General Science: 600+ Most Important Science Facts - Part 4

Question 301. What is a particle, like a pion or kaon, which consists of a quark and antiquark?
Meson (consists of a quark and antiquark; examples include the pion and kaon)

Question 302. What is a list of corrections to a previously published article called?
Errata (is a list of corrections to a previously published article)

Question 303. Which triangular muscle covers the shoulder?
Deltoid (is a triangular muscle that covers the shoulder)

Question 304. What are the smooth regions of the moon’s surface called?
Maria (are smooth regions of the moon’s surface); note that mare is singular

Question 305. What are the ground and higher states called in the context of standing waves?
One common naming scheme calls these the fundamental, first overtone, second overtone, etc., while another common naming scheme calls these the first harmonic, second harmonic, third harmonic, etc. (the ground and higher states in the context of standing waves)

Question 306. What is the process of bone formation called?
Ossification or osteogenesis (is the process of bone formation)

Question 307. Which physics instrument with rings is used to demonstrate precessional motion?
Gyroscope (is a physics instrument which consists of a set of rings that can spin in different directions, which is used to demonstrate precessional motion)

Question 308. Which highly luminous objects are found in the centers of some galaxies, are very distant, and feature a very large redshift?
Quasars or quasi-stellar objects (are highly luminous objects found in the centers of some galaxies, are very distant, and feature a very large redshift)

Question 309. Which particles have fractional spin and follow Pauli’s exclusion principle?
Fermions (have fractional spin and follow Pauli’s exclusion principle), which include leptons, such as the electron, as well as quarks and baryons, for example

Question 310. Which particles have zero or integer spin and don’t follow Pauli’s exclusion principle?
Bosons (have zero or integer spin and don’t follow Pauli’s exclusion principle), which include the photon, gluon, and mesons, for example

Question 311. Which severe psychological disorders may feature disorganized thoughts, delusions, bizarre behavior, or fragmented personality, for example?
Schizophrenia (is a group of severe psychological disorders which may feature disorganized thoughts, delusions, bizarre behavior, or fragmented personality)

Question 312. Which is the largest moon in earth’s solar system?
Ganymede (is the largest moon in earth’s solar system); note that Ganymede (which is Jupiter’s largest moon) is larger than Titan (which is Saturn’s largest moon), even though Titan is named after giant and powerful Greek gods (surely, that’s why many astronomy students who didn’t study quite enough guess this incorrectly); it may help to note that Ganymede, Titan, and Triton (Neptune’s largest moon) are alphabetical when ordered in size from largest to smallest (but not for Uranus)

Question 313. Which object in modern physics absorbs 100% of thermal radiation incident upon it?
Black body (is an object that absorbs 100% of incident thermal radiation); thus, a black body is a perfect absorber (and is also a perfect emitter)

Question 314. Which quantity provides a measure of the salt content in (non-pure) water?
Salinity (provides a measure of the salt content in water, where in this context by “water” we don’t mean pure H2O)

Question 315. Which branch of medicine studies the use of x-rays in diagnosing and treating disease?
Radiology (studies the use of x-rays and other forms of radiation in diagnosing and treating disease)

Question 316. In a reaction where an enzyme is a catalyst, which substance does the enzyme act on?
Substrate or enzyme substrate (is the substance that an enzyme acts on in a reaction where the enzyme serves as a catalyst)

Question 317. Which theorized original supercontinent of earth broke and drifted apart?
Pangaea (is the theorized original supercontinent of earth, which has long since broken up and drifted apart)

Question 318. What is another term for gas giant or outer planet? Which planets are these?
Jovian planet (is a gas giant or outer planet), which includes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

Question 319. What is another term for inner planet or rocky planet? Which planets are these?
Terrestrial planet (is an inner planet), which includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

Question 320. What are two ways to multiply vectors? (Bonus if you can name a third.)
Scalar product and vector product, also called the dot product and cross product (are two ways to multiply vectors); in the context of matrices, a third method is the outer product (which isn’t used by students nearly as often as the other methods; but it is useful in certain types of proofs in linear algebra)

Question 321. Which part of the brain consists of left and right hemispheres?
Cerebrum (is the part of the brain consisting of left and right hemispheres)

Question 322. Which part of the brain coordinates muscle movement and balance?
Cerebellum (coordinates muscle movement and balance)

Question 323. Which two kinds of angular momentum can an electron have?
Spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum (are the two types of angular momentum that an electron can have)

