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Trivia Questions for 9th Graders, in Five Subject Rounds

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What is the volume of a cylinder with radius 2 and height 5, in terms of π?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with any school, exam board or quiz show. Bank checked September 19, 2026.

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All 137 questions with answers

Algebra and geometry 29

  • A cone and a cylinder have the same base and height. The cone's volume is what fraction of the cylinder's? Answer: One third. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.6
  • A line has slope 2. What is the slope of a line perpendicular to it? Answer: -1/2. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.5
  • A right triangle has legs of 6 and 8. How long is the hypotenuse? Answer: 10. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.3
  • A trapezoid has bases of 6 and 10 and a height of 4. What is its area? Answer: 32. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.4
  • Expand: (x + 3)². Answer: x² + 6x + 9. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 6.4
  • Factor completely: x² - 9. Answer: (x - 3)(x + 3). Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 7.4
  • How is 45,000 written in scientific notation? Answer: 4.5 × 10⁴. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 6.7
  • If the discriminant of a quadratic equation is negative, how many real solutions does the equation have? Answer: None. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 10.3
  • In the equation y = mx + b, what does b tell you? Answer: Where the line crosses the y-axis. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.5
  • In the quadratic formula, what is the expression b² - 4ac called? Answer: The discriminant. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 10.3
  • Simplify: x³ · x⁴. Answer: x⁷. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 6.2
  • Solve for x: 2x + 7 = 19. Answer: x = 6. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 2.3
  • Two angles of a triangle measure 35° and 65°. What is the third angle? Answer: 80°. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.3
  • Two angles whose measures add up to 90° are called what? Answer: Complementary. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.3
  • Two linear equations graph as parallel lines. How many solutions does the system have? Answer: None. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 5.1
  • Two triangles are similar. What must be true of their matching angles? Answer: They are equal. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.3
  • What are the solutions of x² - 5x + 6 = 0? Answer: x = 2 and x = 3. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 7.6
  • What is the area of a circle with a radius of 3 units, in terms of π? Answer: 9π square units. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.5
  • What is the slope of any horizontal line? Answer: 0. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.4
  • What is the slope of any vertical line? Answer: Undefined. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.4
  • What is the slope of the line through the points (1, 2) and (3, 10)? Answer: 4. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.4
  • What is the slope of the line y = 3x - 5? Answer: 3. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 4.5
  • What is the U-shaped graph of a quadratic equation such as y = x² called? Answer: A parabola. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 10.5
  • What is the value of 2⁻³? Answer: 1/8. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 6.7
  • What is the value of 7⁰? Answer: 1. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 6.5
  • What is the volume of a cylinder with radius 2 and height 5, in terms of π? Answer: 20π cubic units. Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e, section 9.6
  • What is √50 in simplest form? Answer: 5√2. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 9.2
  • When you multiply both sides of an inequality by a negative number, what must you do? Answer: Reverse the inequality sign. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 2.7
  • y varies directly with x, and y = 12 when x = 3. What is y when x = 5? Answer: 20. Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra 2e, section 8.9

Biology 26

  • A solution with a pH below 7 is described as what? Answer: Acidic. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 2.2
  • An organism that has two different alleles for a gene is described as what? Answer: Heterozygous. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 8.2
  • Glycolysis, the first step in breaking down glucose, happens in which part of the cell? Answer: The cytoplasm. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 4.2
  • Gregor Mendel worked out the basic laws of inheritance by breeding which plant? Answer: Garden peas. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 8.1
  • In DNA, which base pairs with adenine? Answer: Thymine. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 9.1
  • In photosynthesis, the oxygen a plant gives off comes from splitting which molecule? Answer: Water. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 5.2
  • In the system of classification, which level is the broadest? Answer: Domain. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 12.1
  • In which part of the chloroplast does the Calvin cycle take place? Answer: The stroma. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 5.3
  • The limb bones of a human, a dog, a bird and a whale share one layout from a common ancestor. What are such parts called? Answer: Homologous structures. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 11.3
  • Mitochondria make which molecule, the cell's main energy carrier? Answer: ATP. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 3.3
  • On which cell structure are proteins built during translation? Answer: The ribosome. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 9.4
  • Plants and phytoplankton, which make food by photosynthesis, fill which role in a food chain? Answer: Producers. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 20.1
  • To which class of biological molecules do most enzymes belong? Answer: Proteins. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 4.1
  • Two pea plants that are both heterozygous for a trait are crossed. What fraction of offspring should show the recessive trait? Answer: One quarter. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 8.2
  • What is an organism's set of observable traits called? Answer: Its phenotype. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 8.2
  • What is the movement of water across a membrane from low to high solute concentration called? Answer: Osmosis. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 3.5
  • What is the process of copying a gene's DNA into messenger RNA called? Answer: Transcription. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 9.3
  • What is the protein coat that surrounds a virus called? Answer: A capsid. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 17.1
  • What is the shape of a DNA molecule? Answer: A double helix. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 9.1
  • What is the two-part system of scientific names, such as Homo sapiens, called? Answer: Binomial nomenclature. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 12.1
  • When muscle cells run short of oxygen, which process lets them keep making a little ATP? Answer: Lactic acid fermentation. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 4.4
  • Which base appears in RNA in place of thymine? Answer: Uracil. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 9.1
  • Which kind of cell division produces gametes such as eggs and sperm? Answer: Meiosis. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 7.2
  • Which kind of cell has no nucleus? Answer: A prokaryotic cell. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 3.2
  • Which mechanism of evolution did Charles Darwin describe? Answer: Natural selection. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 11.1
  • Which organelle carries out photosynthesis in a plant cell? Answer: The chloroplast. Source: OpenStax Concepts of Biology, section 3.3

