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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What term in geometry refers to a straight line that just touches a plane curve at a given point?
(a) A hyperbole.
(b) A gravitational pull.
(c) A divergent.
(d) A tangent.

2. Where was Lord Kelvin born?
(a) New York, New York.
(b) Belfast, Northern Ireland.
(c) London, England.
(d) Paris, France.

3. Approximately when did Johannes Kepler live?
(a) 1571-1630.
(b) 1489-1550.
(c) 1501-1559.
(d) 1611-1669.

4. According to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians,” Leibniz wanted to use infinitesimals in calculus which were termed what?
(a) “∞.”
(b) “ö.”
(c) “mi.”
(d) “dx.”

5. When was Lord Kelvin born?
(a) 1898.
(b) 1824.
(c) 1798.
(d) 1915.

6. Who coined the term “fermion” in particle physics?
(a) Paul Dirac.
(b) Filippo Brunelleschi.
(c) Socrates.
(d) James Wilson.

7. Calculus allowed Newton to combine the known natural laws of physics into one grand set of laws that could be expressed as what?
(a) The Golden Ratio.
(b) String theory.
(c) Differential equations.
(d) M-Theory.

8. When did Sir Isaac Newton live?
(a) 1642-1727.
(b) 1707-1746.
(c) 1559-1601.
(d) 1624-1680.

9. Where was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz from?
(a) France.
(b) Germany.
(c) Great Britain.
(d) Belgium.

10. What term refers to the viewpoint that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge?
(a) Rationalism.
(b) Dadaism.
(c) Archism.
(d) Absurdism.

11. Jean le Rond d'Alembert came up with what idea that solved the zero problem in calculus?
(a) A quanta.
(b) A derivative.
(c) A limit.
(d) An equation.

12. The author says in Chapter 6, “Infinity’s Twin” that by employing the concept of infinity, Johannes Kepler showed that ellipses and what were the same?
(a) Limits.
(b) Derivatives.
(c) Parabolas.
(d) Tangents.

13. What mathematical term refers to a function giving an exact pairing of the elements of two sets?
(a) Bijection.
(b) Derivation.
(c) Injection.
(d) Infinity.

14. In the middle of the 20th Century, Hendrik Casmir and what other Dutch physicist proposed the existence of a force between two polarizable atoms?
(a) James Washington.
(b) Andrew Miller.
(c) Peter Mitchell.
(d) Dirk Polder.

15. According to the author in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros,” thermodynamics led physicists to believe that light was not a particle but what?
(a) A proton.
(b) An electron.
(c) An electromagnetic wave.
(d) A vibrating string.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from solids, liquids or gases when they do what?

2. In physics or chemistry, what term refers to particles that are smaller than an atom?

3. The author states in Chapter 6, “Infinity’s Twin” that Carl Gauss realized that real and imaginary numbers could be what?

4. The antiparticle of the electron is called what?

5. What term refers to a region of spacetime from which gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping?

(see the answer keys)

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