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Science Vocabulary #3

Based on a definition, try to guess these vocabulary words from the world of science.
To make it easier, we give you the first letter of the answer
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 13, 2020
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First submittedMay 17, 2016
Times taken44,866
Average score65.0%
Rating4.30
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Definition
Letter
Word
Group of stars bound together by gravity
G
Galaxy
How a liquid becomes a gas
E
Evaporation
The plants and animals at the bottom of the ocean's food chain
P
Plankton
Rock from which minerals can be economically extracted
O
Ore
Describes an animal that is primarily active at night
N
Nocturnal
The fourth state of matter. The sun is made of it.
P
Plasma
Type of plant, such as soybeans or lentils, whose fruit comes in a pod
L
Legume
The percentage of light that is reflected from a surface
A
Albedo
Organism that has both male and female sex organs
H
Hermaphrodite
How bats navigate using sound
E
Echolocation
One of two veins that return blood from the head to the heart
J
Jugular
Approximately 6.02 x 1023 atoms
M
Mole
Variation of an atom that has a different number of neutrons
I
Isotope
Metal with the highest melting point, used in lightbulb filaments
T
Tungsten
A planet which exists outside of our Solar System
E
Exoplanet
The division of a cell nucleus and the copying of the genome
M
Mitosis
Capable of being pulled or stretched into a thin wire
D
Ductile
Describes trees that lose their leaves in the winter
D
Deciduous
Half of the earth or half of the brain
H
Hemisphere
Half the distance between the crest and trough of a wave
A
Amplitude
54 Comments
+12
Level 86
May 17, 2016
"Group of stars" is a bit vague. For example, beginning with G, a globular cluster would also fit. Maybe specify that there must be billions of stars?
+2
Level ∞
May 18, 2016
According to Wikipedia, some galaxies have just a few thousand stars.
+2
Level 86
May 18, 2016
Ok... it's sometimes hard to classify some strange stellar structures. Still, usually, the little ones are rather called cluster. One way to get round this would be to ask for one-word answers (or maybe to allow globular cluster...).
+2
Level 86
May 18, 2016
On a different matter, I just saw that you forgot an i in "Variation" ;).
+1
Level 78
Oct 14, 2017
Giant elliptical galaxies have very little (if any) gas and dust, and nearly all stars are small yellow and red dwarfs.
+6
Level 78
May 18, 2016
Unless it was recently changed, Galaxy is guessed at a 96% rate and is the answer guessed correctly most of the time. I think the wording is fine.
+6
Level 86
May 18, 2016
The fact that everybody finds the expected answer doesn't prove that it is the only possible answer... Furthermore, in this case, I think the picture helps.
+2
Level 53
Jan 11, 2017
It took me a good twenty seconds to get past globular cluster.
+2
Level 85
Dec 15, 2020
"Globular cluster" breaks the usual rules for this type of quiz, which typically require one-word answers - although that's not mentioned in the caveats in this instance.
+1
Level 25
Apr 10, 2023
ya i thought same 2
+8
Level 85
Dec 19, 2016
A mole doesn't have to be atoms, it is just 6.02 x 10^23 of anything.
+8
Level 55
Mar 2, 2018
Perhaps. But you wouldn't want a mole of moles... https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
+5
Level 69
Oct 5, 2020
Does anyone know how many moles a mole is made of?
+20
Level 62
Dec 19, 2016
My ignorant guess of "molecule" pays off halfway through...
+3
Level 75
Dec 19, 2016
+1
+3
Level 66
Dec 19, 2016
+2
+4
Level 75
Dec 13, 2020
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
+2
Level 41
Dec 16, 2020
Maybe even a mole?
+3
Level 46
Dec 19, 2016
I'm curious as to why tungsten is listed as the element with the highest melting point. I've always been taught that carbon had a higher melting point, but due to the earth's atmosphere, it sublimates. Should it be changed to carbon instead of tungsten, or is terminology important here?
+5
Level 71
Dec 19, 2016
You're right, Tungsten/Wolfram has the highest melting point of element metals, but Carbon is the highest for all elements :-)
+1
Level 64
Nov 20, 2018
Tungsten does have the highest known boiling point of any element though.
+2
Level ∞
Sep 13, 2020
This has been fixed, thank you.
+1
Level 78
Jun 28, 2017
Could you also add vaporization for #2? I am pretty sure that is the term for when a liquid heats up enough to become a gas.
+1
Level 75
Aug 24, 2017
Perhaps, but it does not start with E...
+1
Level 78
Oct 14, 2017
The scientific term for boiling liquids turning to gases is vaporization.
+1
Level 26
Dec 13, 2020
are yall from america beacuse here in Britain we refer to it as evaporation.
+1
Level 59
Dec 15, 2020
Agree, the E is the clue. You could maybe accept "Evaporates" though?
+1
Level 35
Aug 22, 2022
Vaporisation is the conversion of liquid to gas. It's of two types: Evaporation and boiling.

