Physics Trivia

249+ Best Physics Trivia Questions & Answers

Mike Oberman

Updated: August 16th, 2023

Discover the fascinating world of physics with these mind-boggling trivia questions! Challenge yourself and uncover the secrets of the universe.

Physics and Science Basics Trivia

Question: A circuit with more than one path is known as a what circuit?

Answer: Answer: Parallel

Question: A magnifying glass is what type of lens?

Answer: Answer: Convex

Question: A thermometer is a device used to measure what?

Answer: Answer: Temperature

Question: About how long does it take sunlight to reach Earth?

Answer: Answer: 8 minutes

Question: Albert Einstein won which award for physics in 1921?

Answer: Answer: Nobel

Question: Albert who is best known for his theory of relativity?

Answer: Answer: Einstein

Question: An ion has a what?

Answer: Answer: Charge

Question: An object being painted is given an opposite charge to the paint so you get what?

Answer: Answer: An even coat

Question: Electric current is a flow of what?

Answer: Answer: Charge

Question: Electric current is measured using what device?

Answer: Answer: Ammeter

Question: Electric current is typically measured in what units?

Answer: Answer: Amperes

Question: Electric power is typically measured in what units?

Answer: Answer: Watts

Question: Electric resistance is measured in what?

Answer: Answer: Ohms

Question: Electricity isn't considered a primary energy source as it is produced by what?

Answer: Answer: Another energy source

Question: How does static electricity build up when walking on a carpet?

Answer: Answer: Friction

Question: How much does a person weigh on the Moon compared to Earth?

Answer: Answer: Less

Question: How old is the world's oldest known plant?

Answer: Answer: 43,000 years

Question: If a metal expands when it gets hot what does it do when it cools?

Answer: Answer: Contracts

Question: In a circuit diagram, what does a circle with a cross inside it represent?

Answer: Answer: Light bulbs

Question: In physics, a 'Newton' is a measurement of what?

Answer: Answer: Force

Question: Isaac Newton is best known for discovering what?

Answer: Answer: Gravity

Question: Lighting bending as it enters another entity is called what?

Answer: Answer: Refraction

Question: Which word completes the sentence 'A reflection is to light as an ... is to sound'?

Answer: Answer: Echo

Basic Physical Science Trivia

Question: What is optics the study of?

Answer: Answer: Light

Question: On a circuit diagram, which item can be represented by a circle with a diagonal cross in it?

Answer: Answer: Bulb

Question: One advantage of optical fibers over ordinary cables of the same thickness is what?

Answer: Answer: Carry More Information

Question: One who studies physics is known as a what?

Answer: Answer: Physicist

Question: Open circuits always have what?

Answer: Answer: Gaps

Question: Our galaxy is what?

Answer: Answer: Moving

Question: Physics is known as the what science?

Answer: Answer: Natural

Question: Physics is one of the oldest academic what?

Answer: Answer: Disciplines

Question: Physics studies motion through time and what?

Answer: Answer: Space

Question: Roughly what shape are most planets?

Answer: Answer: Spheres

Question: The most recognized model of how the universe began is known as what?

Answer: Answer: Big bang

Question: The movement of particles from an area of high concentration to low is what?

Answer: Answer: Diffusion

Question: The 'ohm' is the SI unit of what?

Answer: Answer: Electrical resistance

Question: The Pa, or Pascal, is a unit of what?

Answer: Answer: Pressure

Question: The scientist who gave us the '3 laws' was Isaac?

Answer: Answer: Newton

Question: The state of the art technology used to train pilots is a flight....?

Answer: Answer: Simulator

Question: What kind of resistance do conductors have?

Answer: Answer: Low

Question: What type of radiation is used when cell phones communicate with the base stations?

Answer: Answer: Microwaves

Question: What units are used to measure electric current?

Answer: Answer: Amperes

Question: What units would you use to measure the mass of something?

Answer: Answer: Grams

Question: Who allegedly said 'There is no great genius without a mixture of madness'?

Answer: Answer: Aristotle

Question: Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?

Answer: Answer: Marie Curie

Question: Who was the first person to walk on the moon?

