7
Feb 22, 2017
Ceres is now a dwarf planet, the new biggest asteroid is 4Vesta.
RobNobody
+3
Level 80
Aug 2, 2019
Ceres is a dwarf planet, but it is also still an asteroid.
Hominka
+10
Level 82
Mar 6, 2018
With so many answers being from astronomy, I thought for sure that the answer to "Duodenum" would be Uranus.
jchesney
+3
Level 68
Mar 6, 2018
^Winner
Lucknowite
+1
Level 40
Aug 27, 2018
lol
TheCrusher
+8
Level 70
Jul 6, 2018
Not sure if you really need to give the "synthesis" part of the 12th question's answer. It's already easy enough to guess. We all learned the word in elementary school...
ElliotArundella
+1
Level 32
Feb 4, 2024
shut up, the world begs of you
gerobach
+1
Level 78
Aug 18, 2018
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/290321/name-the-blood-cell
TWM03
+1
Level 72
Oct 2, 2018
The "fun fact" answer to the hardest material question may be diamond, but this is not actually true. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16610-diamond-no-longer-natures-hardest-material/
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 92
Nov 13, 2018
You had the 46th comment. It should've been about chromosomes.
TWM03
+1
Level 72
Mar 13, 2019
You had the 47th. It should have been about Kalashnikov rifles.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 13, 2020
Science journalism makes me mad. The headline to that article is garbage. If you read the article, you'll see that those materials are "predicted" to be harder than diamond, but it can't be tested because they are so incredibly rare. Diamond is still the correct answer until someone proves otherwise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhard_material

"Diamond is the hardest known material to date"

Unobtainium
+1
Level 49
May 22, 2024
I knew about lonsdaleite, but I didn't know there was a man-made version with, ideally, similar hardness. Lonsdaleite has a hexagonal prism-like lattice, instead of a cube-like lattice in a diamond, making it presumably as much as 1.6x harder. However, as QM pointed out, it's rare. Naturally occurring lonsdaleite has only been found in impact craters, created by the intense pressure. Not even the true color is known, because sample sizes are so small.

"Lonsdaleite has never been obtained in samples large enough to test its true hardness (or to evaluate its true color, which remains uncertain). But mathematical models of lonsdaleite’s structure indicate that the substance could be up to 58 percent harder than cubic diamond." That's where this number of 58% harder comes from, theoretical testing.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extra-hard-space-diamonds-may-have-formed-in-an-ancient-cosmic-collision/

Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Dec 20, 2018
18/20 :) happy with that as on average I tend to go more towards three quarters of correct answers. I guess it was because this was more sciency, no sports, hardly history and all international questions. MIssed ceres, and allmost had red giant correct. Couldnt get it, tried red dwarf, red star, red sun ( out of desperation) supernova even black hole haha, though my first thought was red soemthing
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Dec 20, 2018
hahaha ok... only now I see that this wasnt a general knowledge but a science general knowledge. Well arent scientists known to be a bit scatterbrained hahaha (I opened this quiz yesterday, by clicking on random so didnt read it well, and only actually took it today, because it was after midnight already yesterday)

It explains Everything!!

TWM03
+1
Level 72
Mar 13, 2019
Why does it specify that it is the brain that uses glucose for energy? The entirety of the body uses it, not just the brain.
RobNobody
+1
Level 80
Mar 13, 2019
Because the question is about the brain.
TWM03
+1
Level 72
Mar 25, 2019
So why is the answer glucose? Glucose has nothing directly to do with the brain.
RobNobody
+4
Level 80
Aug 2, 2019
Sure it does. The brain uses it for energy.
Akkenru
+5
Level 58
Mar 30, 2020
It's an unfortunately worded question which only biologists would really understand. The brain doesn't have the capacity to break down glycogen, use proteins or lipids for energy production. The rest of the body can do this by inserting various metabolites from breaking these down, into the Krebs or citric acid cycle. The brain relies upon the rest of the body to supply it with glucose from food or the breakdown of glycogen. Only in very extreme circumstances can it use ketones, and that causes physical damage to the blood brain barrier and the brain itself due to the extensive high levels of ketones in the blood that would enable them to infiltrate the central nervous system. The question is basically asking 'What is typically the only substance the brain can use for energy?'
notluke
+1
Level 19
Apr 16, 2019
Yes it does actually
notluke
+1
Level 19
Apr 16, 2019
18/20 and just turned 13 yasss 7th grade science in Hawaii lol
notluke
+1
Level 19
Apr 16, 2019
Yessuh Marlowe I like the simplicity
blizzrd33
+1
Level 81
Jan 22, 2020
This was a fun quiz.
vitriden
+2
Level 83
Jan 23, 2020
I've tried, out of curiosity, to answer "H20" (meaning H-twenty) to the water question, and, to my surprise, the answer was considered to be correct. I really think it shouldn't be, since it is inherently wrong. Water molecule doesn't have 20 hydrogen atoms, and if some people don't know that, they should be educated, not kept in their ignorance, by accepting the wrong answer.
NoahGBurns
+2
Level 37
Aug 13, 2021
Wow, no need to be so nitpicky
Unobtainium
+1
Level 49
May 22, 2024
Subscript isn't convenient to work with, like most special characters. No one who types in "H20" is going to mean 20 hydrogen atoms.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Apr 22, 2025
this isn't about subscript or any kind of special characters, but using a zero where the letter O should have been used.
Stef2
+2
Level 65
Mar 28, 2020
Could you add "grafite" as a type-in?
NoahGBurns
+1
Level 37
Aug 13, 2021
Why would they accept something spelt wrong?
partdavid
+3
Level 75
Jun 7, 2022
Across the site, many misspellings, common or otherwise, are accepted.

