Electricity is a fundamental aspect of modern life and plays a critical role in powering homes, businesses, and industries around the world. From the early days of electricity generation to the latest advances in energy storage and renewable energy technologies, electricity has come a long way over the past few centuries. Electricity trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of this essential field and to learn more about its history, applications, and future possibilities.
This list of electricity trivia questions covers a wide range of topics and is designed to challenge your understanding of the subject. From the basics of electricity generation and transmission to the latest developments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, this list of questions is sure to be both educational and entertaining.
Whether you're an electrical engineering student, a professional, or simply someone who is interested in learning more about this essential field, this list of electricity trivia questions is sure to provide you with hours of enjoyment and learning. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how you fare? Let's explore the fascinating world of electricity and see how much you really know!
93 Electricity Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Taken straight from Wikipedia, "naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions in the atmosphere or ground temporarily equalize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of as much as one billion joules of energy" is the definition of what natural phenomenon?
Answer: Lightning
- Homer Electric will replace gas turbines on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula with lithium-ion Megapacks provided by what car-slash-clean energy company?
Answer: Tesla
- A key component of a solar system are inverters, which are necessary to take all that energy from the sun and harness it for power. What kind of inverter system involves wiring a bunch of panels together to convert the DC current electricity into AC current electricity? (Hint: They’re sometimes called central inverters)
Answer: String
- The MCU show “Loki” introduced the world to the world authority on the time stream, known by what three-letter acronym? The acronym shares its name with a federal project to provide electricity, aid, and jobs to Tennessee, created in 1933 by FDR and still under operation.
Answer: TVA
- A big part of managing any equipment energy is what “T” machine, designed to be rotated by water, gas, or other fluids?
Answer: Turbine
- Considered one of the premier certifiers of lighting in the United States, UL once stood for "Underwriters" WHAT?
Answer: Laboratories
- A unit of electrical power equal to one joule per second was named after a Scottish inventor known for his work on the steam engine, not for a Houston Texans defensive end. What is this unit?
Answer: Watt
- What “B” colorful term defines a home user’s total loss of electric power from the power distributor?
Answer: Blackout
- A solar panel works by enabling photons (particles of light) to knock electrons free from atoms. This then generates a flow of electricity, specifically DC. What does DC stand for when referring to electricity?
Answer: Direct current
- In a 2012 speech, Barack Obama compared Boulder City's Copper Mountain Solar Facility to what ginormous hydroelectric piece of infrastructure straddling the Arizona-Nevada border?
Answer: Hoover Dam
- A portable hand-held electric light (often battery-powered) is almost always called a "flashlight" in the U.S., but in British English it's often referred to by a different, more... incendiary name. What is the British term for a flashlight?
Answer: Torch
- Known throughout the world as an environmental leader, Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity using renewable sources. The vast majority of this renewable energy comes from what source?
Answer: Hydroelectric
- The Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie was the first person to use solar power to cross what body of water in 1996?
Answer: Pacific Ocean
- Girandole, candelabra lamp, and suspended lights are all terms that are occasionally used for what lighting-related object which gets its name from a Latin word for a candle?
Answer: Chandelier
- Defined as an agreed amount paid to customers for any unused electricity produced by their solar power system and fed back to the electricity grid, FIT stands for Feed-In what?
Answer: Tariff
- Thomas Edison is one of the inventors mentioned in "Mother Necessity," a song from what 1970s educational animated series whose other famous songs include "Conjunction Junction?"
Answer: Schoolhouse Rock!
- CFLs use far less energy than conventional lightbulbs. The F and L stand for "fluorescent" and "lightbulb." What does the C stand for?
Answer: Compact
- Heliotherapy, or light therapy, is often linked to treating SAD because it attempts to make up for lost sunlight exposure and helps reset the body's internal clock. What does SAD stand for?
Answer: Seasonal affective disorder
- Alaskan farmers took out low-interest loans from the Rural Electrification Administration, established as one of what president's New Deal reforms?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- "The Man Who Invented the 20th Century" is a biography of what man born in the Balkans who frequently competed with Thomas Edison?