Earth science 26

  • About how long ago did an asteroid impact help wipe out the dinosaurs? Answer: About 66 million years. Source: Wikipedia: Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
  • Along rift zones such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, what are tectonic plates doing? Answer: Pulling apart. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • At first and last quarter moon the Sun partly cancels the Moon's pull, and tides run lower than usual. What are they called? Answer: Neap tides. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 4.6
  • Dinosaurs lived during which era of geologic time? Answer: The Mesozoic. Source: Wikipedia: Mesozoic
  • During which phase of the Moon can a solar eclipse happen? Answer: New moon. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 4.7
  • Earth's crust is largely made up of oceanic basalt and which continental rock? Answer: Granite. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • Earth's magnetic field is generated by moving material in which layer? Answer: The liquid metallic core. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.1
  • The extra-high tides at new moon and full moon, when the Sun and Moon line up, are called what? Answer: Spring tides. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 4.6
  • Heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere keep a planet from losing heat to space. What is this called? Answer: The greenhouse effect. Source: Wikipedia: Greenhouse effect
  • How have scientists mapped the layers deep inside Earth? Answer: By tracking seismic waves from earthquakes. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.1
  • In 1908 an object from space exploded in the air and flattened a vast stretch of forest near which Siberian river? Answer: The Tunguska. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.5
  • In 1912 Alfred Wegener proposed which idea about the continents? Answer: Continental drift. Source: Wikipedia: Continental drift
  • On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, which mineral is rated 1, the softest? Answer: Talc. Source: Wikipedia: Mohs scale
  • The San Andreas Fault in California is the boundary between the North American Plate and which other plate? Answer: The Pacific Plate. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • Sandstone and limestone are examples of which kind of rock? Answer: Sedimentary. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • What do scientists measure to find the age of a rock by radioactive dating? Answer: How much of a radioactive element has decayed. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 7.3
  • What is it called when one tectonic plate is forced down under another? Answer: Subduction. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • What is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where clouds form, called? Answer: The troposphere. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.3
  • What is the point on Earth's surface directly above the place where an earthquake starts? Answer: The epicenter. Source: Wikipedia: Epicenter
  • What mainly causes the ocean tides? Answer: The gravity of the Moon. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 4.6
  • Which effect, caused by Earth's rotation, makes winds curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere? Answer: The Coriolis effect. Source: Wikipedia: Coriolis force
  • Which kind of eclipse can be seen from the entire night side of Earth? Answer: A lunar eclipse. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 4.7
  • Which layer of Earth lies between the crust and the core? Answer: The mantle. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.1
  • Which seafloor feature often marks a subduction zone? Answer: An ocean trench. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2
  • Which supercontinent began to break apart about 175 million years ago? Answer: Pangaea. Source: Wikipedia: Pangaea
  • Which theory explains how Earth's crust is broken into slabs that slowly move? Answer: Plate tectonics. Source: OpenStax Astronomy 2e, section 8.2