Answer: Answer: Neil Armstrong

Question: Why airplanes fly is explained in Bernoulli's?

Answer: Answer: Principle

Question: Why does sound move faster through water?

Answer: Answer: Closer Particles

Question: Why is light from distant galaxies red-shifted?

Answer: Answer: They're moving away

Astronomy and Space Trivia

Question: Do other planets have clouds?

Answer: Answer: Yes

Question: Do storms occur on other planets?

Answer: Answer: Yes

Question: Footprints left on the moon will stay there forever if untouched. Why?

Answer: Answer: No Wind

Question: How do we know the temperature of a star?

Answer: Answer: Its Color

Question: In which galaxy is the earth situated?

Answer: Answer: Milky Way

Question: Jupiter and Saturn have clouds made of what?

Answer: Answer: Ammonia

Question: Planets that are giant balls of gas with hot liquid centers are called what?

Answer: Answer: Gas giants

Question: The aurora borealis is better known as what?

Answer: Answer: Northern Lights

Question: The distance light travels in a year is known as a what?

Answer: Answer: Light-year

Question: The sun and everything that travels around it is known as our what?

Answer: Answer: Solar system

Question: The sun is the earth's major source of what?

Answer: Answer: Energy

Question: The surface of the sun is very what?

Answer: Answer: Hot

Question: Uranus' tilt is thought to be due to a collision with what, soon after its formation?

Answer: Answer: Another planet

Question: What color does Earth appear from space?

Answer: Answer: Green and Blue

Question: The International Space Station was first launched in which year?

Answer: Answer: 1998

Question: Astronauts can only eat food that is what?

Answer: Answer: Packaged

Question: What cannot escape from black holes?

Answer: Answer: Anything

Question: The earth rotates in which direction?

Answer: Answer: West to East

Question: The Moon directly or indirectly affects which of these?

Answer: Answer: All Of These

Question: NASA is based in which country?

Answer: Answer: USA

Question: How many planets are there in the Solar System?

Answer: Answer: 8

Question: How many suns does Earth have?

Answer: Answer: One

Question: In our solar system which would be the hottest of these planets to live on?

Answer: Answer: Venus

Question: Which is likely to be the first planet humans will set foot on?

Answer: Answer: Mars

Question: Which kind of flight involves breaking the sound barrier?

Answer: Answer: Supersonic

Question: Which planet has the highest mountain and deepest valley in the solar system?

Answer: Answer: Mars

Question: Which planet is the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman god?

Answer: Answer: Earth

Question: Which planets are Jupiter's closest neighbors in the solar system?

Answer: Answer: Mars and Saturn

Question: Why does light from distant galaxies red-shifted?

Answer: Answer: They're moving away

Question: Within the Universe, which of these entities is independent of any frame of reference?

Answer: Answer: Speed of light

Astrophysics Trivia

Question: What controls our tides?

Answer: Answer: The Moon

Question: What do planets do around the sun?

Answer: Answer: Orbit

Question: What do stars emit?

Answer: Answer: Light

Question: What do we call that theory which claims that a small mass blew up and grew, creating the universe?

Answer: Answer: The Big Bang Theory

Question: What do we use to look at the stars?

Answer: Answer: Telescopes

Question: What do you need to see Neptune from Earth?

Answer: Answer: Telescope

Question: What is a nebula?

Answer: Answer: Interstellar Cloud

Question: What is Earth?

Answer: Answer: A Planet

Question: What does 'S' stand for in NASA?

Answer: Answer: Space

Question: What happens to a person's mass on the Moon?

Answer: Answer: Stays The Same

Question: What is something that orbits the Earth known as?

Answer: Answer: Satellite

Question: What is the first name of the scientist who gave us the Hubble Space Telescope?

Answer: Answer: Edwin

Question: What is the moon commonly said to be made out of?

Answer: Answer: Cheese

Question: What is the only natural satellite to orbit the Earth?

Answer: Answer: The moon

Question: What is the smallest planet in the Solar System?

Answer: Answer: Mercury

Question: What is the study of celestial objects called?

