Chemistry is a complex and fascinating subject that explores the properties and interactions of matter. From the earliest experiments to modern-day innovations, chemistry has played a critical role in shaping our world and understanding of the natural world. Trivia questions about chemistry can provide a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge and deepen your appreciation for this important and diverse field.
Whether you're a seasoned chemist or just starting to explore the subject, chemistry trivia questions offer a glimpse into the wonders of matter and energy. From the properties of elements and compounds to the processes and reactions that make up our world, these questions can challenge you on the basics of chemical theory, the history of chemical discoveries, and the real-world applications of chemistry.
36 Chemistry Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Oh? Oh. Oh! Mexico's Mario Molina picked up a 1995 Chemistry Nobel for his role in discovering that CFCs are a threat to what UV-absorbing portion of Earth's stratosphere?
Answer: Ozone
- What element, atomic number 3 on the periodic table, is an essential component of batteries often used to store harvested solar energy?
Answer: Lithium
- Also one of the nucleoside bases of DNA, what does the "A" in ATP -- one of the most important molecules in biochemistry -- stand for?
Answer: Adenosine
- What A-word means an enzyme found in the body that breaks down starch and glycogen into simple sugars as part of the process of digestion?
Answer: Amylase
- On the periodic table, Francium is named for the country of France. Less obviously, what metallic element gets its name from the old Latin name for what is now France?
Answer: Gallium
- Two different employees of General Electric -- Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) -- have been awarded the Nobel Prize, one in Physics and one in which other scientific subject?
Answer: Chemistry
- Carbon fixation, reduction, carbohydrate formation, and regeneration are the four basic phases of what photosynthesis cycle that's presumably pretty good friends with a comic strip tiger?
Answer: Calvin cycle
- From 1862 to 1927, the FDA incorporated what scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter into its name? This “C” word can also be used to describe how people get along.
Answer: Chemistry
- What six-letter word means an enzyme found in the pancreas that breaks down fats into fatty acids and glycerol or other alcohols?
Answer: Lipase
- In chemistry, a cation is a positively charged ion; what is the corresponding five-letter term for a negatively charged ion?
Answer: Anion
- Element 30 on the Periodic Table is often found in lotions and preparations to prevent sunburn and windburn. What is the two-letter chemical symbol (not the element's name) for Element 30?
Answer: Zn
- Filtered from the blood by the liver, what orange-yellow pigment is a product of the breakdown of red blood cells, with high levels sometimes manifesting as jaundice?
Answer: Bilirubin
- What is the name of chemist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's redheaded assistant on "The Muppet Show?"
Answer: Beaker
- The law of which 17th century British chemist defines the proportional relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas?
Answer: Robert Boyle
- What alliteratively named song, whose title might describe an event that happens between day and night, is the Chemical Brothers' only hit to make the Billboard Hot 100 in the US?
Answer: Setting Sun
- What American biochemist, who became the first full-time professor of pharmacology ever at John Hopkins in 1893, worked in hormone extraction and founded the “Journal Of Biological Chemistry?” His last name is the same as a famous Biblical murder victim.
Answer: John Jacob Abel
- The chemical formula of water is H2O; the compound H2O2, which can be used in hair bleaches, is typically referred to by what two-word name?
Answer: Hydrogen peroxide
- As its chemical symbol of Hg indicates, what metallic element, which is liquid at room temperature, was once known as "hydrargyrum?"
Answer: Mercury
- "Better things for better living...through chemistry" was once an advertising slogan for what company, which merged with Dow Chemical in 2017?
Answer: DuPont
- Martin Chalfie, an American scientist who got his PhD in neurobiology from Harvard in 1977, was a co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a fluorescent protein of what color? It is a color often associated with envy, and also Kermit the Frog.
Answer: Green Fluorescent Protein
- Chemistry time! The visible phenomenon of fire is the product of a combustion reaction, in which a fuel and an oxidant react to release heat in addition to what two compounds in gaseous form?
Answer: Carbon dioxide and water
- Winning for "their synthesis of new radioactive elements" the second woman to win the Nobel prize for Chemistry was the daughter of two other Nobel prize winners. What was the family's surname?
Answer: Curie
- What is the common name of the colorless, highly pungent gas whose chemical formula is NH3?
Answer: Ammonia
- In chemistry, a covalent bond involves sharing of electrons between two atoms. What is the corresponding type of bond in which one atom fully gives electrons to another?
Answer: Ionic
- Named by Freiburg University chemist Clemens Winkler, what metalloid element was named after the scientist's home country and not some pretty pink flower?
Answer: Germanium
- Although Thomas Edison was famously self-educated, he did take a chemistry class at what NYC institution that was famous for giving all its students full-tuition scholarships from 1902 to 2014?
Answer: Cooper Union
- Portland native Linus Pauling is renowned for being one of two people (the other being Marie Curie) to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields. Pauling's first was a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with chemical bonds; his second Nobel was in what field?
Answer: Peace
- Japanese chemist Akira Yoshino switched from low-yield polyacetylene to a carbonaceous material electrode in 1985, locking in what critical piece of cell phone tech?
Answer: Lithium-ion battery
- In DNA, the nucleotide adenine pairs with thymine, whereas the nucleotide guanine pairs with what nucleotide abbreviated C?
Answer: Cytosine
- While not an actual guinea pig, who is the shy, long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew from “The Muppet Show” who shares his name with a flat bottomed cylindrical container used in chemistry?
Answer: Beaker
- First proposed by J.J. Thomson in 1904, a model of the atom in which electrons were embedded in a large positively-charged mass, with no nucleus, was popularly known by what alliterative food nickname?
Answer: Plum pudding
- What 6-letter C-word is the name of the polysaccharide substance that makes up the hard outer armor of many insects, arachnids, and crustaceans?
Answer: Chitin
- A joint experiment between Dubna and Oak Ridge scientists produced what 117-proton element named for what U.S. state?
Answer: Tennessine
- Former Harvard professors William Lipscomb, Elias Corey, and Martin Karplus have all won Nobel Prizes in what category?
Answer: Chemistry
- Five people have won two Nobel Prizes, but Linus Pauling is the only one to have won two that were not shared with anyone else. He won the first for Chemistry, but for what other field did he win his second?
Answer: Peace
- What 19th-century “P” French chemist discovered the enzyme diastase and the carbohydrate cellulose, leading to further exploration of chemical processes that happened at the cellular level?
Answer: Anselme Payen
Play Chemistry Trivia with Water Cooler Trivia
Water Cooler Trivia is well-equipped to provide you with exciting and engaging trivia quizzes.
So, how does it work?
Each week, our team will deliver original trivia quizzes straight to your inbox.
All you have to do is pick the categories.
You can leave the rest of the heavy lifting to us.
Take Water Cooler Trivia for a test run with our four-week free trial.
About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
.png){kind=logo}
.png)