World history 28

  • Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC. What does the Greek word "democracy" literally mean? Answer: People power. Source: Wikipedia: Athenian democracy
  • The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan stood on the site of which modern city? Answer: Mexico City. Source: Wikipedia: Tenochtitlan
  • The Black Death swept across Europe in which century? Answer: The 14th century. Source: Wikipedia: Black Death
  • The Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest surviving sets of written laws, comes from which city's empire? Answer: Babylon. Source: Wikipedia: Code of Hammurabi
  • Constantinople fell in 1453 to which empire? Answer: The Ottoman Empire. Source: Wikipedia: Fall of Constantinople
  • In 1517, whose Ninety-five Theses set off the Protestant Reformation? Answer: Martin Luther. Source: Wikipedia: Ninety-five Theses
  • In which country did the Industrial Revolution begin? Answer: Great Britain. Source: Wikipedia: Industrial Revolution
  • In which country did the Renaissance begin? Answer: Italy. Source: Wikipedia: Renaissance
  • In which year did the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire lose his throne? Answer: 476. Source: Wikipedia: Fall of the Western Roman Empire
  • Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March in which year? Answer: 44 BC. Source: Wikipedia: Assassination of Julius Caesar
  • Machu Picchu was built high in the Andes by which civilization? Answer: The Inca. Source: Wikipedia: Machu Picchu
  • Mansa Musa, famous for his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, ruled which West African empire? Answer: The Mali Empire. Source: Wikipedia: Mansa Musa
  • Mesopotamia, home of the first cities, lay between which two rivers? Answer: The Tigris and the Euphrates. Source: Wikipedia: Mesopotamia
  • On July 14, 1789, revolutionaries in Paris stormed which fortress and prison? Answer: The Bastille. Source: Wikipedia: Storming of the Bastille
  • The Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and which rival? Answer: Sparta. Source: Wikipedia: Peloponnesian War
  • What is the wedge-shaped writing of ancient Sumer called? Answer: Cuneiform. Source: Wikipedia: Cuneiform
  • Which Byzantine emperor ordered Roman law to be collected into a single code and rebuilt the Hagia Sophia? Answer: Justinian I. Source: Wikipedia: Justinian I
  • Which emperor of India's Maurya dynasty is credited with an important role in spreading Buddhism across Asia? Answer: Ashoka. Source: Wikipedia: Ashoka
  • Which English king was made to agree to Magna Carta in 1215? Answer: King John. Source: Wikipedia: Magna Carta
  • Which network of trade routes linked China with the Mediterranean world? Answer: The Silk Road. Source: Wikipedia: Silk Road
  • Which philosopher was the tutor of Alexander the Great? Answer: Aristotle. Source: Wikipedia: Alexander the Great
  • Which pope called the First Crusade in 1095? Answer: Urban II. Source: Wikipedia: First Crusade
  • Which stone slab, found in Egypt in 1799, gave scholars the key to reading hieroglyphs? Answer: The Rosetta Stone. Source: Wikipedia: Rosetta Stone
  • Which teenage peasant girl helped France lift the siege of Orléans during the Hundred Years' War? Answer: Joan of Arc. Source: Wikipedia: Joan of Arc
  • Who became the first emperor of a united China in 221 BC? Answer: Qin Shi Huang. Source: Wikipedia: Qin Shi Huang
  • Who founded the Mongol Empire? Answer: Genghis Khan. Source: Wikipedia: Genghis Khan
  • Who was the first emperor of Rome? Answer: Augustus. Source: Wikipedia: Augustus
  • Whose expedition, begun in 1519, was the first to sail all the way around the world? Answer: Ferdinand Magellan. Source: Wikipedia: Magellan expedition

