Physical Science
Potpourri
Mathematics
American History
Entertainment
100
Murray Gell-Mann named the fundamental particle of matter a quark. He got the name from a line in which literary work written by James Joyce?
Finnegan's Wake
100
Identify the most widely used system to reduce the noise produced by magnetic tape as it moves through a tape recorder. The correct answer begins with the letter "D."
Dolby
100
What is the name for the mathematical process of finding the reverse of a derivitive?
Integration
100
Which 1820 legislative act allowed Maine to enter the Union as a free state?
Missouri Compromise
100
Identify the following cartoon character. She is a plucky, backpack-wearing, seven-year-old Latino who made her debut on the cable network Nickelodeon in 2000.
Dora
200
How many elements comprise the alkali metal family?
Six
200
Which U.S. movie director's works include "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Jaws"?
Stephen Spielberg
200
What is the name for the four angles that are formed outside two lines when a line intersects these lines?
Exterior angles
200
Identify either one of the Confederate states which did not have a coastline along either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.
Arkansas or Tennessee
200
What is the first name of Ozzy Osbourne's wife?
Sharon
300
What two-word term was coined by American physicist Richard P. Turco in 1983 to describe the worldwide climate changes that would be produced by a nuclear war?
Nuclear winter
300
In 1869, Leopold Trouvelot imported this type of moth from France to Boston in hopes of breeding a better silkworm. Identify this moth which has since defoliated millions of acres of forests in the United States.
Gypsy Moth
300
What is the name for a straight line that is a close approximation to a particular curve as the curve goes off to infinity in one direction?
Asymptote
300
Which American naval officer completed two important missions to Japan in 1853 and 1854 which opened Japan to trade?
Matthew Perry
300
On what day, month, and year did Operation Overlord officially begin?
June 6, 1944
400
What is the name for the measure of a gasoline's ability to resist pinging caused by premature ignition?
Octane rating or Octane number
400
What is the largest number in the sixth row of Pascal's Triangle?
Ten
400
What is the name for any real number that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integers?
Irrational number
400
Which American general was involved in a plot during the American Revolutionary War to turn over West Point to the British?
Benedict Arnold
400
Which female singer won five Grammy Awards in 2004? Among her hit songs is "Dangerously in Love."
Beyonce`
500
Carbon dioxide is shipped as a liquid in tanks that are pressurized at 1073 pounds per square inch. What substance is manufactured by allowing the liquid carbon dioxide to evaporate to a normal pressure inside a porous bag?
Dry ice
500
What is the six-letter name, beginning with "b" for a passenger train that travels at speeds of 215 miles per hour or greater?
Bullet (bullet train)
500
What six-letter term, beginning with the letter "n" is a synonym for a perpendicular line?
normal
500
Which American preacher and intellectual was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635? He led a small band of followers who established the settlement of Providence.
Roger Williams
500
Identify the woman who left NBC News in February of 2004 because of ethical concerns after her husband was elected governor of California.
Maria Shriver