These physics trivia questions cover the subject in six rounds: motion, forces and gravity; energy, heat and temperature; light and sound; electricity and magnetism; atoms, particles and relativity; and physicists, units and experiments.
Read the full guide
Six rounds, one for each branch
Motion, forces and gravity runs from Newton's laws to surface tension. Energy, heat and temperature asks why a perpetual motion machine cannot work. Electricity and magnetism covers Ohm, Faraday and the broken bar magnet. Atoms, particles and relativity goes from the plum pudding model to quarks and time dilation. Physicists, units and experiments asks what Henry Cavendish measured and which institution Isaac Newton ran.
Levels and rounds
After the first ten questions, More options holds Level, for easy, medium or hard questions, and Topic, for one round. The levels are our estimate. Tap a choice to check it; the reason and the page it was read on appear with the answer.
Tips
Figures follow the linked page to every place it gives, as with standard gravity and the speed of light.
Questions and answers
What are some easy physics trivia questions?
What is the fixed point on which a lever turns called? What do two like electric charges do to each other? One watt is one joule per what? The answers are the fulcrum, repel and second.
Who is the only person to win the Nobel Prize in Physics twice?
John Bardeen. He shared the prize in 1956 for the invention of the transistor and again in 1972 for a theory of superconductivity.
Does this pack repeat the physics round of the science trivia?
No. The general science pack on this site has its own thirty physics questions, and none is asked again here. This pack asks other facts of the subject, fifteen or more to a round.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 2 or 3, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked under it, and figures are quoted as that article gives them. Questions whose fact another quiz here already asks were dropped, among them the Higgs boson and the pendulum clock.
By Archimedes' principle, the upward push on a body in a fluid equals the weight of what?Answer: The fluid that the body displaces. Source: Wikipedia: Archimedes' principle
By Newton's law of universal gravitation, the pull between two particles is inversely proportional to what?Answer: The square of the distance between them. Source: Wikipedia: Newton's law of universal gravitation
By Newton's second law, the net force on a body equals the rate of change of its what?Answer: Momentum. Source: Wikipedia: Newton's laws of motion
Centripetal force keeps a body on a curved path. Its name comes from Latin words meaning what?Answer: Center-seeking. Source: Wikipedia: Centripetal force
"Give me a lever and I shall move the world" is a saying credited to which Greek mathematician?Answer: Archimedes. Source: Wikipedia: Lever
Hooke's law describes the force needed to stretch or squeeze which object?Answer: A spring. Source: Wikipedia: Hooke's law
How many classical simple machines did Renaissance scientists define?Answer: Six. Source: Wikipedia: Simple machine
Ignoring air resistance, which shape does the path of a thrown ball follow?Answer: A parabola. Source: Wikipedia: Projectile motion
Kepler took the word inertia from a Latin word. What does the Latin mean?Answer: Idleness or laziness. Source: Wikipedia: Inertia
Mass divided by volume gives which property of a material?Answer: Density. Source: Wikipedia: Density
The time a pendulum takes for one swing depends mainly on which of its features?Answer: Its length. Source: Wikipedia: Pendulum
What does velocity tell you that speed alone does not?Answer: The direction of motion. Source: Wikipedia: Velocity
What is the fixed point on which a lever turns called?Answer: The fulcrum. Source: Wikipedia: Lever
What is the rotational counterpart of a straight-line force called?Answer: Torque. Source: Wikipedia: Torque
What is the top speed that an object can reach as it falls through a fluid such as air called?Answer: Terminal velocity. Source: Wikipedia: Terminal velocity
What value does the ISO standard give for standard gravity, in meters per second squared?Answer: 9.80665. Source: Wikipedia: Standard gravity
Which kind of friction acts between two surfaces that are not moving against each other?Answer: Static friction. Source: Wikipedia: Friction
