Science Quiz

[Kinniken]

2 minutes... The next one will be harder

Your turn.

 

[Perfection]

Originally posted by betazed
Glenn T Seaborg.

Which one? Seaborgium?

 

[betazed]

Originally posted by Perfection
Which one? Seaborgium?

No. He actually holds two patents. americium and curium.

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Research-Review/Magazine/1994/seaborgium-mag.html

 

[betazed]

Ok. Here is a slightly tougher one.

The moment when Maxwell wrote down his equations for electromagnetism could be considered as those rare moments in physics when we moved from mere observation to insight. Maxwell basically incorporated all known phenomenon of electricity and magnetism in one coherent framework.

But while doing this he incorporated a single phenomenon into his equations that was not observed till then and was only incorporated by Maxwell because the theory demanded it. What was it?

 

[polymath]

Something to with light...the speed of light as a constant?

 

[betazed]

Originally posted by polymath
Something to with light...the speed of light as a constant?

The speed of light was a result of the equations and not a part of the original equations themselves. Think of the original equations themselves and the known electromagnetic phenomenon at that time.

 

[polymath]

oh! oh! The (electromagnetic) wave form then? Must be.

 

[betazed]

Originally posted by polymath
oh! oh! The (electromagnetic) wave form then? Must be.

Close but no cigar! (As James Bond would say)

To get to the electromagnetic wave which is basically a solution to Maxwell's equations in empty space he needed to modify the original equations with something that was not experimentatlly proven at that time.

a vey big hint: Just think of each equation and see where each term comes from. each term can be validated by a simple experiment. Only one term requires a somewhat complicated equipment which was not available at that time.

 

[polymath]

Gah! I'm good at these up to the point when you have to look at the actual sums. Then it all goes to pieces. I guess the other big thing is the idea of an electromagnetic field?

 

[Pirate]

My guess is that it had to do with induction. Is it that a changing electric field induces a magnetic field perpendicular to it?

 

[The Last Conformist]

IIRC, the term proportional to the time derivative of the electric displacement field strength in the equation for the rotation of the magnetic field strength.

 

[betazed]

Originally posted by Pirate
My guess is that it had to do with induction. Is it that a changing electric field induces a magnetic field perpendicular to it?

Yup. Last conformist is right.

@Pirate: that a magnetic field was a result of a changing electric field was known earlier.

What was not known was the reverse; that a changing magnetic field will create a electric field. Moreover this electric field in a non-conservative field unlike fields produced by charges which are strictly conservative.

{ the curl of B = dE/dt part, d representing the partial differential }

Your go, Last Conformist.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Something easier this time: Which was the first non-naturally-occuring element to be synthetized?

 

[nonconformist]

Technicium?

 

[Serutan]

Plutonium

 

[The Last Conformist]

While nonconformist's spelling leaves something to be desired, he's right: it's technetium.

Your turn.

 

[nonconformist]

Sorry about the spelling, all these long words off by heart?
Okay, what toxic chemical weapon was developed by German scientissts in 1938/1939 but was never used (thankfully) in action?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Sarin?

I actually did check the spelling of "technetium" after seeing yours, but it turned out I remembered correctly.

 

[betazed]

Is it an Organophosphate nerve agent?

<edit>: Last Conformist named what was I looking for. Sarin.

 

[stormbind]

Sarin was used in action, just more recently and in the middle east.