What Is the Most Common Gas in Earth's Atmosphere?

[Galteeth]

A neat quiz from the christian science monitor. Post scores!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/20...the-most-common-gas-in-the-Earth-s-atmosphere

 

[Pythagorean]

86%, mostly failed astronomy questions about which moons were where and who's the brightest next to the moon, etc. And I thought nimbus meant vertically developed, not precipitating.

 

[Jimmy]

I also scored 86%. Missed mostly life science questions.

I got the nimbus question wrong as well- answered "high altitude".

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

70%. That was a nice quiz, although being fluent in Greek would have certainly helped.

 

[renz]

70%. Showed me I need to learn more about geology and biology. I forgot a whole lot of what I learned. Also got a bunch of solar-system questions wrong, which I feel bad about considering I'm an astronomer.

 

[Evo]

I couldn't resist the urge to cheat.

Sadly, most of my answers came from watching documentaries on tv, or is that a good thing?

 

[Andre]

I think the quiz was linked to before, I recognized the question with paleolithic and Pleistocene, since both dating are about equal but the definition is different.

 

[zoobyshoe]

82%. I wouldn't even have gotten that score except they give alternate routes to the answer, such as the Latin origin of the name of the correct answer.

 

[Ibix]

94%. I got nimbus, the moon with liquid water and the coefficient of friction wrong (I always used k). I educated-guessed a couple of the biology ones.

The way the questions are constructed, a decent classicist could get about half marks knowing nothing about science - see Athena and Thunder Lizard, for example.

 

[Drakkith]

88%! Woo!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

94%. I got lowest surface gravity, nimbus, and 8 minutes from sun to Earth wrong. I knew the answer for sun to earth, but clicked on 8 seconds instead of 8 minutes.

I want to strangle the guy who decided that in order to take a quiz with 50 multiple choice questions in it, it would be necessary to download 100 web pages.

 

[Jimmy]

^ I know. You have to click 'next' twice to get to the next question.

 

[M Quack]

92% without cheating, but with a good portion of luck. The Nimbus got me, and so did radon (shame on me!), thymine and the zygote. I won't tell which ones I guessed :-)

BTW, how high do you have to score to count as literate?

 

[Drakkith]

92% without cheating, but with a good portion of luck. The Nimbus got me, and so did radon (shame on me!), thymine and the zygote. I won't tell which ones I guessed :-)

BTW, how high do you have to score to count as literate?

You are 92% literate sir.

 

[EricVT]

84%

Would have been a few points lower were it not for good guessing/elimination strategies. If I had to fill in the blank as the answer things would have been pretty different.

 

[DaveC426913]

88%.

I blame it on professor Elizabeth Harbron, who was giving me the Evil Eye throughout the entire test.

 

[Evo]

88%. Do I have to tear my science badge off my uniform?

just cheat

 

[DaveC426913]

just cheat

Ah! Well in that case, I scored 131%.

 

[Evo]

ah! Well in that case, i scored 131%.

wow!

 

[jhae2.718]

88%. Apparently I don't remember some astronomical facts and other boring stuff.

 

[flatmaster]

Looks like I'm winning with 96%. Missed the trans-pluto object and -nimbus.
I think my Jepordy skills helped. They gave you several contextual clues in each question just like Jepordy.

 

[KrisOhn]

84%, I got only two wrong answers until the last few questions. I got a little cocky.

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

Ah! Well in that case, I scored 131%.

Just like Vladimir Putin's approval rating!

 

[Curious3141]

90%, and an agreeable amount of time wasted.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

68%

I guessed quite a lot, except for stuff in physics and astronomy.

 

[OmCheeto]

90%, and an agreeable amount of time wasted.

90%, and an even greater amount of time wasted.

I transcribed the entire quiz(cut and paste of course).

When they listed choices for the age of the earth, I had to laugh:

10. Approximately how old is the Earth?
6015 years
100,000 years
4.5 million years
4.5 billion years

There should be more humor in quizzes.

ps. I found and took the quiz on July 8th, while looking for information on the Higgs boson.

 

[PAllen]

I got 94%, taken very quickly.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I got 98%. Knowing Greek terms helped, as well as having done meteorology and general science courses in the past! I was hesitant about only one answer, which was mu for coefficient of friction.

The one I got wrong was when I apparently clicked "oblong" (!) instead of "scalene" for an unequal-sided triangle. I was surprised when I saw which answer was highlighted, as I was unaware of clicking the wrong one.

 

[lisab]

84%. I got really impatient towards the end - I didn't like the format!

I wish they had it all on one page. Also would be better if they didn't show if you're right or wrong after every answer. That could discourage a lot of people who aren't "scientifically literate", and make them give up only a few questions into the test.

 

[Dembadon]

74% -- I haven't taken a course in chemistry or biology, so I guessed on most of the questions related to those fields.

