Basic Chemistry
Periodic Personalities

Chemistry Celebrities
Random Trivia questions
CU Facts
100

What subatomic particle is located in the nucleus of an atom and carries a positive charge?

Proton

100

What is the chemical symbol for the element with atomic number 6?

Carbon (C)

100

Who formulated the Schrödinger equation, which describes the behavior of electrons in atoms?

 Erwin Schrödinger

100

 What is the chemical symbol for water

H₂O

100

Who is the current chancellor of CU Boulder

Philip P. DiStefano.

200

What is the term for the ratio of moles of one substance to moles of another in a balanced chemical equation?

Stoichiometric ratio

200

 How many naturally occurring elements are there on the periodic table?

118


200

Who is credited with the discovery of the element radium?


Marie Curie

200

What is the study of carbon compounds called

Organic Chemistry


200

Who are the chemistry advisors?

Hannah Petterson,Tabs Lannom

300

What type of bond involves the sharing of electrons between two non-metal atoms?

Covalent bond


300

As you move from left to right across a period on the periodic table, what generally happens to the atomic radius

It decreases

300

Who is credited with the discovery of penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic?

Alexander Fleming

300

What is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere?

Nitrogen (N₂)

300

What year was CU Boulder founded

1876.

400

What does Avogadro's number represent in chemistry?

The number of atoms, ions, or molecules in one mole of a substance (6.022 x 10²³)


400

 What is unique about the electron configuration of transition metals?

They have partially filled d orbitals.

400

Who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the structure of DNA, along with Watson and Crick

Rosalind Franklin

400

 Which element has the highest melting point?


 Tungsten (W)

400

 In which conference do CU Boulder's athletic teams compete?

The Pac-12 Conference

500

 What is the molecular shape of a molecule with a central atom surrounded by four bonding pairs and one lone pair?

Trigonal Bipyramidal

500

What is unique about the position of hydrogen on the periodic table?

It is a nonmetal but is placed above alkali metals.

500

Which chemist is associated with the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics?

Werner Heisenberg

500

What is the chemical name for vitamin C?

Ascorbic acid

500

Who is the chair of the undergraduate studies in the chemistry department?

Robert Parson