.png){kind=logo}
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!
1. Nikola Tesla had an idea that you could harness power in the air because water drops get transferred to dust particles and create hygroelectricity, which is what kind of “clingy” electricity that can make your hair stand on end?
Answer: Static
2. 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
3. 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
4. While the Toyota Prius in 1997 became the first widely available model, the 1901 Lohner-Porsche was the first example of what type of vehicle that uses both gasoline and electricity to power the car?
Answer: Hybrid
5. A key component of a solar system is 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? They’re sometimes called central inverters.
Answer: String
6. A big part of managing any equipment energy is what “T” machine, designed to be rotated by water, gas, or other fluids?
Answer: Turbine
7. Considered one of the premier certifiers of lighting in the United States, “UL” once stood for "Underwriters" what?
Answer: Laboratories
8. Which 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?
Answer: Watt
9. What “B” colorful term defines a home user’s total loss of electric power from the power distributor?
Answer: Blackout
10. 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
11. 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
12. 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
13. 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 what different, more incendiary name?
Answer: Torch
14. 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
15. The Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie was the first person to use solar power to cross what body of water in 1996?
Answer: Pacific Ocean
16. 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
17. 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
18. 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!
19. 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
20. What is the term beginning with B for the thin wires or ribbons that carry electricity from the solar cells?
Answer: Busbars
21. 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
22. 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
23. "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
24. What is the spooky name for the single light left illuminated onstage in an empty and otherwise dark theatre?
Answer: Ghost light
25. Symbolized by a capital C and named for a French physicist, what is the SI unit of electric charge?
Answer: Coulomb
26. In 1894, Thomas Edison captured assistant Fred Ott performing what biological function in one of Edison’s earliest Kinetoscope short films?
Answer: A sneeze
27. 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? Washington congressmen weren't interested…
Answer: Votes
28. Many fluorescent light bulbs work by vaporizing what metallic element that is a liquid at room temperature?
Answer: mercury
29. 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
30. 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
31. Ohm's law of electricity, expressed as "V = IR," states that voltage is directly proportional to current, represented by I, and what quantity is represented by the letter R?
Answer: Resistance
32. Solar cables that connect modules, arrays, and sub-fields are typically made of what 29th element on the periodic table?
Answer: Copper
33. 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
34. 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
35. Though his father named him for Thomas Edison, Edson Arantes do Nascimento is the name on the birth certificate of what Brazilian soccer forward that FIFA named as the top player of the 20th century?
Answer: Pelé
36. 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
37. Although the technology has existed for at least 50 years, the 2000s were 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
38. 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
39. 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
40. Paraffin and lamp oil are alternative terms for what combustible hydrocarbon liquid derived from petroleum?
Answer: Kerosene
41. 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
42. The last letter of the Greek alphabet represents what unit of electrical resistance?
Answer: Ohm
43. What is the "E" term for the process of using electricity to remove human hair from the body?
Answer: Electrolysis
44. Thomas Edison's first two children had nicknames that honored his work as a telegrapher and his love of Morse Code. What was the pair of names?
Answer: Dot and Dash
45. Famous for other films in which he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn, what actor played the title role in the 1940 film, "Edison, The Man?"
Answer: Spencer Tracy
46. In order 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
47. What 19th-century British scientist is a major figure in electromagnetism, discovering induction and electrolysis among other contributions? His namesake “Effect” is a rotation created by a magnetic field.
Answer: Michael Faraday
48. What U.S. Founding Father and inventor did not discover electricity, and especially not with a kite, but did believe that electricity and lightning were the same thing? Maybe he thought his lightning rod would be a power source.
Answer: Benjamin Franklin
49. What rock band that sings "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" named itself after two different currents of electricity?
Answer: AC/DC
50. 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
51. What ancient Greek philosopher from Miletus used his naturalistic observation to develop a theory of static electricity?
Answer: Thales
52. Named for a German physicist, what SI unit of electrical resistance is symbolized by the Greek letter Omega?
Answer: Ohm
53. Commonly used in lightbulbs today due to its energy efficiency, LED is short for what three-word semiconductor light source?
Answer: Light-emitting diode
54. A ceramic pot, a tube, and a rod of iron were discovered together in an archaeological site, leading some researchers to infer that the ancient objects were combined for electroplating, a concept known as the Battery of what Middle Eastern capital city?
