Famous Science Experiments Quiz: 15 Questions
From Newton's apple to Pavlov's dog, some experiments have transformed our understanding of the world. Can you identify the discoveries and the scientists behind these historic moments?
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Frequently asked questions: Famous Science Experiments
A preview of what awaits you in this famous science experiments quiz: 15 multiple choice questions, each with a detailed explanation so you can learn as you play. Here are a few sample questions (and their answers, so no peeking before you play!).
According to legend, what fell on Newton's head and inspired his law of gravitation?
Answer: An apple. According to the famous legend, it was watching an apple fall from a tree that gave Newton the insight into universal gravitation around 1666. Even if the story has probably been embellished, it symbolises his revolutionary discovery.
What did Pavlov demonstrate with his experiment on dogs?
Answer: The conditioned reflex (classical conditioning). Ivan Pavlov demonstrated classical conditioning: by associating the sound of a bell with food, he taught dogs to salivate at the sound of the bell alone. This discovery revolutionised psychology and the behavioural sciences.
What did Rutherford discover through his experiment firing particles at a sheet of gold foil?
Answer: That the atom has a dense, concentrated nucleus. In 1911, Ernest Rutherford bombarded a thin sheet of gold foil with alpha particles. The unexpected deflection of some particles proved that the atom has a small, dense nucleus surrounded by empty space. This was the birth of the nuclear model of the atom.
Which famous experiment allowed Lavoisier to state the law of conservation of mass?
Answer: The combustion of mercury in a closed vessel. Lavoisier heated mercury in a sealed vessel and precisely measured the masses before and after the reaction. He thus showed that “nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”: the total mass is conserved during a chemical reaction.
Which vaccine did Louis Pasteur develop in a famous public experiment in 1881?
Answer: The anthrax vaccine. In 1881, at the public experiment at Pouilly-le-Fort, Pasteur vaccinated sheep against anthrax in front of witnesses. All the vaccinated sheep survived the infection, proving the effectiveness of vaccination. The rabies vaccine would follow in 1885.
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