Answer: Answer: Astronomy

Question: What is the Sun?

Answer: Answer: A Star

Question: What kind of planet is Saturn?

Answer: Answer: Gas Giant

Question: What planet are we on?

Answer: Answer: Earth

Question: What planet in the solar system is farthest from the Sun?

Answer: Answer: Neptune

Question: What planet is famous for its big red spot?

Answer: Answer: Jupiter

Question: What planet is famous for the beautiful rings that surround it?

Answer: Answer: Saturn

Question: What was the name of the space program aiming to get men on the moon?

Answer: Answer: Apollo

Question: Which god and planet have the alternative name of 'Jove'?

Answer: Answer: Jupiter

Electricity and Energy Trivia

Question: What is it in metals that make them good conductors?

Answer: Answer: Free Electrons

Question: Batteries convert chemical energy into which kind of energy?

Answer: Answer: Electrical

Question: Charge in motion is called what?

Answer: Answer: Current

Question: Closed circuits have no what?

Answer: Answer: Gaps

Question: Heat from the fuel is used to boil water in which kind of power station?

Answer: Answer: Nuclear

Question: How do atomic bombs work?

Answer: Answer: Atomic fission

Question: Materials that allow electricity to flow through them easily are called what?

Answer: Answer: Conductors

Question: What is the voltage of the mains supply in the USA?

Answer: Answer: 240 V

Question: Where does most electricity in the United States come from?

Answer: Answer: Fossil fuels

Question: Which statement about transformers is correct?

Answer: Answer: AC

Question: Which type of power station produces carbon dioxide?

Answer: Answer: Gas burning

Question: Which units are used to measure electrical power?

Answer: Answer: Watts

Question: Materials that don't allow electricity to flow through them easily are called what?

Answer: Answer: Insulators

Question: Metal bonding with metal is known as what kind of bond?

Answer: Answer: Metallic

Question: Metals are capable of conducting electricity because they have what?

Answer: Answer: Free electrons

Question: How does nuclear power create energy?

Answer: Answer: Fission

Question: Spinning a magnet in a coil of wire generates what?

Answer: Answer: A current

Question: The sun and everything that travels around it is known as our what?

Answer: Answer: Solar system

Electrical Energy Trivia

Question: Two particles with the same charge will what?

Answer: Answer: Repel

Question: Uranium is used to create which kind of energy?

Answer: Answer: Nuclear

Question: What are the moving charges in metal conductors?

Answer: Answer: Electrons

Question: What are the two ends of a magnet called?

Answer: Answer: North and south

Question: What charge do electrons have?

Answer: Answer: Negative

Question: What charge do neutrons have?

Answer: Answer: None

Question: What do we use to turn an electric light on or off?

Answer: Answer: Switch

Question: What does a prism do to light?

Answer: Answer: Refracts It

Question: What does kWh stand for?

Answer: Answer: Kilowatt hours

Question: What does nanotechnology deal with?

Answer: Answer: Very small things

Question: What happens when a piece of plastic becomes negatively charged?

Answer: Answer: Gains electrons

Question: What is the disadvantage of hydroelectric power produced by using a dam?

Answer: Answer: Flooding

Question: What is the basic unit of electromotive force?

Answer: Answer: Volt

Question: What is the basic unit of resistance?

Answer: Answer: Ohm

Question: What is the charge on a proton?

Answer: Answer: Positive

Question: What is the charge on an electron?

Answer: Answer: -1

Question: What is the name for the flow of electrons in an electric circuit?

Answer: Answer: Current

Question: What is the name given to something that uses electricity to make it magnetic?

Answer: Answer: An electromagnet

Question: What is the wire inside of a light bulb called?

Answer: Answer: Filament

Question: Which instrument would you use to measure resistance?

Answer: Answer: Ohmmeter

Question: Why are high voltage power lines used?

Answer: Answer: Improves efficiency

Question: Why are plugs made of plastic?

Answer: Answer: Insulate them

Question: You can extend battery life by storing them how?

Answer: Answer: At low temperatures

Measurement Units and Tools Trivia

Question: How many centimeters are there in a meter?