Answer: Nikola Tesla
- What is the spooky name for the single light left illuminated onstage in an empty and otherwise dark theatre?
Answer: Ghost light
- Symbolized by a capital "C" and named for a French physicist, what is the SI unit of electric charge?
Answer: Coulomb
- In 1894, Thomas Edison captured assistant Fred Ott performing what biological function, in one of Edison’s earliest Kinetoscope short films?
Answer: A sneeze
- Thomas Edison's first patent (U.S. Patent 0,090,646), had a "yes" switch and a "no" switch and was an "electrographic" way to record what, although Washington congressmen weren't interested?
Answer: Votes
- Many fluorescent light bulbs work by vaporizing what metallic element that is a liquid at room temperature?
Answer: Mercury
- What utility company based in Minneapolis, MN offers electricity and natural gas services to customers across the country? Its name has the same pronunciation as a popular piece of Microsoft Office software.
Answer: Xcel Energy
- According to Paul Israel, the director of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University, Edison’s deafness may have been partially caused by succumbing to what colorful illness that is also known as scarlatina?
Answer: Scarlet Fever
- What base unit of electric current in the International System is named after a French physicist who is considered a father of electromagnetism? The unit’s name is often shortened to a name that makes it sound like what a guitarist would plug into it at a concert.
Answer: Ampere
- Ohm's law of electricity, expressed as "V = IR," states that voltage is directly proportional to current, represented by I, and what quantity represented by the letter R?
Answer: Resistance
- Solar cables that connect modules, arrays, and sub-fields are typically made of what 29th element on the periodic table?
Answer: Copper
- RECs are tradable and non-tangible energy commodities representing proof of a certain amount of energy being generated by more climate-friendly means than fossil fuels. What does REC stand for?
Answer: Renewable Energy Certificates
- A massive solar farm meant to alleviate outages is being sold in blocks to what organization that manages Texas's electrical grid, and whose acronym is only one letter different than a certain futuristic Disney World theme park?
Answer: ERCOT
- What set of processes was introduced by Motorola employee Bill Smith in 1986 and solidified its spot in the business world after Jack Welch made it a central part of his strategy at General Electric in 1995?
Answer: Six Sigma
- Although the technology has existed for at least 50 years, in the 2000s was the first time that efficacy and output increased enough in LED lights to be used in applications such as car headlights. What does LED stand for?
Answer: Light emitting diode
- What “P” Roman natural philosopher and friend of Vespasian described the numbing effects of electric catfish and rays, and knew that their shocks could be conducted? He is referred to as “the Elder”, to differentiate from his nephew, “the Younger.”
Answer: Pliny The Elder
- Which Serbian-American inventor (whose surname has increased in recognition in recent years) built a laboratory in Colorado Springs in 1899 to study the use of high-voltage, high-frequency electricity in wireless power transmission?
Answer: Nikola Tesla
- Paraffin and lamp oil are alternative terms for what combustible hydrocarbon liquid derived from petroleum?
Answer: Kerosene
- What three-word term refers to a hypothetical machine that can perform work indefinitely without an external energy source in violation of the laws of thermodynamics?
Answer: Perpetual motion machine
- The last letter of the Greek alphabet represents what unit of electrical resistance?
Answer: Ohm
- What is the "E" term for the process of using electricity to remove human hair from the body?
Answer: Electrolysis
- Thomas Edison's first two children had nicknames that honored his work as a telegrapher and his love of Morse Code. What were they?
Answer: Dot and Dash
- To improve the sound quality of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, Edison devised a microphone made of what element? Number 6 on the periodic table, it must have felt like an organic choice.
Answer: Carbon
- What 19th-century British scientist is a major figure in electromagnetism, discovering induction and electrolysis among others contributions? His namesake “Effect” is rotation created by a magnetic field.
Answer: Michael Faraday
- What U.S. founding father and inventor did not discover electricity, and especially did not with a kite, but did believe that electricity and lighting were the same thing? Maybe he thought his lightning rod would be a power source.
Answer: Benjamin Franklin
- What rock band that sings "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" named itself after two different currents of electricity?