This is a philosophical question--is every quiz also a spelling quiz? Quizmaster seems to believe, within some reasonable limit, that knowing the answer to a question and knowing how to spell the words are separate things. After all, if you were administering an oral trivia quiz, you would receive a correct answer whether you knew how to spell it or not.

It's a judgement call about whether or not a misspelling is "close enough". I'd love to have the option (strict spelling or not) on each quiz, but I imagine that would be an impractical amount of work (for one thing, we'd get into a lot of arguments about what is a valid alternate answer, a valid variant spelling, or a misspelling acceptable under the looser standard; for the second, you'd have to effectively have two sets of answer patterns).

If you're going to accept misspellings at all, I'd favor "grafite", especially for those coming from other tongues.

HTownBoyz
+2
Level 51
Mar 28, 2020
C6H12O6 should work for glucose
Marquee
+3
Level 52
May 20, 2020
No, disagree, a lot of compounds other than glucose have this formula.
Unobtainium
+1
Level 49
May 22, 2024
Why though? It's cool and useful to memorize for things like cellular homeostasis, but why not just type "glucose"?
Badeghut
+1
Level 73
Mar 28, 2020
I would like to point out that mass times acceleration is not equal to simply Force it is equal to net force along a certain axis.
williamoron
+1
Level 15
Mar 31, 2020
First quiz (out of 90+) i got 100%
bostjan
+1
Level 71
Apr 3, 2020
Maybe a nitpick, but the term "yellow dwarf" is not technically correct. The peak spectral output of the sun is actually in the blue-green range. The sun appears yellow on Earth due to atmospheric scattering. "Dwarf" can be argued, as it is opposed to "giant," but the accepted terminology is "main sequence star." It doesn't really affect the way people guess the answer, thoguh, I suppose.
OliviaPG
+2
Level 72
May 28, 2020
How do three times as many people know about the duodenum than Ceres?
Clarkie96
+2
Level 69
Jun 7, 2022
I imagine the duodenum is more important to most people's daily lives than Ceres....
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Apr 23, 2025
With duodenum the word is already given, you just need to know what it is (or guess if you only roughly know, like that it is a medical term). If people would have to come up with the word themselves it would be a lot lower.

Ceres was the only one I missed, I knew it started wit a c though, but it just wouldn't come to me.

EvanAviator
+1
Level 61
Oct 17, 2020
WOW i did really good :D
sadra
+1
Level 23
Nov 18, 2020
isnt ceres a dwarf
Koopa
+1
Level 87
Dec 20, 2021
I thought Ceres was a dwarf planet.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jun 3, 2022
I thought tomato was a fruit.
Jacktheguy
+2
Level 93
Jun 7, 2022
I thought Cyprus was in Asia.
Unobtainium
+2
Level 49
May 22, 2024
Uh oh
luxwoodflowerpod
+1
Level 32
Aug 12, 2022
hahahahahahahahahahahaha not everyone has 23 pairs of Chromosomes you should change it 'most' people.

Thanks love

Unobtainium
+2
Level 49
May 22, 2024
Nitpicker olympics would be a Jetpunker-dominated competition.
Kawada01
+2
Level 65
Sep 27, 2022
Maybe clarify the hardest material to be on Earth, otherwise the answer ought to be the centre of a neutron star.

And although the current answer for an atom's nucleus is obvious, up quark and down quark are also correct answers. Very sad when they didn't work :'(

quantum12354
+1
Level 54
Dec 11, 2023
I tried that too, also, gluons are the only thing keeping the nucleus together.
DLamers
+1
Level 66
Oct 21, 2022
Arent the gibbon and the chimpanzee both the closest relatives of humans i thought both were as close as each other related to us
RobNobody
+1
Level 80
Dec 7, 2023
Nope, gibbons are actually the ape we are least closely related to, having split off from the great apes around 17 million years ago. We're more closely related to gorillas, having split off from them around 7 million years ago, and most closely related to chimpanzees, with that split happening around 5 million years ago.
Texio
+1
Level 84
Nov 21, 2023
I propose to change the name of the largest asteroid in the solar system to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
ooftownroad
+1
Level 68
Dec 7, 2023
isnt wurtzite harder than diamond and occurs naturally?

(and i dont think graphene occurs naturally)

orange3472
+1
Level 71
Apr 8, 2024
As a mineral (zinc sulfide), no. But wurtzite also describes the general crystal structure. I've seen some interesting info on w-boron nitride being stronger than diamond
QuizApe
+3
Level 72
Dec 8, 2023
Can you accept “Dihydrogen Monoxide”?
Nerdworm
+1
Level 61
Dec 9, 2023
I'd suggest rephrasing the question about graphite, since it gives out the answer for the next question ("What form of CARBON… ; What ELEMENT…).
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2023
Yes, fixed.
Wasserralle
+1
Level 49
Apr 5, 2024
Chimpanzee and Bonobo are equally close to us, so the question should ask for the closest genus (and then also accept Pan) or be "Which species are ..." and display Chimpanzee/Bonobo (Bonobo is accepted but leaving it out of the answer shown feels like its perpetuating the myth that chimps are closer).
Lobito
+1
Level 28
Feb 6, 2025
18/20. Only missed glucose and chromosomes because I couldn't write it
Dougnut
+2
Level 53
Mar 29, 2025
I would have gotten the average if i could write chromosomes
dvorkjoker
+1
Level 69
Oct 8, 2025
I only got Mars because I thought 'Olympus Mons' sounded French, and started to guess French places and went for Marseilles
ShriekingLeader
+1
Level 41
Nov 8, 2025
I feel like my answer of "the body" for duodenum wasn't completely wrong.
nations12345eat
+1
Level 48
Nov 9, 2025
ceres is a dwarf planet, not an asteroid. the largest asteroid is vesta.
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