Question 324. Which white, waxy, fat-like substance is the most abundant steroid in the body?
Cholesterol (is a white, waxy, fat-like substance, and is the most abundant steroid in the body)

Question 325. Which is the tallest volcano in earth’s solar system?
Olympus Mons on Mars (is the tallest volcano in earth’s solar system); although Olympus Mons is the tallest volcano in the solar system, it might not be the tallest mountain now that a very tall mountain has been found on the asteroid Vesta

Question 326. Which type of lens aberration results from colors traveling different speeds in glass?
Chromatic aberration (results from colors traveling different speeds in glass, since the index of refraction of glass varies slightly for different wavelengths)

Question 327. Which type of lens or mirror aberration has to do with the shape of the lens or mirror?
Spherical aberration (has to do with the shape of the lens or mirror)

Question 328. What is the technical term for man-made materials?
Synthetic materials (are man-made materials)

Question 329. In which type of luminescence is visible light emitted by excited atoms shortly after absorbing light of much shorter wavelength?
Fluorescence (is where excited atoms emit light, usually visible, shortly after absorbing light of much shorter wavelength, usually ultraviolet or x-ray); perhaps you should also receive credit for phosphorescence, even though in that case the luminescence occurs on a longer time scale

Question 330. Which device delivers an electric shock to the heart to correct or prevent arrhythmia?
Defibrillator (is a device that delivers an electric shock to the heart to correct or prevent arrhythmia); pacemaker may also merit credit

Question 331. What is an organism’s tendency to maintain internal chemical and physical stability?
Homeostasis (is the tendency of an organism to maintain internal chemical and physical stability by compensating for changes in the environment)

Question 332. Which is the largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt?
Ceres (is the largest asteroid in our solar system)

Question 333. Which term describes a person who can walk and is not confined to a bed?
Ambulatory (refers to a person who can walk and is not confined to a bed)

Question 334. When the Rayleigh-Jeans classical prediction for blackbody radiation disagreed with experimental results at high frequencies, which two words did scientists use to describe this?
Ultraviolet catastrophe (refers to the disagreement between the Rayleigh-Jeans classical prediction for blackbody radiation and experimental results for when the frequency is high)

Question 335. What does each symbol below represent? Which is which?
Biological hazard aka biohazard (left) ionizing radiation (right); sometimes called radioactivity warning

Question 336. Which word describes each configuration of resistors below? Which is which?
Parallel (left) and series (right)

Question 337. What are the four types of nitrogen bases in DNA?
Adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine (are the nitrogen bases in DNA)

Question 338. Which bands of the full electromagnetic spectrum can you name?
Gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave, radio waves (are bands in the electromagnetic spectrum)

Question 339. How many spectral series for hydrogen can you name?
Balmer, Lyman, Paschen, Brackett, Pfund, Humphreys (are series of spectral lines for hydrogen)

Question 340. Which geologic eons and eras can you name?
Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic are eons (the first three are collectively known as Precambrian)
Archean eon includes the Eoarchean, Paleoarchean, Mesoarchean, Neoarchean eras
Proterozoic eon includes Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic eras
Phanerozoic eon includes Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic eras
Hadean eon isn’t divided into eras bonus for knowing some of the epochs (some of which may be more widely known than the eons or eras), such as Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Holocene, or for knowing some of the periods, such as Quaternary (but also note that there have been naming and division changes with the periods)

Question 341. Which branch of zoology is devoted to birds?
Ornithology (is the branch of zoology devoted to birds)

Question 342. What are the four quantum numbers for a hydrogen-like atom?
n= principal quantum number (for energy), l = azimuthal quantum number (for the magnitude of the electron’s angular momentum), ml = magnetic quantum number (for the direction of the electron’s angular momentum), and ms = spin quantum number (for the electron’s spin angular momentum, which may be spin up or spin down)

Question 343. Can you describe any cataclysmic events in earth’s history?
Permian-Triassic extinction about 250 million years ago (dinosaurs appeared)
Impact in Yucatán Peninsula about 65 million years ago (dinosaurs became extinct)
Triassic-Jurassic extinction 200 million years ago
Denovian extinction event 360 million years ago
Ordovician-Silurian extinction 440 million years ago
(are five cataclysmic events in earth’s history, listed in a 1982 paper by Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup)

Question 344. What are two types (meaning two limiting cases) of diffraction of visible light?
Fresnel and Fraunhofer (are two types of diffraction)