Astrophysics
Mechanics/Relativity
Particle Physics/QM
Miscellaneous
100

How old is our universe?

About 13.8 billion years

100

What is the equation for kinetic energy?

½ mv^2

100

What 2 elementary particles are protons and neutrons made out of?

U quarks and d quarks

100

True or False. An object at rest has no energy.

False

200

Which galaxy is the milky way going to collide with in about 5 billion years?

Andromeda

200

What is the law of conservation of energy?

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed - only converted from one form of energy to another.

200

What is the force carrier for the strong nuclear force?

Gluon

200

Why is the sky blue?

Blue light gets scattered the most

300

How do we know that dark matter exists?

Galaxies spin faster than they should

300

When are SUVAT/kinematic equations used?

When there is constant acceleration

300

What is the equation used to find the probability of quantum particles?

Wave function (squared)

300

Why does metal feel cold?

It conducts heat away from your hand faster

400

What is the name of the black hole in the centre of the Milky Way?

Sagittarius A*

400

What is an inertial reference frame?

A frame of reference that is not accelerating

400

How many generations of leptons are there?

3

400

Why are temperatures lower at the poles/higher latitudes?

The same amount of light/heat is spread over a larger area.

500

What causes Hawking radiation?

It has to do with particle-antiparticle pairs forming near the event horizon. Particles with negative energy tend to fall past the event horizon, leaving the particle with positive energy to escape which is viewed as radiation.

500

What is the equation for the Lorentz factor?

Look its too complicated to type up. We'll just tell you if it's right or not.

500

How did we recently show that the Standard Model is incomplete?

Any valid answer, at the minimum with some reference to muons or g-value

500

Why are perpetual motion machines impossible?

They violate the second law of thermodynamics