227 Math Trivia Questions (Ranked From Easiest to Hardest)

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227 Math Trivia Questions Ranked From
Easiest to Hardest (Updated For 2024)

1. According to the musical based on his adventures, which Nickelodeon cartoon is not just any kind of absorbent, multicellular, deep-sea organism, but specifically, Aplysina fistularis?
   
   Answer: SpongeBob Squarepants
   
   
2. Which appealing yellow fruit is slightly radioactive due to its high potassium content?
   
   Answer: Banana
   
   
3. Even though James Bond and Liz Taylor got it wrong when they said it’s forever, which substance is still the hardest to naturally occur on Earth?
   
   Answer: Diamond
   
   
4. What is the only number that has the same number of letters as its meaning?
   
   Answer: Four
   
   
5. Obelus is the name for the mathematical symbol that has a horizontal line with a dot above and a dot below it. Which arithmetic operation is the sign used for?
   
   Answer: Division
   
   
6. What is the somewhat rude term for an angle greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees?
   
   Answer: Obtuse
   
   
7. What is 2^12?Answer: 4096
8. The quadriceps is, as the name suggests, a group of four prevailing mus les including the rectus femoris. This group of muscles covers the front and sides of what leg bone?
   
   Answer: Femur
   
   
9. Based on the legend of how his discovery of submerged objects causing water displacement helped him figure out how to measure the purity of gold, Greek mathematician Archimedes is famously known for shouting what word originating from a Greek word meaning “I have found it!”?
   
   Answer: Eureka
   
   
10. What “P” simple machine is a wheel that carries a flexible rope, cord, or cable on its rim? It can be used to transmit energy and motion, often for lifting weights.
    
    Answer: Pulley
    
    
11. What geometric theorem allows for the calculation of the square of a hypotenuse of a triangle, by combining the squares of the two other sides? It gets its name from an ancient Greek philosopher.
    
    Answer: Pythagorean Theorem
    
    
12. In algebra, what C-word means a number or constant placed in front of a variable to multiply that variable, such as the 4 in 4x + y?
    
    Answer: coefficient
    
    
13. On Earth, the recipe for them is water and light. If you were on another planet with a different atmosphere, what colorful post-precipitation meteorological phenomenon would you be less likely to see?
    
    Answer: Rainbow
    
    
14. Although the exact origin is unknown, this piece of technology and calculating tool used beans or stones moved in grooves of sand to perform calculations. Although computers have mostly replaced it, this tool is still in use for teaching arithmetic to children in many parts of the world. What is it?
    
    Answer: Abacus
    
    
15. "No" is the negative-sounding chemical symbol that represents an element that was first produced in the US in 1958. The element is named after a man who more famously lent his name to a series of prizes. With a single guess, name either the man or the element.
    
    Answer: Nobelium (Alfred Nobel)
    
    
16. Also part of cow farts, what simple hydrocarbon, chemical formula CH4, is the primary component of natural gas?
    
    Answer: Methane
    
    
17. In degrees, what is the sum of the interior angles of a regular pentagon?
    
    Answer: 540
    
    
18. In education, the acronym STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." When an A is added to form the acronym STEAM, what does the A stand for?
    
    Answer: arts
    
    
19. There are three basic trigonometric functions taught in high schools: sine, cosine, and what third function?
    
    Answer: Tangent
    
    
20. What 2016 film starred Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae as real-life NASA mathematicians from the 1960s?
    
    Answer: Hidden Figures
    
    
21. SQL is based on the relational form of which kind of math that starts with A?
    
    Answer: Algebra
    
    
22. The Mobius strip was the inspiration for a universal symbol first created in 1970 and composed of 3 arrows in a roughly triangular shape. This symbol stands for what action?
    
    Answer: Recycling
    
    
23. What is the ten-letter term for the longest side on a right triangle?
    
    Answer: Hypotenuse
    
    
24. Turtles, toads, and tarantulas are all ectothermic animals, which is typically referred to by what more common term?
    
    Answer: Cold blooded
    
    
25. What international NGO with over 30,000 employees was founded in 1971 in the aftermath of the Biafra secession (Nigerian Civil War), by a small group of doctors and journalists?
    
    Answer: Médecins Sans Frontières
    
    
26. In the insurance business, what is the name for a person whose job it is to analyze statistics to calculate risks and price premiums accordingly?
    
    Answer: Actuary
    
    
27. What branch of mathematics, often taught in high school gets its name from an Arabic word meaning “reunion of broken parts,”, and was coined in the book “The Science Of Restoring And Balancing” by the 1st century AD mathematician al-Kwarizmi?
    
    Answer: Algebra
    
    
28. What science word technically means the amount of matter? Near the surface of Earth it's basically equivalent with weight.
    