Answer: AC/DC
- The George M Sullivan Generation Plant 2 in Anchorage, Alaska is the power plant with Alaska's largest capacity; what does it use to generate electricity?
Answer: Natural gas
- What ancient Greek philosopher from Miletus used his naturalistic observation to develop a theory of static electricity?
Answer: Thales
- Named for a German physicist, what SI unit of electrical resistance is symbolized by the Greek letter Omega?
Answer: Ohm
- Commonly used in lightbulbs today due to its energy efficiency, LED is short for what three-word semiconductor light source?
Answer: Light-emitting diode
- A ceramic pot, a tube, and a rod of iron were discovered together in an archaeological site, leading some researches to infuse that the ancient objects were combined for electroplating, a concept known as the Battery of what Middle Eastern capital city?
Answer: Baghdad Battery
- What “L” Russian scientist and inventor devised an electrically powered incandescent light bulb with a tungsten filament in 1906, technically predating Thomas Edison?
Answer: Alexander Lodygin
- What 19th-century British chemist invented his own namesake “D” type of lamp, as well as an early form of arc lamp? He also also isolated, using electricity, a a series of elements, such as potassium and calcium.
Answer: Humphry Davy
- What “G” machine converts mechanical energy into electrical energy? It is often used as a means of emergency power during an outage.
Answer: Generator
- What “I” term refers to any material that will not allow electricity to easily flow through?
Answer: Insulator
- What American painter and illustrator, famous for his work with the "Saturday Evening Post," was hired by General Electric in the 1920s to paint a series of pictures showing Americans putting electric lights to use in their homes?
Answer: Norman Rockwell
- Gauss’s law states that the total electric flux of a closed surface in an electric field is directly proportional to which quantity inside the surface?
Answer: Electric charge
- In the late 1870s, which material (loved by Pandas) did Edison use to make carbonized filaments for lightbulbs that could last up to 1,200 hours?
Answer: Bamboo
- It might remind you of a meditation mantra, but which term is actually the standard unit for measuring electrical resistance?
Answer: Ohm
- Beginning with the letters "P" and "D", what two-word phrase is used to describe building techniques that use natural energy, such as sun, wind, or gravity, to achieve results rather than relying on electricity?
Answer: Passive Design
- A hydroelectric plant generates electricity from the flow of which natural substance?
Answer: Water
- When brothers Rudolph and Adi Dassler were trying to get their footwear business going in the early 1920s, they sometimes had to power their production by peddling a stationary bicycle because electricity wasn't always available. What German sports shoe brand with an animalistic name did they become known for?
Answer: Puma
- In the United States, the most electricity is used on heating and cooling. To the nearest 10%, how much is used on heating and cooling, on average?
Answer: 50%
- The first U.S. house to be powered by hydroelectricity was located in the town of Appleton, in what Midwestern state?
Answer: Wisconsin
- 83. Niue ensures Internet access even in remote parts of the island with no electricity because it uses solar-powered WiFi (Solarfi). What country does Niue neighbor (and is in free association with)?
Answer: New Zealand
- What sort of metering is an arrangement where all solar electricity generated is transferred to the electricity grid via a separate meter?
Answer: Gross metering
- At the end of 1887, what company was Thomas Edison's biggest rival in the war of the currents, having 68 AC-based power stations to Edison's 121 DC-based stations?
Answer: Westinghouse Electric
- To keep everyone in different countries on the same page, energy efficiency in transportation is measured in meters per what precious unit of energy named for an English physicist? And don't just pop down one letter.
Answer: Joules
- Prior to the lightbulb, the invention that brought Edison into the popular imagination and a bit of a celebrity was what sound-related device in 1877?
Answer: Phonograph
- What 19th-century Scottish scientist was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, the first time explaining electricity as a separate manifestation than magnetism and light?
Answer: James Clerk Maxwell
- Electric current is defined as which physical property, which has the SI unit of Coulomb, divided by time?
Answer: Electric charge
- Of course most well-known for his work with the incandescent lightbulb, Thomas Edison was in fact an extremely prolific inventor. How many U.S. patents bear his name as an inventor? We'll accept responses within 100 of the correct answer.