Which property of water lets insects such as water striders stand on a pond without sinking?Answer: Surface tension. Source: Wikipedia: Surface tension
Energy, heat and temperature 16
About how many joules does it take to warm 1 kilogram of water by 1 kelvin?Answer: 4,184. Source: Wikipedia: Specific heat capacity
At about which temperature is liquid water at its densest?Answer: 4 degrees Celsius. Source: Wikipedia: Properties of water
By the second law of thermodynamics, heat flows of its own accord in which direction?Answer: From hotter regions to colder ones. Source: Wikipedia: Second law of thermodynamics
By which process does most of the Sun's heat reach the Earth?Answer: Thermal radiation. Source: Wikipedia: Thermal radiation
In 1824 Sadi Carnot published an essay with which title?Answer: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire. Source: Wikipedia: Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
In kinetic theory, the temperature of a gas reflects the average of what?Answer: The kinetic energy of its particles. Source: Wikipedia: Temperature
In physics, work is energy transferred when a force acts along what?Answer: A displacement. Source: Wikipedia: Work (physics)
One law of thermodynamics says that two systems each in thermal equilibrium with a third are in equilibrium with each other. Which number does it carry?Answer: Zero. Source: Wikipedia: Zeroth law of thermodynamics
One watt is one joule per what?Answer: Second. Source: Wikipedia: Watt
The small calorie is the energy needed to warm how much water by 1 degree Celsius?Answer: 1 gram. Source: Wikipedia: Calorie
What does the law of conservation of energy say about energy?Answer: It cannot be created or destroyed. Source: Wikipedia: Conservation of energy
What is the energy taken in or given out while a substance melts or condenses at a steady temperature called?Answer: Latent heat. Source: Wikipedia: Latent heat
What is the energy that an object has because of its position called?Answer: Potential energy. Source: Wikipedia: Potential energy
What must you add to a temperature in degrees Celsius to turn it into kelvins?Answer: 273.15. Source: Wikipedia: Kelvin
Which German physicist introduced the concept of entropy in 1865?Answer: Rudolf Clausius. Source: Wikipedia: Rudolf Clausius
Why is a perpetual motion machine impossible?Answer: It would break the first or second law of thermodynamics. Source: Wikipedia: Perpetual motion
Light and sound 15
A mirage shows a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. Which effect bends the light rays?Answer: Refraction. Source: Wikipedia: Mirage
A sonic boom is heard when an object travels through the air faster than what?Answer: The speed of sound. Source: Wikipedia: Sonic boom
As light passes through air, which color is scattered much more than red?Answer: Blue. Source: Wikipedia: Rayleigh scattering
The decibel compares two power levels on which kind of scale?Answer: A logarithmic scale. Source: Wikipedia: Decibel
Electromagnetic waves, such as light, are which kind of wave?Answer: Transverse. Source: Wikipedia: Transverse wave
The law of refraction is named after a Dutch astronomer who worked it out in 1621. Who was he?Answer: Willebrord Snellius. Source: Wikipedia: Snell's law
Optical fibers keep light inside the glass by which effect?Answer: Total internal reflection. Source: Wikipedia: Total internal reflection
Polarized sunglasses are made to remove most of which nuisance?Answer: Glare reflected from surfaces such as a wet street. Source: Wikipedia: Polarization (waves)
Radio waves, light and X-rays all share one thing in a vacuum. What?Answer: They travel at the same speed. Source: Wikipedia: Electromagnetic radiation
The range of human hearing is commonly given as 20 hertz up to what?Answer: 20,000 hertz. Source: Wikipedia: Hearing range
Sound waves in air are an example of which kind of wave?Answer: Longitudinal. Source: Wikipedia: Longitudinal wave
The speed of light in a vacuum is exactly how many meters per second?Answer: 299,792,458. Source: Wikipedia: Speed of light
What does sound need in order to travel?Answer: A material to pass through. Source: Wikipedia: Sound
What is a reflection of sound that reaches the listener after a delay called?Answer: An echo. Source: Wikipedia: Echo
Which Danish astronomer showed in 1676 that light takes time to travel?Answer: Ole Rømer. Source: Wikipedia: Rømer's determination of the speed of light
Electricity and magnetism 20
