39 Chemistry Trivia Questions and Answers
Chemistry trivia about the elements, metals and alloys, gases, and the chemicals people meet in daily life. It is pitched at quiz-night level and makes a short science round. Answers are printed under each question.
There are 39 questions on this page. They are free to use for quiz nights, classrooms and pub quizzes, and each one links to its own page.
Related lists: Human Body trivia questions, Space trivia questions, Hard trivia questions.
1.What is the name of the metallic alloy composed of copper and zinc?
Answer: BRASS - bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
Open this question2.Which two chemical elements are most commonly used as disinfectant or antiseptic?
Answer: IODINE / CHLORINE
Open this question3.Which gaseous chemical element glows reddish orange when an electric charge passes through it?
Answer: NEON
Open this question4.This substance with chemical formula C1O H14 N2, is considered a poisonous alkaloid, and is used as an insecticide. Millions of humans worldwide consume it daily, voluntarily. What is it called?
Answer: NICOTINE
Open this question5.This chemical element is an alkali metal, one of the lightest metals known. It is used in nuclear reactions, in batteries, in the glass industry, and as a medicine for the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis. What element is it?
Answer: LITHIUM
Open this question6.This chemical element makes up about 1/4 of the earth's crust; it is the main ingredient of sand, is the main ingredient of glass, is used in the making of computers, and can also be made into synthetic rubber. What is this element?
Answer: SILICON
Open this question7.Name the three elements found in greatest percentage in the human body.
Answer: OXYGEN 65% / CARBON 18% / HYDROGEN 10%
Open this question8.What is the scientific name for the gas your dentist might give you, commonly called "laughing gas"?
Answer: NITROUS OXIDE
Open this question9.This chemical element, symbol S, was known to the ancients; it is the brimstone of the Bible. What is it?
Answer: SULFUR
Open this question10.What is the sum of the atomic numbers of these three chemical elements: hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen?
Answer: 15 (hydrogen 1 + carbon 6 + oxygen 8)
Open this question11.Of the chemical elements between #95 and 100, three are named for humans. Name the three.
Answer: CURIUM / EINSTEINIUM / FERMIUM
Open this question12.About three-fourths of the mass of the sun consists of which element?
Answer: HYDROGEN / one fourth is helium
Open this question13.Chemistry: acid will turn litmus paper what color?
Answer: RED
Open this question14.Primarily from which chemical element are semiconductors made?
Answer: SILICON Atomic number 14 semiconductor -a material that conducts electricity, but very poorly.
Open this question15.What is the most common gas in the earth's atmosphere? Is it nitrogen, oxygen, ozone, or carbon dioxide?
Answer: NITROGEN 78% oxy 21%, co2 <1%.
Open this question16.Can you name any three chemical elements named for locations on the earth?
Answer: BERKELIUM / CALIFORNIUM / AMERICIUM / EUROPIUM #97 #98 #95 # 63
Open this question17.The hardest mineral is, of course, diamond. The softest mineral is a whitish or grayish substance chemically known as magnesium silicate, but you have it in your bathroom and you know it as what?
Answer: TALC
Open this question18.What two metals are most commonly found in stainless steel?
Answer: IRON / CHROMIUM
Open this question19.What happens when sodium mixes with water?
Answer: EXPLODES / CREATES A FIRE
Open this question20.What is the lightest chemical element?
Answer: HYDROGEN
Open this question21.Global warming is caused when what gas is released into the atmosphere?
Answer: CARBON DIOXIDE / CO 2
Open this question22.America's first nickel, or five cent piece, was first produced in 1866. It consisted of 25% nickel, and 75% what metal?
Answer: COPPER
Open this question23.Ascorbic acid is something which many of us consume virtually every day. By what name is ascorbic acid better known?
Answer: VITAMIN C
Open this question24.By what simpler name is deoxyribonucleic acid known?
Answer: DNA
Open this question25.What is the chemical symbol for iron?
Answer: Fe
Open this question26.What is the chemical symbol for tungsten?
Answer: W
Open this question27.Which Russian chemist published the first widely recognized periodic table in 1869?
Answer: Dmitri Mendeleev
Open this question28.Which is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure?
Answer: Mercury
Open this question29.Which halogen is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature?
Answer: Bromine
Open this question30.What is the pH of pure water at 25 degrees Celsius?
Answer: 7
Open this question31.What is the chemical name for ordinary table salt?
Answer: Sodium chloride
Open this question32."Dry ice" is the solid form of which compound?
Answer: Carbon dioxide
Open this question33.Which two radioactive elements were discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie?
Answer: Polonium and radium
Open this question34.Which French chemist gave oxygen its name in 1778?
Answer: Antoine Lavoisier
Open this question35.What is the most abundant element in the universe?
Answer: Hydrogen
Open this question36.What name is given to atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons?
Answer: Isotopes
Open this question37.What is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust?
Answer: Aluminium (aluminum)
Open this question38.Which element, atomic number 2, was detected in the spectrum of the Sun in 1868 before it was found on Earth?
Answer: Helium
Open this question39.Which acid is found in vinegar?
Answer: Acetic acid
Open this question