Answer: 1,093 (993 - 1,193 accepted)
- 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
- Thomas Edison's studios filmed maybe the first cat "video," of two cats engaged in what rough sport known as the "sweet science"?
Answer: Boxing
- The first ship to use Edison-style incandescent bulbs instead of oil lamps was a steamship that shares what name with one of the U.S. space shuttle programs?
Answer: Columbia
- Anthony Sullivan (often referred to as The OxiClean Man) pitched dozens of home products to American shoppers via television commercials throughout his career. What was the name of the circular lighting fixture he pitched in the 1990s which he claimed can be "conveniently placed almost anywhere"?
Answer: TapLights
- What “-ism” is the branch of physics that describes the physical interaction between electrically charged particles? It is measured using Newtons.
Answer: Electromagnetism
- The first lightbulb to have a metal filament used what metal as the filament? This metal, which has atomic number 73, is named after figure from Greek myth whose name is the origin of a word meaning to torment or tease with the promise of something that is unobtainable.
Answer: Tantalum
- What is the interconnected network that helps get electricity from suppliers to consumers called? (Hint: To draw one, you’d make lines that cross over each other—maybe for a game of tic tac toe?)
Answer: Grid
- IEEE 802.3 is a collection of standards produced to define the physical layer and data link of wired Ethernet. The standards are named for the group which drafted them, IEEE. What does this acronym stand for?
Answer: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- There is an unincorporated community in New Jersey that took its name from a town in California and is popularity associated with the "Wizard" Thomas Edison. What is the name of this community?
Answer: Menlo Park
- What is the SI derived unit of electrical conductance? This unit is the reciprocal of resistance and is named after the founder of a German electrical and telecommunications company.
Answer: Siemens
- In 2011, Mayor Gavin Newsom posthumously inducted Philo T. Farnsworth into the San Francisco Hall of Fame – partially for his prototypical invention of the what first all-electric household item in 1938?
Answer: Television
- Later in Thomas Edison's life after his lightbulb fame, he founded Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. Black Maria is often considered the first of what type of entertainment company in the United States?
Answer: Film studio
- Benban Solar Park is a desert-located solar power station with planned capacity 3.8 TWh. It is currently the 4th-largest solar power plant in the world with plans to become the largest at some point. In what country would you find this massive installation that is visible from outer space?
Answer: Egypt
- Edison collaborated with William Dickson to create the world's first-ever motion picture camera, patented in 1890 under what name?
Answer: Kinetograph
- With regards to solar energy what is the term for services that provide the electricity grid with stability and allow it to continue to operate smoothly?
Answer: Ancillary Services
- Listed as one of the top 200 U.S. companies by annual revenue, what is the current name of the American energy company with the greatest production and storage capacity for wind and solar energy? The company began its corporate life under the name Florida Power & Light Company in 1925.
Answer: NextEra Energy
- In the 2010s, the size of photovoltaic power stations to generate and store solar energy has increased dramatically. Back in 2012, the largest project to-date was completed in Arizona and had a capacity of 247 MegaWatts. Only eight years later, there are now two power stations with capacity for more than 2,000 MegaWatts each, both of which are located in what country?
Answer: India
- Although born in Ohio and most often associated with the state of New Jersey, Thomas Edison established a botanic laboratory with Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford in what separate state?
Answer: Florida
- What English scientist wrote “De Magnete” in 1600, a careful study of electricity and magnetism, discussing the lodestone effect and static electricity? His last name is the same as the 19th century dramatist who collaborated with the composer Arthur Sullivan.
Answer: William Gilbert
- Founded by O.F. Merwin in 1942, which U.S.-based manufacturer bills itself as a “global leader in separation technologies” and, among its offerings, has a Magnetic Separation system that requires no electricity?
Answer: Eriez
- Solar energy inventor and pioneer Frank Shuman wrote the following in the New York Times in what decade? "We have proved ... that after our stores of oil and coal are exhausted the human race can receive unlimited power from the rays of the Sun."
Answer: 1910s
- What eight letter term is the lowest amount of electricity used by a grid or or electrical system, generally over 24 hours, and helps calculate minimum demand?
Answer: Baseload
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Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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