André-Marie Ampère, who gave his name to the unit of current, came from which country?Answer: France. Source: Wikipedia: Ampere
Benjamin Franklin was the first to label the two kinds of electricity with which pair of words?Answer: Positive and negative. Source: Wikipedia: Benjamin Franklin
Coulomb's law describes the force between two charged particles that are doing what?Answer: Standing still. Source: Wikipedia: Coulomb's law
The farad, the unit of capacitance, is named after which English physicist?Answer: Michael Faraday. Source: Wikipedia: Farad
Four light bulbs are wired in series. What is true of the current?Answer: The same current flows through all of them. Source: Wikipedia: Series and parallel circuits
If you break a bar magnet in two, what do you get?Answer: Two magnets, each with a north and a south pole. Source: Wikipedia: Magnet
In 1911 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes found that the electrical resistance of which metal vanishes at 4.2 kelvins?Answer: Mercury. Source: Wikipedia: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
In direct current, how does the electric charge flow?Answer: In one direction. Source: Wikipedia: Direct current
In which year did Benjamin Franklin propose his kite experiment?Answer: 1752. Source: Wikipedia: Kite experiment
In which year did Georg Ohm publish the treatise that describes the law named after him?Answer: 1827. Source: Wikipedia: Ohm's law
In which year did Michael Faraday discover electromagnetic induction?Answer: 1831. Source: Wikipedia: Michael Faraday
The unit of electric charge is named after which French physicist?Answer: Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. Source: Wikipedia: Coulomb
What do two like electric charges do to each other?Answer: Repel. Source: Wikipedia: Electric charge
What does a kilowatt-hour measure?Answer: Energy. Source: Wikipedia: Kilowatt-hour
What does an electric motor turn electrical energy into?Answer: Mechanical energy. Source: Wikipedia: Electric motor
What does the wire in a fuse do when too much current flows through it?Answer: It melts and breaks the circuit. Source: Wikipedia: Fuse (electrical)
What happens to certain materials above their Curie temperature?Answer: They lose their permanent magnetism. Source: Wikipedia: Curie temperature
Which Greek letter is the symbol for the ohm?Answer: Omega. Source: Wikipedia: Ohm
Which two French brothers discovered piezoelectricity in 1880?Answer: Jacques and Pierre Curie. Source: Wikipedia: Piezoelectricity
Who first demonstrated the photovoltaic effect, in 1839?Answer: Edmond Becquerel. Source: Wikipedia: Photovoltaic effect
Atoms, particles and relativity 16
About how long is the half-life of carbon-14, the atom used in radiocarbon dating?Answer: 5,730 years. Source: Wikipedia: Radiocarbon dating
An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of which atom?Answer: Helium-4. Source: Wikipedia: Alpha particle
The Eddington experiment tested general relativity by observation. In which year was it organized?Answer: 1919. Source: Wikipedia: Eddington experiment
How many fundamental interactions, or forces, are known to exist?Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Fundamental interaction
How many types, or flavors, of quark are there?Answer: Six. Source: Wikipedia: Quark
In 1784 John Michell proposed that near a massive compact object gravity could be so strong that what could not escape?Answer: Light. Source: Wikipedia: Event horizon
In the Standard Model, which quarks make up a neutron?Answer: Two down quarks and one up quark. Source: Wikipedia: Neutron
In which year did Einstein publish the paper in which the idea behind E = mc2 first appeared?Answer: 1905. Source: Wikipedia: Mass–energy equivalence
What is the half-life of a substance?Answer: The time it takes for half of it to be left. Source: Wikipedia: Half-life
What is time dilation?Answer: A difference in elapsed time measured by two clocks. Source: Wikipedia: Time dilation
Which Austrian physicist set out the exclusion principle for electrons in 1925?Answer: Wolfgang Pauli. Source: Wikipedia: Pauli exclusion principle
Which force binds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom?Answer: The strong force. Source: Wikipedia: Strong interaction
Which French physicist proposed in 1924 that matter behaves like a wave?Answer: Louis de Broglie. Source: Wikipedia: Matter wave
Which kind of particle accelerator did Ernest Lawrence invent in 1929 to 1930?Answer: The cyclotron. Source: Wikipedia: Cyclotron