I don't like multiple choice tests; knowing which answers are wrong does not make me feel literate in a given area. It makes me feel like an impostor because if anyone were to ask me how I knew my answers were correct, I'd have to admit to heavy use of deductive reasoning rather than my knowledge and application of the theory behind whatever principle is being asked about.

 

[M Quack]

I don't like multiple choice tests; knowing which answers are wrong does not make me feel literate in a given area. It makes me feel like an impostor because if anyone were to ask me how I knew my answers were correct, I'd have to admit to heavy use of deductive reasoning rather than my knowledge and application of the theory behind whatever principle is being asked about.

Using deductive reasoning is much more scientific than just memorizing a lot of random stuff.

 

[Infinitum]

96%, I blame Biology.Also, I want to strangle someone.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

82%, got wrong the following:

- In 1989, the US postal service drew criticism from paleontologists for releasing a stamp with what obsolete genus name, which translates from Greek as "Thunder Lizard"?
- What is the heaviest noble gas?
- What moon, the largest moon orbiting Saturn, is the only known object in the solar system other than Earth that is known to have liquid on its surface?
- The 2006 demotion of Pluto to the status of dwarf planet was precipitated by the discovery of what object orbiting beyond Pluto, believed to be 27 percent more massive than Pluto and named for the Greek goddess of strife and discord?
- In classical mechanics, what is defined as the product of an object's mass and velocity?
- The mathematical constant e is defined as the base of the natural system of logarithms, having a numerical value of approximately what?
- What word, which derives from a Greek term meaning "unequal" or "bent," describes a triangle whose three sides are of unequal length?
- Over half of the world's supply of what element, which gets its name from the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, is used in catalytic converters?
- In meteorology, what does the suffix -nimbus added to the name of a cloud indicate?

A few of them I kicked myself over upon seeing the answer. IMO not much of this quiz is about science literacy. I'd say questions concerning what is science, how does the scientific method work, what is peer review etc a long with a few basic questions from each field (rather than random trivia questions) would be a far better test.

 

[DaveC426913]

IMO not much of this quiz is about science literacy. I'd say questions concerning what is science, how does the scientific method work, what is peer review etc a long with a few basic questions from each field (rather than random trivia questions) would be a far better test.

In http://www.herogames.com/home.htm, that would be the difference between
- a Knowledge Skill (do you know lots about something), and
- a Professional Skill (do you know how to make a living doing something).

Oops. My freak flag slipped out. I'll just tuck that back in...

 

[Kholdstare]

82%, got wrong the following:

- In 1989, the US postal service drew criticism from paleontologists for releasing a stamp with what obsolete genus name, which translates from Greek as "Thunder Lizard"?
- What is the heaviest noble gas?
- What moon, the largest moon orbiting Saturn, is the only known object in the solar system other than Earth that is known to have liquid on its surface?
- The 2006 demotion of Pluto to the status of dwarf planet was precipitated by the discovery of what object orbiting beyond Pluto, believed to be 27 percent more massive than Pluto and named for the Greek goddess of strife and discord?
- In classical mechanics, what is defined as the product of an object's mass and velocity?
- The mathematical constant e is defined as the base of the natural system of logarithms, having a numerical value of approximately what?
- What word, which derives from a Greek term meaning "unequal" or "bent," describes a triangle whose three sides are of unequal length?
- Over half of the world's supply of what element, which gets its name from the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, is used in catalytic converters?
- In meteorology, what does the suffix -nimbus added to the name of a cloud indicate?

A few of them I kicked myself over upon seeing the answer. IMO not much of this quiz is about science literacy. I'd say questions concerning what is science, how does the scientific method work, what is peer review etc a long with a few basic questions from each field (rather than random trivia questions) would be a far better test.

I absolutely agree with Ryan. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". If you teach a guy only science trivia or information rather than teaching the proper way to do science, he may not do it right in the future.

 

[DaveC426913]

I absolutely agree with Ryan. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". If you teach a guy only science trivia or information rather than teaching the proper way to do science, he may not do it right in the future.

Ah, but how many actually do science as a profession?

Do you not think that people who are not science professionals should know their science facts?

 

[Ibix]

Ah, but how many actually do science as a profession?

Do you not think that people who are not science professionals should know their science facts?

While I agree that some knowledge of science facts is useful, my opinion is that scientific methodology is far more useful in everyday life. I've never used my knowledge of Newton's law of gravity for anything except a little game programming. I use the ideas of hypothesis formation, systematic testing, and 'no dogma' (to one extent or another!) nearly every time I think about a problem.

Analogy: I think there's more utility in being able to sketch than there is in knowing your cubist from your post-impressionist, for most people.