Answer: Answer: 100

Question: How many Watts are in a Kilowatt?

Answer: Answer: 1000

Question: The imperial system and the metric system are two systems for what?

Answer: Answer: Measuring

Question: The intensity of illumination is referred to as which SI unit?

Answer: Answer: LUX

Question: Velocity is another name for what?

Answer: Answer: Speed

Question: What does N in NEO stand for?

Answer: Answer: Near

Question: What does R stand for in CMBR?

Answer: Answer: Radiation

Question: What does the 'R' stand for in RADAR?

Answer: Answer: Ranging

Question: What is a light year a unit of?

Answer: Answer: Distance

Question: What is a Geiger counter used to measure?

Answer: Answer: Radiation

Question: What is the metric system based on?

Answer: Answer: Meter and kilogram

Question: What is the term for a supposed alien aircraft seen in the sky?

Answer: Answer: UFO

Question: Which is the recognized theory of how the world came into being?

Answer: Answer: Big Bang

Question: Which of the following does not cause disruptions to electricity services?

Answer: Answer: Light rain

Question: Which of the following is not a unit of measurement?

Answer: Answer: None of these

Question: Within what range of wavelengths is radiation in the form of visible light created?

Answer: Answer: 430 to 750 THz

Question: What measures the weight of a pumpkin?

Answer: Answer: Scale

Question: What monitors the radiation dose a nuclear worker receives?

Answer: Answer: Radiation Badges

Question: What tool can be used to measure fluid volume?

Answer: Answer: Graduated cylinder

Question: Which instrument would you use to measure electric potential?

Answer: Answer: Voltmeter

Question: What kind of lens does a magnifying glass have?

Answer: Answer: Convex

Waves and Phenomena Trivia

Question: In blue light, what color will a red book appear?

Answer: Answer: Black

Question: Signals can pick up random additions on their way to a receiver. What is this called?

Answer: Answer: Noise

Question: Sound travels fastest through what?

Answer: Answer: A vacuum

Question: The distance from the crest of one wave to the next crest is called the what?

Answer: Answer: Wavelength

Question: What are the best absorbers of thermal radiation?

Answer: Answer: Black surfaces

Question: What color is the earth wire in a plug?

Answer: Answer: Green/yellow

Question: What color is the live wire in a mains plug?

Answer: Answer: Brown

Question: What color is the neutral wire in a plug?

Answer: Answer: Blue

Digital Technology and Communication Trivia

Question: Rocket science has a 'proper' name too - what is it?

Answer: Answer: Astronautics

Question: Space based satellite navigation system is called what?

Answer: Answer: GPS

Question: The technology used to locate and detect objects is called?

Answer: Answer: RADAR

Question: What are spaceships launched from?

Answer: Answer: A pad

Question: What is the function of the earth wire in a plug?

Answer: Answer: Safety wire

Question: What is the main function of a neutral wire in a plug?

Answer: Answer: Completes circuit

Question: How many different states are there in a digital signal?

Answer: Answer: 2

Question: Lasers work by focusing what waves?

Answer: Answer: Light

Question: Microwaves are used for satellite communications because they are not what?

Answer: Answer: Refracted by atmosphere

Question: Mobile phones use what sort of radiation to communicate with their base stations?

Answer: Answer: Microwaves

Natural Phenomena and Space Exploration Trivia

Question: What kind of radiation is used when cell phones communicate with the base stations?

Answer: Answer: Microwaves

Question: What will reduce the voltage induced in a coil by a magnet?

Answer: Answer: Using a weaker magnet

Question: What will two particles of different charges do?

Answer: Answer: Attract

Question: When is the best time to watch a meteor shower?

Answer: Answer: Midnight Until Dawn

Question: When some astronauts reach space they feel ill, what is this called?

Answer: Answer: Space sickness

Question: What is watching the sky at night often called?

Answer: Answer: Stargazing

Question: When two plastic rods are rubbed and brought together, they attract due to what?

Answer: Answer: Opposite charges

Question: Where is the furthest a human has been?

Answer: Answer: The moon

Question: Where would you find the stars?

Answer: Answer: In the sky