Literature and grammar 28

  • A comparison that uses the word "like" or "as" is called what? Answer: A simile. Source: Wikipedia: Simile
  • A standard line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row. How many syllables is that? Answer: 10. Source: Wikipedia: Iambic pentameter
  • A traditional Japanese haiku has three phrases. What is its pattern of sound units? Answer: 5, 7, 5. Source: Wikipedia: Haiku
  • "The ball was thrown by Maya" is written in which voice? Answer: The passive voice. Source: Wikipedia: Passive voice
  • Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities" is set in London and which other city? Answer: Paris. Source: Wikipedia: A Tale of Two Cities
  • "Deafening silence" and "bittersweet" are examples of which figure of speech? Answer: Oxymoron. Source: Wikipedia: Oxymoron
  • How many lines does a sonnet have? Answer: 14. Source: Wikipedia: Sonnet
  • In "My brother, a talented drummer, plays every weekend", what is the phrase between the commas called? Answer: An appositive. Source: Wikipedia: Apposition
  • In "Romeo and Juliet", what are the names of the two feuding families? Answer: Montague and Capulet. Source: Wikipedia: Romeo and Juliet
  • In a play, what is a speech in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud while alone on stage? Answer: A soliloquy. Source: Wikipedia: Soliloquy
  • In Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven", which single word does the bird keep repeating? Answer: Nevermore. Source: Wikipedia: The Raven
  • In the "Odyssey", Odysseus spends ten years trying to get home to which island? Answer: Ithaca. Source: Wikipedia: Odyssey
  • In the "Odyssey", what kind of creature is Polyphemus? Answer: A Cyclops. Source: Wikipedia: Polyphemus
  • In the sentence "Swimming is good exercise", the word "swimming" is which verb form used as a noun? Answer: A gerund. Source: Wikipedia: Gerund
  • In which Italian city is Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" set? Answer: Verona. Source: Wikipedia: Romeo and Juliet
  • Joining two complete sentences with only a comma is which error? Answer: A comma splice. Source: Wikipedia: Comma splice
  • "She likes hiking, swimming and to ride bikes" breaks which rule of style? Answer: Parallel structure. Source: Wikipedia: Parallelism (grammar)
  • "Walking to school, the rain soaked my bag." What is wrong with this sentence? Answer: It has a dangling modifier. Source: Wikipedia: Dangling modifier
  • What is a hint early in a story about events that will happen later called? Answer: Foreshadowing. Source: Wikipedia: Foreshadowing
  • What is the main character of a story called? Answer: The protagonist. Source: Wikipedia: Protagonist
  • Which Greek poet is credited with the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey"? Answer: Homer. Source: Wikipedia: Odyssey
  • Which monster does the hero fight first in the Old English poem "Beowulf"? Answer: Grendel. Source: Wikipedia: Beowulf
  • Which punctuation mark can join two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction? Answer: A semicolon. Source: Wikipedia: Semicolon
  • Which Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes follows a man who decides to become a knight? Answer: Don Quixote. Source: Wikipedia: Don Quixote
  • Who wrote "The Canterbury Tales" in Middle English? Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer. Source: Wikipedia: The Canterbury Tales
  • Who wrote the 1818 novel "Frankenstein"? Answer: Mary Shelley. Source: Wikipedia: Frankenstein
  • "The wind whispered through the trees" is an example of which literary device? Answer: Personification. Source: Wikipedia: Personification
  • The words for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so are which kind of conjunction? Answer: Coordinating. Source: Wikipedia: Conjunction (grammar)

How it works

These 137 trivia questions for 9th graders come in five subject rounds: algebra and geometry, biology, earth science, world history, and literature and grammar. They run from the slope of y = 3x - 5 to the emperor who rebuilt the Hagia Sophia.

Read the full guide

Five subject rounds, and what each follows

Under Start from, below the question, the rounds are Algebra and geometry (29 questions), Biology (26), Earth science (26), World history (28) and Literature and grammar (28). The algebra follows the high school Common Core standards and keeps some grade 8 geometry as review. Common Core lists no science or history content, so those rounds follow what a first-year course usually teaches.

Bell ringer or scored quiz

For a bell ringer, open More options and press Question of the day: one question, the same for everyone that day. For a score, pick Scored round, then Start the round: 20 questions, marked by subject. Expect earth science to pull the total down: 10 of its 26 questions are hard and only 2 easy, by our estimate.

  • Hand out scratch paper for Algebra and geometry. Solving x² - 5x + 6 = 0 is quick on paper and slow in the head.
  • Teaching one subject? Pick it under Start from before you play and press Print, and the sheet stays on that subject.
  • Wrong answers wait under Missed, in More options. Work through them together the day before a test.

Questions and answers

Are these really 9th grade level?

Yes for math and grammar. Both were matched to the Common Core: high school algebra such as the discriminant, and the grades 9 to 10 language standards on parallel structure and semicolons. Algebra and geometry opens gentlest, with eight easy questions, by our estimate.

What is in each subject round?

Algebra and geometry: slope to the volume of a cone. Biology: cells, DNA and Mendel's peas. Earth science: plate tectonics, tides and eclipses. World history: Mesopotamia to the storming of the Bastille. Literature and grammar: Homer, Shakespeare and Poe, comma splices and dangling modifiers.

Which textbooks do the answers follow?

73 answers come from OpenStax textbooks (Elementary Algebra, Prealgebra, Concepts of Biology and Astronomy) and 64 from Wikipedia articles, read on September 19, 2026. The arithmetic was worked by hand. Where a source hedged, the question changed: the democracy one asks what the word means.

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