Evaporation does not require heat and is a slow process. Like when a small water puddle on your floor vanishes after maybe an hour.

Boiling on the other hand, requires heat for rapid conversion to gas.

+5
Level 77
Apr 24, 2018
The sun is a miasma /

Of incandescent plasma /

The sun's not simply made out of gas /

No, no, no

+8
Level 70
Sep 4, 2018
Could the clue for deciduous be changed to trees that shed their leaves seasonally? In India deciduous trees shed their leaves in the summer before the monsoon
+1
Level 62
Mar 22, 2024
That's a really interesting piece of information. Thank you for that.
+2
Level 26
Feb 12, 2019
It is generally the case that amplitude refers to the value between the centre point of the wave to the trough or the peak.
+1
Level 74
Jun 23, 2020
Yes, seconded. Crest to trough would be twice the amplitude of a wave.
+1
Level ∞
Jun 24, 2020
Fixed
+2
Level 55
Jun 29, 2019
Ignorant I know, but what is a mole? (not the creature)
+1
Level 34
Jul 28, 2020
unit of measurement in chemistry
+1
Level 79
Nov 2, 2020
+3
Level 53
Dec 13, 2020
A mole is analogous to the word "dozen". If you had a dozen atoms, you have 12 atoms. If you had a mole of atoms, you have 6x022X10^22 atoms. The number itself is how many atoms of hydrogen make up 1 gram of hydrogen. The number is useful for talking about the total number of particles (for example, the total # of sodium particles in a solution) without having to use ridiculous 23 digit numbers.
+2
Level 40
Dec 20, 2023
6.022*10²³, not 22
+4
Level 76
Dec 18, 2019
Extrasolar should count too.
+2
Level 64
Sep 14, 2020
I did not know there were two jugulars.
+1
Level 79
Nov 2, 2020
Arrgghh... I tried 'echonavigation'.
+1
Level 77
Dec 13, 2020
could plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain more generally refer to producers? ie organisms that make their own food from sunlight rather than eating other organisms, and are therefore at the bottom of the food chain?
+2
Level 71
Dec 13, 2020
Possibly... although it specifies "ocean" and producers can be found in any environment.

On a similar note, can you please accept "phytoplankton" for that clue? I know phytoplankton doesn't include animals, but it should make sense for plants that are at the bottom of the food chain.

+2
Level 72
Dec 13, 2020
Could you please accept evaporate/evaporates. Liquid evaporates into gas. Tried it like 6 times to make sure I didn't make a spelling error.
+3
Level 33
Dec 14, 2020
The third question is technically incorrect. Phytoplankton are at the bottom of the food chain. They are then fed on by zooplankton who are second from the bottom. The generic term used to describe both is "plankton". The answer should either be only phytoplankton or the question needs to be rephrased to say the collective term referred to the bottom two levels of a food chain in the ocean.

Also, incidentally primary producers also works here and is more accurate than plankton.

+3
Level 73
Dec 14, 2020
Plankton are simply organisms that drift, as opposed to nekton which are self propelled. Plankton are not necessarily at the bottom of the food chain.
+1
Level 72
Dec 18, 2023
And there are food chains in the ocean that are not based on plankton of any kind.

"Food chain" is actually a term of convenience without a very good scientific definition, anyway. Regardless, this question should be something more like "small organisms that drift in the ocean and are often an important food source" or something like that.

+4
Level 64
Dec 15, 2020
The last one is not right at all. Half the distance between the crest and trough of a wave would be a quarter of the wavelength. The amplitude would be the height variation of either the crest or the trough from the median of the wave.
+3
Level 70
Dec 15, 2020
It is correct if you interpret it as the distance in the direction of oscillation (only for a transverse wave though)
+1
Level 79
Apr 4, 2022
Missed the As...great quiz, nonetheless.
+2
Level 57
Jun 25, 2023
i'm surprised that albedo isn't a popular term
+1
Level 79
Dec 18, 2023
Reminds me of libido
+1
Level 46
Dec 22, 2023
Question 2 should also accept ebullition. Act of boiling, starts with an E