 

[OmCheeto]

While I agree that some knowledge of science facts is useful, my opinion is that scientific methodology is far more useful in everyday life. I've never used my knowledge of Newton's law of gravity for anything except a little game programming. I use the ideas of hypothesis formation, systematic testing, and 'no dogma' (to one extent or another!) nearly every time I think about a problem.

Analogy: I think there's more utility in being able to sketch than there is in knowing your cubist from your post-impressionist, for most people.

I'd like to know how everyone figured out the following:

6. How many nanometers are there in a centimeter?
1,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000

Only an idiot savant or a mathematical order of magnitude nerd would know this off the top of his head.

I think I spent the most time on this one. Just looking at it now, I can only guess that it's one of the last two.

 

[PAllen]

I'd like to know how everyone figured out the following:
Only an idiot savant or a mathematical order of magnitude nerd would know this off the top of his head.

I think I spent the most time on this one. Just looking at it now, I can only guess that it's one of the last two.

centi : 10^-2
nano: 10^-9

divide: 10^7

I should think a few seconds is much longer than needed for this one.

 

[OmCheeto]

centi : 10^-2
nano: 10^-9

divide: 10^7

I should think a few seconds is much longer than needed for this one.

If you didn't know: "centi : 10^-2 & nano: 10^-9", how would you have solved the problem?

I rest my case.

-----------------------------------
/me sticks fingers in ears, waiting for infraction bomb!

 

[Andre]

Depends, if you happen to live metric, you learn "deci" in the third grade or something. Centimeters and decimeters or even decameters (10) and hecto meters (100) are just as common as furlongs, forthnights, etc.

 

[OmCheeto]

Depends, if you happen to live metric, you learn "deci" in the third grade or something. Centimeters and decimeters or even decameters (10) and hecto meters (100) are just as common as furlongs, forthnights, etc.

Yah. But a nano? That's somewhere around a pico isn't it? Maybe it's just my dyslexia.

ps. I'm still trying to figure out how I solved the problem. My brain must have been in gear that day.

 

[fluidistic]

Eighty six. Shamefully I missed the how many nanometers is there in a centimeter. I knew that 1nm=10^-9m and 1cm=10^-2m making the answer 10^7, I don't know how I failed that question lol. I guess I miscounted the 0's...

 

[DaveC426913]

Yah. But a nano? That's somewhere around a pico isn't it? Maybe it's just my dyslexia.

Around these parts, nano is beaten into our heads.

Maybe it's a non-American thing.

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

Around these parts, nano is beaten into our heads.

Maybe it's a non-American thing.

Americans shun the metric system like you normal-measurement-using-people wouldn't believe.

 

[OmCheeto]

Eighty six. Shamefully I missed the how many nanometers is there in a centimeter. I knew that 1nm=10^-9m and 1cm=10^-2m making the answer 10^7, I don't know how I failed that question lol. I guess I miscounted the 0's...

Sometimes being ignorant has its advantages. (I'm referring to myself of course.)

6. How many nanometers are there in a centimeter?
1,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000

I knew:
there were 100 centimeters to the meter
the nanometer would be multiple of 1000 if the question were about the meter
it wasn't, so I knew 1 & 2 were wrong
millimeters fall in the 1000 multiple, so I just asked myself; "How many millimeters to a centimeter"?

The answer is 10. So 3 was the only logical choice.

If the 4th choice had been 10 billion, I would have only had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, since until today, I didn't know my femptos, from picos, from nanos.

But now I do. I've been practicing with baseball problems.

 

[Andre]

Around these parts, nano is beaten into our heads.

Maybe it's a non-American thing.

Maybe it is because of Mork from Ork

 

[Ryan_m_b]

In http://www.herogames.com/home.htm, that would be the difference between
- a Knowledge Skill (do you know lots about something), and
- a Professional Skill (do you know how to make a living doing something).

Oops. My freak flag slipped out. I'll just tuck that back in...

My geekometer just gave a reading of other 9000 For another geek culture reference it's a bit like Asimov's foundation series. The decadent Empire becomes so stagnant that being an academic or engineer just means one has memorised all the information in the libraries without knowing how it came about or understanding the scientific process.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Americans shun the metric system like you normal-measurement-using-people wouldn't believe.

The obvious practical measurement system is light nanoseconds and inches.

 

[M Quack]

The obvious practical measurement system is light nanoseconds and inches.

Nanoseconds don't contain any fat to begin with. But I guess they will sell better if you label them "light".

But seriously, the conversion from cm to nm was about the only thing in the quiz that imho every scientifically literate person should get right.

All the rest was remembering random trivia that you know if you use them every day and that are fairly useless if you don't . No deduction, no math, no basic logic, no recognizing correlation and possible causation (number of pirates and global warming...), no question about how things work, no science. Just vocabulary.

The PISA test does a much better job.

http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/29/33707226.pdf