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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was Archimedes' predecessor in the field of mathematics?
(a) Democritus.
(b) Pythagorus.
(c) Aristotle.
(d) Euclid.

2. What did Archimedes use to weigh the crown?
(a) A set of scales.
(b) Tare weight.
(c) An ampere balance.
(d) Water, jar, and a bowl.

3. How much money would a laborer earn in Archimedes' day?
(a) 2 cents.
(b) 3 to 5 cents.
(c) 12 cents.
(d) 6 to 10 cents.

4. What principle did Archimedes discover that tells why some things float, some things sink, and some things rise into the air?
(a) Relativity.
(b) Buoyancy.
(c) Quantum mechanics.
(d) Gravity.

5. What was Archimedes favorite branch of mathematics?
(a) Calculus.
(b) Geometry.
(c) Algebra.
(d) Trigonometry.

6. After Archimedes spent days staring at the King's crown, who came to take him somewhere?
(a) His father.
(b) The king's guard.
(c) His mother.
(d) His slaves.

7. Which branch of mathematics deals with distances to directions?
(a) Algebra.
(b) Trigonometry.
(c) Geometry.
(d) Calculus.

8. Near what country is Sicily located?
(a) Germany.
(b) Spain.
(c) Italy.
(d) France.

9. Which astronomers believed that the earth was inside a hollow iron sphere?
(a) Egyptian.
(b) Persian.
(c) Indian.
(d) Babylonia.

10. When was Archimedes born?
(a) 294 B.C.
(b) 315 B.C.
(c) 287 B.C.
(d) 274 B.C.

11. Where would Archimedes sketch his diagrams when he was sitting by the fire in the evening?
(a) Clay tablets.
(b) Ashes on the hearth.
(c) A piece of cloth.
(d) Papyrus.

12. How long would it have taken Archimedes to sail from Syracuse to Alexandria?
(a) 10 to 12 days.
(b) 16 to 17 days.
(c) 30 days.
(d) 20 days.

13. How long was Ptolemy's Museum the center of Greek learning?
(a) 300 years.
(b) 750 years.
(c) 1,000 years.
(d) 500 years.

14. To what did a series of ropes and wheels run from King Hiero's ship?
(a) A helix.
(b) A hyperbola.
(c) A parabola.
(d) An ellipse.

15. What is the point on which the lever turns or moves?
(a) Center point.
(b) Fulcrum.
(c) Resistance.
(d) Force.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many miles long would Archimedes' lever have had to be if he had tried to move the earth?

2. Which branch of mathematics studies numbers?

3. What was the mathematical subject that Archimedes did not write about?

4. How much would a skilled craftsman earn in Archimedes' day?

5. For how many planets was Archimedes able to estimate the distance from earth?

(see the answer keys)

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