Thursday Science Quiz: Can you do science better than 93% of Americans?

12/13

The chemical reaction one, I was going to put a nail rusting, but can someone tell me why sugar dissolving isn’t a chemical reaction?

Because its a solid suspended in water. No actual chemical reaction takes place. Rusting is oxidisation

Because although the sugar experiences a physical change, there is no change in its chemical makeup, whereas the oxidation of the metal in the nail produces a new chemical.

that dissolving/mixing/probably a proper scientific word for it. Remove the water (by heating) and the sugar will still be there

‘cos it’s still sugar and water

why sugar dissolving isn’t a chemical reaction?

just because 😉

it’s because none of the elements bind to one another, the sugar is just in suspension in the water. (I am not a chemist)

Its a slightly odd quiz – some of those questions are more a current affairs question than science in the sense ‘Fracking’ isn’t going to be something covered by anyone’s eduction, just something they’ll have read about in the paper recently.

And on questions like continental drift- you can know the answer but disagree with it on principle.

Science is a political football in the states. Republicanism and ‘Facts’ are uneasy bedfellows so scientists are seen as liberals (which typically they are) and ‘science’ therefore as liberal propaganda. So republicanism galvanises itself by resisting and refuting science. Biblical literalism is more of counter-liberal science refuting taunt to liberals than real religious zeal.

What the hell were people putting other than nitrogen?

‘Fracking’ isn’t going to be something covered by anyone’s eduction, just something they’ll have read about in the paper recently.

Or not… as appears to be the case with most Americans 😉

To be fair we don’t know the conditions that the survey was carried out. Was it a questionnaire asked to random people in a busy street with all the distractions that might be occurring ?

Some questions such as what’s smaller an electron or an atom are obvious if you stop and think, but I can see people getting it wrong in the same way as they might if they were quickly asked what’s smaller a finger or a hand. People give daft answers when they’re not concentrating or are distracted.

Learn something every day

Thanks *kisses*

As evidenced by Graham’s graphic, Americans can’t even spell Maths.
Math? So it’s mathematic is it? No, it’s mathematics. (They probably don’t even know what it’s bloody short for).

I can understand why lay people get the nitrogen one wrong. You hear a lot in the media about rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and know that we need oxygen in air to survive, but nitrogen doesn’t get mentioned, even though it is by far the most abundant gas.

13/13 here, most of them you would know from doing some of the sciences at high school I’d of thought.

What the hell were people putting other than nitrogen?

I’d guess oxygen?

I’m surprised the nitrogen question is seen as being so hard. I thought it was one of those ‘strange but true’ facts everyone was taught at school.

13/13 …phew, I felt under a wee bit of pressure there as I work in a genetics lab and came very close to using the “Duh!” word on the atmospheric composition! 😳

13/13.
Will send the link to everyone else in the lab and see how they get on 🙂

Some questions such as what’s smaller an electron or an atom are obvious if you stop and think

Only if you know the answer. I’d guess common knowledge would tell you atoms are the smallest things. You’d need to know a bit of science to know otherwise.

What the hell were people putting other than nitrogen?

One of the other 3 answers.

To be fair we don’t know the conditions that the survey was carried out. Was it a questionnaire asked to random people in a busy street with all the distractions that might be occurring ?

They give details of the test conditions on page two of the full report[/url].

“The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted March 7-10, 2013 among a national sample of 1,006 adults 18 years of age or older living in the continental United States (501 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 505 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 242 who had no landline telephone).”

Anyhow, since it didn’t ask where I live, we don’t know that the general ignorance displayed in the survey results is confined to the US.

EDIT: Yes we do, according to someone who’s actually read the report! 😳

To be fair we don’t know the conditions that the survey was carried out. Was it a questionnaire asked to random people in a busy street with all the distractions that might be occurring ?

No, apparently it was a [italics for emphasis]proper[/italics for emphasis] survey.

It’s a pretty shit questionnaire to be honest. But only because I got so many wrong.

As evidenced by Graham’s graphic, Americans can’t even spell Maths.
Math? So it’s mathematic is it? No, it’s mathematics. (They probably don’t even know what it’s bloody short for).

Makes you wonder how they ever managed to land a man on the moon.

Or did they ?

I’m surprised the nitrogen question is seen as being so hard. I thought it was one of those ‘strange but true’ facts everyone was taught at school.

taught and then forgotten, I’m not a scientist but I did A-level science and I’m vaguely interested in sciencey stuff, my mrs isn’t and hasn’t done any science stuff since gcse bet she’d struggle on a few, in fact I reckon I know a shedload of people who’d have difficulty answering a few of those. Would be interesting to see the UKs results. Don’t think it’s a US thing or even an “idiot” thing, people just don’t remember stuff they care little for.

Science is for geeks innit
🙂

I’d guess oxygen?

hydrogen for me – I knew that oxygen and carbon dioxide were fairly low but wasn’t sure about the other two and guessed…

Makes you wonder how they ever managed to land a man on the moon.

Or did they ?

No American who took part in this survey has ever landed or helped another to land on the moon. HTH.

Question 14: What is the probability of someone guessing incorrectly 13 times?

I *think* about 0.21%, but probability was never my strong point…

“They give details of the test conditions on page two of the full report”.

Fair enough. Asking question over the phone isn’t ideal though, there can be a lot of distractions and misunderstand of what was asked, specially as half of those questioned were talking on their mobiles.

Oh it was done over the phone was it?

What the hell were people putting other than nitrogen?

I’d imagine most people are familiar with the carbon cycle from biology/geography at school or from media coverage of climate change.

So I suspect that a good number of those answering incorrectly thought that air was basically carbon dioxide and oxygen in equal measures with a small amount of other guff.

No American who took part in this survey has ever landed or helped another to land on the moon. HTH.

No it doesn’t help I’m afraid as the criticism was aimed at “Americans”, not those who took part in this survey.

So I suspect that a good number of those answering incorrectly thought that air was basically carbon dioxide and oxygen in equal measures with a small amount of other guff.

You’ll need to survey them again.

hydrogen for me

on the plus side we might be sorted on the energy front, on the minus side the air might be a bit “burny” 🙂

on the plus side we might be sorted on the energy front, on the minus side the air might be a bit “burny”

Oxygen would be a lot more “burny”.

13/13. I’ll start sending out my CV to major chemical companies immediately.

11/13 😳

Blummin Atoms. They used to be the smallest. I blame rising levels of obesity…

Anyhow, since it didn’t ask where I live, we don’t know that the general ignorance displayed in the survey results is confined to the US.

EDIT: Yes we do, according to someone who’s actually read the report!

Report says that Americans rank about the middle of OECD nations in standardised science test results.

Oxygen would be a lot more “burny”.

well all your fuel will burn better but with large amount of hydrogen in there, the air itself would burn…no?

Fair enough. Asking question over the phone isn’t ideal though, there can be a lot of distractions and misunderstand of what was asked, specially as half of those questioned were talking on their mobiles.

Agreed. Not ideal conditions.

Though looking at those results, some of them are worse than you’d expect from randomly guessing (e.g. only 48% get the True/False one about lasers correct, and only 47% get a True/False on atoms correct)

13, although the atom question nearly had me. Then a little bell rang in my head relating electrons and sub-atomic particles (this could be entirely wrong) and I hit the jackpot!

I’m so glad I watched all those BBC science programmes with floppy haired big lipped presenters 😀