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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Rayleigh–Jeans law agrees with experimental results at large wavelengths but strongly disagrees at short wavelengths. What is this inconsistency known as?
(a) The ultraviolet catastrophe.
(b) The Pythagorean Theorem.
(c) The Golden Ratio.
(d) A black hole.

2. When was Jean le Rond d'Alembert born?
(a) 1701.
(b) 1659.
(c) 1811.
(d) 1717.

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

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

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

6. The absolute value of a number may be thought of as its distance from what?
(a) Zero.
(b) Itself.
(c) Two.
(d) One.

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

8. When was Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica first published?
(a) 1568.
(b) 1687.
(c) 1632.
(d) 1666.

9. What rule in calculus uses derivatives to help evaluate limits involving indeterminate forms?
(a) The Golden Ratio.
(b) The Pythagorean Theorem.
(c) General relativity.
(d) L'Hôpital's rule.

10. Bosonic string theory was developed in what decade?
(a) 1890s.
(b) 1960s.
(c) 1980s.
(d) 1950s.

11. What is the study of geometric properties that are invariant under projective transformations?
(a) General relativity.
(b) Projective geometry.
(c) Projective algebra.
(d) Classical relativity.

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

13. Lord Kelvin is well known for determining the correct value of absolute zero. Absolute zero is approximately what temperature Celsius?
(a) -32 degrees.
(b) -273.15 degrees.
(c) -59 degrees.
(d) -125.32 degrees.

14. The operation of finding the area under a curve is now called what, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?
(a) Division.
(b) Differentiation.
(c) Integration.
(d) Disintegration.

15. According to the author in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros,” thermodynamics have taught us that there are many things we cannot do, such as building what?
(a) A lunar calendar.
(b) An adequate polarizing system.
(c) A perpetual motion machine.
(d) A solar calendar.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Bernhard Riemann born?

2. What term in geometry refers to a straight line that just touches a plane curve at a given point?

3. What term refers to numbers that are "infinite" in the sense that they are larger than all finite numbers, yet not necessarily absolutely infinite?

4. According to the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero,” some physicists think the merging of a particle and a black hole creates a tachyon or a particle with imaginary mass that could do what?

5. Carl Gauss referred to mathematics as what?

(see the answer keys)

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