Which model of the atom did J. J. Thomson put forward in 1904?Answer: The plum pudding model. Source: Wikipedia: Plum pudding model
Who coined the term radioactivity?Answer: Marie Curie. Source: Wikipedia: Marie Curie
Physicists, units and experiments 20
The becquerel is the SI unit of what?Answer: Radioactivity. Source: Wikipedia: Becquerel
How many base quantities do the SI base units measure?Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: SI base unit
In which German city was Albert Einstein born in 1879?Answer: Ulm. Source: Wikipedia: Albert Einstein
In which year did Christian Doppler give the lecture on the colored light of double stars that made his name?Answer: 1842. Source: Wikipedia: Christian Doppler
In which year did William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, publish his paper On an Absolute Thermometric Scale?Answer: 1848. Source: Wikipedia: Kelvin
Isaac Newton spent his last three decades in London as Warden and then Master of which institution?Answer: The Royal Mint. Source: Wikipedia: Isaac Newton
Lord Kelvin took his title from what?Answer: A river that flows near his laboratory in Glasgow. Source: Wikipedia: Lord Kelvin
The lumen is the SI unit of what?Answer: Luminous flux. Source: Wikipedia: Lumen (unit)
The mole is the SI base unit for what?Answer: Amount of substance. Source: Wikipedia: Mole (unit)
The oil drop experiment of 1909 was set up to measure what?Answer: The charge of the electron. Source: Wikipedia: Oil drop experiment
One electronvolt is the energy that a single electron gains when it moves through a potential difference of how much?Answer: One volt. Source: Wikipedia: Electronvolt
One newton is the force that accelerates a mass of one kilogram at what rate?Answer: One meter per second squared. Source: Wikipedia: Newton (unit)
The pascal, the SI unit of pressure, is defined as one newton per what?Answer: Square meter. Source: Wikipedia: Pascal (unit)
The sievert is named after Rolf Sievert. What was his field?Answer: Medical physics. Source: Wikipedia: Sievert
Since 1983 the meter has been defined by how far what travels in a tiny fraction of a second?Answer: Light in a vacuum. Source: Wikipedia: Metre
Until which year was the kilogram defined by a metal cylinder, the International Prototype of the Kilogram?Answer: 2019. Source: Wikipedia: Kilogram
What did Henry Cavendish measure in the laboratory for the first time, in 1797 and 1798?Answer: The force of gravity between masses. Source: Wikipedia: Cavendish experiment
What is inscribed on the tombstone of Ludwig Boltzmann?Answer: His formula for entropy. Source: Wikipedia: Ludwig Boltzmann
Where did Albert Einstein hold a permanent post as a young man?Answer: The Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Source: Wikipedia: Albert Einstein
Who is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice?Answer: John Bardeen. Source: Wikipedia: John Bardeen
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Questions and wrong choices are our own. Each explanation restates, in our own sentences, facts from the page named and linked beside it. Each answer was checked on 2026-10-02 against that page, fetched that day (two questions asked a new way were checked on 2026-10-03): the article of the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org, text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license) on the law, the unit, the experiment or the physicist asked about. Figures are quoted as the article gives them (standard gravity 9.80665, the speed of light 299,792,458 meters per second). Left out on purpose: anything described as current research, records that change, and living physicists as answers. Not repeated here: the thirty physics questions of the general science pack on this site and its inventions round (the joule and the ampere as units, the Doppler effect, the photon, the gold foil experiment, Foucault's pendulum, the Michelson-Morley experiment and the rest). Dropped after checking: questions whose fact another quiz on this site already asks, among them Newton's third law, the Higgs boson, the pendulum clock, the cesium clock, the watts in a horsepower and where the name polonium comes from. Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits a student of the subject, hard will stump most of them. Each round is stored easiest first, and each question carries the date its page was read. Licence: own work