Answer: Baghdad Battery
55. At the age of 19, Thomas Edison worked as a telegrapher for what non-profit news organization best known among writers and journalists for its annual updates to its “Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law”?
Answer: The Associated Press
56. 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
57. What 19th-century British chemist invented his own namesake “D” type of lamp, as well as an early form of arc lamp? He also isolated, using electricity, a series of elements, such as potassium and calcium.
Answer: Humphry Davy
58. What “G” machine converts mechanical energy into electrical energy? It is often used as a means of emergency power during an outage.
Answer: Generator
59. What “I” term refers to any material that will not allow electricity to easily flow through?
Answer: Insulator
60. 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
61. 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
62. 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
63. It might remind you of a meditation mantra, but which term is actually the standard unit for measuring electrical resistance?
Answer: Ohm
64. 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
65. A hydroelectric plant generates electricity from the flow of which natural substance?
Answer: Water
66. 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
67. The first U.S. house to be powered by hydroelectricity was located in the town of Appleton, in what Midwestern state?
Answer: Wisconsin
68. 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
69. 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
70. Similar to what you'd have on the side of your house to track your traditional electricity use, what same monitoring process applies to tracking your solar use and production?
Answer: Metering
71. What effect, which can be combined with solar power, occurs when solid materials like crystals, ceramics, or even bone, generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress?
Answer: Piezoelectricity
72. What term describes a source of electricity that grid operators can program on demand and adjust depending on what the market is doing? In the same way you might tell an ambulance to report to the scene of an accident, this “-able” word reflects directing electricity to where it’s most needed.
Answer: Dispatchable generation
73. Colorado Springs is one of the settings, along with London, in what magician-focused 2006 Christopher Nolan-directed movie? In the film, Colorado Springs serves as the home base for the experiments of Nikola Tesla (played by none other than David Bowie!) during his ongoing professional rivalry with Thomas Edison.
Answer: The Prestige
74. 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
75. Distinctive for its black-and-white striped pattern, the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S. is located on what North Carolina cape?
Answer: Cape Hatteras
76. 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?
Answer: Joule
77. 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
78. What 19th-century Scottish scientist was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, the first explaining electricity as a separate manifestation not magnetism and light?
Answer: James Clerk Maxwell
79. Electric current is defined as which physical property, which has the SI unit of Coulomb, divided by time?
Answer: Electric charge
80. Of course, he’s most well-known for his work with the incandescent lightbulb, but Thomas Edison was in fact an extremely prolific inventor. How many U.S. patents bear his name as an inventor?
Answer: 1,093
81. 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
82. Thomas Edison's studios filmed maybe the first cat "video," of two cats engaged in what rough sport is known as the "sweet science"?
Answer: Boxing
83. The first ship to use Edison-style incandescent bulbs instead of oil lamps was a steamship that shares the same name as one of the U.S. space shuttle programs?
Answer: Columbia
84. 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
85. 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 that drafted them, IEEE. What does this acronym stand for?
Answer: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
86. What “-ism” is the branch of physics that describes the physical interaction between electrically charged particles?
Answer: Electromagnetism
87. The first lightbulb to have a metal filament used what metal as the filament? This metal, which has atomic number 73, is named after a 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
88. 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
89. What unincorporated community in New Jersey took its name from a town in California and is popularly associated with the "Wizard" Thomas Edison?
Answer: Menlo Park
90. 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
91. 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
92. 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
93. Benban Solar Park is a desert-located solar power station with a planned capacity of 3.8 TWh. In what country would you find this massive installation that is visible from outer space?
Answer: Egypt
94. Edison collaborated with William Dickson to create the world's first-ever motion picture camera, patented in 1890 under what name?
Answer: Kinetograph
95. 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
96. 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
97. Back in 2012, the largest project to date was completed in Arizona and had a capacity of 247 MegaWatts. Only eight years later, two power stations with capacity for more than 2,000 MegaWatts each can be found in what country?
Answer: India
98. 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
99. 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
100. 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
101. What eight-letter term is the lowest amount of electricity used by a grid or electrical system, generally over 24 hours, and helps calculate minimum demand?
Answer: Baseload
102. 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
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.
We do everything we can to ensure that Water Cooler Trivia's questions are appropriate, relevant, and accurate. Our database has tens of thousands of questions, so we don't always get it right. If you see a question that needs editing, we would love if you let us know here or email [email protected].
.png)