    Answer: Mass
    
    
29. The question stinks! I'll give you some chemical elements in order, and you add their chemical symbols together to spell the five-letter answer. Iron + Carbon + Aluminum = A type of matter
    
    Answer: Fecal
    
    
30. What scientific instrument measures air pressure in units known as 'atmospheres?'
    
    Answer: Barometer
    
    
31. You have a cube with has 7-inch sides. What is the surface area of the cube?
    
    Answer: 294 square inches
    
    
32. What “i” word describes a whole number that is not a fraction?
    
    Answer: Integer
    
    
33. What is the simplified improper fraction conversion of six and one third?
    
    Answer: 19/3
    
    
34. Theoretically, Hawking radiation is emitted by what terrifying space things that come in stellar and supermassive varieties?
    
    Answer: Black Holes
    
    
35. What zodiac constellation found in the northern celestial hemisphere has a name which means "twins" in Latin? It is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux from Greek mythology.
    
    Answer: Gemini
    
    
36. What innovative radio company developed the Music Genome Project to classify music by mirroring mathematical techniques for gene sequencing within human DNA?
    
    Answer: Pandora
    
    
37. The smallest Pythagorean triple comprises which three numbers?
    
    Answer: 3, 4 and 5
    
    
38. Former Kansas City Chief safety Tyrann Mathieu is also known by an animal nickname, the ______ Badger. Fill in the sweet one word blank, another name for a mammal known as the ratel.
    
    Answer: Honey Badger
    
    
39. Which is the only planet in our solar system whose rotation is almost at a right angle to its orbit (i.e., it spins on its side)? The largest moon of this planet is Titania.
    
    Answer: Uranus
    
    
40. Although the word is often used in popular culture to reference a specific film franchise, technically the definition of a certain math term is "a rectangular array or table of numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns." What is this term?
    
    Answer: Matrix
    
    
41. What test typically administered to high school juniors and seniors, resulting in less than one percent of test takers achieving a perfect score of 36, currently features four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science?
    
    Answer: ACT
    
    
42. What type of chemical bond is formed when two atoms each contribute one electron to a shared pair?
    
    Answer: Covalent bond
    
    
43. Since it was first announced in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, March 14 is the annual celebration of what 'tasty' mathematical constant?
    
    Answer: Pi
    
    
44. There was a boom in sales of frill-necked lizards as domesticated pets after the release of what 1993 film featuring a similar, very extinct critter?
    
    Answer: Jurassic Park
    
    
45. Often associated with horses but also used as an anesthetic on many types of animals, what drug is often nicknamed as "Special K"?
    
    Answer: Ketamin
    
    
46. On “The Mandalorian”, the titular bounty hunter is played by Pedro ______. Fill in the one word “P” blank, also the name of a 17th-century French mathematician, known for his namesake wager and triangle.
    
    Answer: Pedro Pascal
    
    
47. Amethyst and citrine are extra-pretty varieties of what common mineral that's great for Scrabble?
    
    Answer: Quartz
    
    
48. The "main-sequence" stage of what type of large, hot object comes from the balance of gravity and nuclear reactions? Fun fact: main-sequence stages can last millions or billions of years.
    
    Answer: Stars
    
    
49. Iodine and Europium are two of the three chemical elements whose names start with 2 vowels. First identified in the 1950s, the third element to fit that category is named after what science guy?
    
    Answer: Albert Einstein
    
    
50. Titan is one of the few moons in the solar system known to have an atmosphere of any substance. Around which second-largest planet does Titan revolve?
    
    Answer: Saturn
    
    
51. Which organ in the human body is the only one that can float in water (not that it would help if you’re drowning)?
    
    Answer: Lungs
    
    
52. In the 1500s, a Welsh mathematician named Robert Recorde invented which mathematical symbol to “avoid to avoid the tedious repetition of these words: "is equal to’?”
    
    Answer: Equal sign
    
    
53. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OCED) Programme for International Student ______ (PISA) is an educational test given to 15-year-old students to see if they have the skills in reading, math, and science that they’ll need to succeed.
    
    Answer: Assessment
    
    
54. -459.67 Fahrenheit degrees (or 0 Kelvin) equals what two-word term for when all particles completely stop moving?
    
    Answer: Absolute Zero
    
    
55. What innovative radio company developed the Music Genome Project to classify music by mirroring mathematical techniques for gene sequencing within human DNA?
    
    Answer: Pandora
    
    
56. What is the acronym for the correct sequence of steps to follow when using the order of operations for a math expression?
    
    Answer: PEMDAS
    
    
57. What innovative radio company developed the Music Genome Project to classify music by mirroring mathematical techniques for gene sequencing within human DNA? The company is named after the first human woman created by the gods in Greek mythology.
    
    Answer: Pandora
    
    
58. The most abundant sulfide mineral is pyrite. But this mineral's lustrous appearance is more commonly known by what two-word phrase?
    
    Answer: Fool's gold
    
    
59. Now displayed in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, 90 percent of the fossils from what massive theropod dinosaur was unearthed in South Dakota in 1990 and was nicknamed “Sue” after it was discovered by paleontologist Susan Hendrickson?
    
    Answer: Tyrannosaurus Rex
    
    
60. What is the two-word phrase for the set of ideas that suggest the universe is not made up of points, but rather tiny vibrating lengths? Note: cheese is not involved at all.
    
    Answer: String theory
    
    
61. The five categories in which Nobel Prizes are awarded are Peace, Chemistry, Literature, Physiology/Medicine, and what? Note that the Noble Memorial Prize in Economics does not count because it is technically a different reward.
    
    Answer: Physics
    
    
62. 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
    
    
63. In mathematical physics, Minkowski space is a four-dimensional space consisting of three-dimensional Euclidean space and which other quantity?
    
    Answer: Time
    
    
64. New Zealand famously has the highest density of sheep per unit area in the world. What was the name of the sheep who was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell?
    
    Answer: Dolly
    
    
65. Used to indicate a measurement of medicine, what does the abbreviation “cc” stand for?
    
    Answer: Cubic centimeter
    
    
66. Common in mathematics along with the toolbar in Microsoft Excel, what two letters are collectively used to represent the word "function?"
    
    Answer: Fx
    
    
67. Gustatory cells are primarily found on what sensory organ of the body?
    
    Answer: Tongue
    
    
68. In geometry, what S-adjective describes a triangle whose three sides all have different lengths?
    
    Answer: scalene
    
    
69. According to a popular theory, dinosaurs got wiped out by the Chicxulub crater impact in what back-half-of-the-alphabet Mexican peninsula?
    
    Answer: Yucatán
    
    
70. When Abe Lincoln famously quoted "Four score and seven years ago" he meant how many years in the past?
    
    Answer: 87
    
    
71. Though Thomas Edison primarily used carbon filaments, most incandescent light bulbs today are made with filaments of what element, whose atomic symbol is a W for its alternate name, "wolfram"?
    
    Answer: Tungsten
    
    
72. Which two organs are connected by the only veins that carry oxygenated blood in the body?
    
    Answer: Lungs and Heart
    
    
73. The 1988 film Stand and Deliver is based on the true story of educator Jaime Escalante's efforts to teach high school students what branch of mathematics, whose development has been attributed to both Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz?
    
    Answer: Calculus
    
    
74. What 18th-century Swiss mathematician, the founder of topology and graphology, is the namesake of the number “e”, roughly 2.71828, which is the base of the natural logarithm?
    
    Answer: Leonhard Euler
    
    
75. Mycologists often spend a lot of time digging through dirt as they study what type of natural organism?
    
    Answer: Fungi
    
    
76. What unit, equivalent to approximately 3.26 light years, has a name derived from a portmanteau of “parallax in one second?”
    
    Answer: Parsec
    
    
77. One novel way to retain thermal energy collected by a solar tower is through a mixture of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and calcium nitrate. This method is often referred to as "molten ______." What dinner table-sounding word fills in the blank?
    
    Answer: Salt
    
    
78. A planned NASA mission will be the first to land astronauts on the moon since the Apollo program, including the first woman. This program is named, appropriately enough, for what sister of Apollo?
    
    Answer: Artemis
    
    
79. Acceleration is the change in an object's velocity with respect to time. The change of an object's acceleration with respect to time is called what, a name it shares with some chicken dishes, and some inconsiderate people?
    
    Answer: Jerk
    
    
80. What mathematical function can be defined as multiplying a number with all integers less than or equal to that number?
    
    Answer: Factorial
    
    
81. A gigaannum is a term that represents a very long time. One billion years in fact. About 3.5 gigaannumms ago was when what critical process used to convert light energy into chemical energy is estimated to have begun?
    
    Answer: Photosynthesis
    
    
82. Which of the four standard bases in DNA typically pairs with thymine?
    
    Answer: Adenine
    
    
83. In trigonometry, the cosecant ratio is the reciprocal of what other ratio often associated with waves?
    
    Answer: Sine
    
    
84. "Liber Abaci," or "Book of the Abacus" introduced Euro audiences to the golden ratio-like sequence of what Italian math dude?
    
    Answer: Fibonacci
    
    
85. Linux uses all the letters of what operating system family that it was designed to imitate?
    
    Answer: Unix
    
    
86. It is likely that the first of these animals was the "Stellar" variety in which the male has a pronounced mane and is a fairly aggressive carnivore. This likely led to the misnomer for the creature. What is the name of these pinnipeds long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and a big chest and belly? They range from subarctic to tropical waters in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
    
    Answer: Sea lion
    
    
87. In degrees, what is the measure of the interior angle of one vertex of a regular dodecagon?
    
    Answer: 150 degrees
    
    
88. In DNA, the four nucleotide bases are adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine; in RNA, what base replaces thymine?
    
    Answer: Uracil
    
    
89. What is the type of number expressed as a pair of a real and an imaginary number? An example would be 3 + 6i where i = the square root of -1.
    
    Answer: Complex number
    
    
90. A box and ______ plot shows data in quartiles, with a vertical line splitting the box at the median. (Hint: The name makes it sound like something a math-savvy cat would use).
    
    Answer: Whisker
    
    
91. Which I-word applies to atoms of the same element that have the same atomic number but different mass numbers?
    
    Answer: Isotope
    
    
92. A teaspoon of what “N” type of star would weigh six billion tons? It is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star.
    
    Answer: Neutron Star
    
    
93. How many degrees is an interior angle of a regular octagon?
    
    Answer: 135
    
    
94. What number did Michael Jordan wear when he came back from his first retirement? Hint: it was nearly double his original, more famous, number.
    
    Answer: 45
    
    
95. Also known as mean-variance analysis, MPT is a mathematical framework for assembling a range of investments whereby the expected return is maximized for a certain level of risk. For what does “P” stand in the acronym MPT?
    
    Answer: Portfolio
    
    
96. A perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive divisors, apart from the number itself. What is the smallest perfect number?
    
    Answer: Six
    
    
97. In geometry, a curve known as a "lemniscate" most closely approximates the shape of what single-digit number?
    
    Answer: eight
    
    
98. Which actress starred in “Homeland” as CIA operative Carrie Mathison? (Hint: You might remember seeing her on your TV in the ‘90s when she starred in “My So-Called Life”)
    
    Answer: Claire Danes
    
    
99. For some reason, it wasn't until 2016 that Tim Berners-Lee won the Association for Computing Machinery's top "Nobel-level" award, named for what British mathematician and computer scientist?
    
    Answer: Alan Turing
    
    
100. First built by English mathematician Charles Babbage in 1822, what electronic object was named Time Magazine’s "Man of The Year” in 1982?
     
     Answer: The computer
     
     
101. A regular hexagon has a side length of 6 feet. What is the area of the hexagon? We'll accept responses within 2 square feet of the correct answer.
     
     Answer: 92
     
     
102. In a controversy that lasts to this day, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz both claim to have developed what mathematical discipline?
     
     Answer: Calculus
     
     
103. The direct conversion of sunlight into electricity started in 1954, via solar cells using silicon. These cells are alternatively referred to by what longer "P" name?
     
     Answer: Photovoltaic cells
     
     
104. What is the four-letter name for the jelly-like substance obtained from red algae that is often used as a solid growth medium in Petri dishes to culture microorganisms?
     
     Answer: Agar
     
     
105. The lightest of the noble gases, which element is the second most abundant in the universe? The most common use of this element is in cryogenics. SCRAPPING DUE TO A WORDING ERROR IN ORIGINAL VERSION
     
     Answer: Helium
     
     
106. A buckyball is a stable and spherical molecule made up of what element?
     
     Answer: Carbon
     
     
107. In logical argument and mathematical proof, a symbol consisting of three dots placed to form an upright triangle is used to represents which word?
     
     Answer: Therefore
     
     
108. In geometry, which C-term refers to two objects that are the same shape and size—in other words, you could superimpose one on the other and they’d line up exactly or be the mirror image of one another?
     
     Answer: Congruence
     
     
109. What is the smallest number greater than 1 that has an integer square root and an integer cube root?
     
     Answer: 64
     
     
110. The smallest known owl is only 5-6 inches tall and weighs less than two ounces. It has a name reminiscent of Middle Earth or Will Ferrell. What is this owl?
     
     Answer: Elf Owl
     
     
111. What innovative radio company developed the Music Genome Project to classify music by mirroring mathematical techniques for gene sequencing within human DNA?
     
     Answer: Pandora
     
     
112. Named for a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the Ohio Wesleyan University, what structure in Delaware, OH was completed in 1931 and included the 3rd largest mirror in the world?
     
     Answer: Perkins Observatory
     
     
113. Although not legally married to former Prime Minister Gillard, what man is often considered the first male spouse of an Australian Prime Minister?
     
     Answer: Timothy "Tim" Mathieson
     
     
114. What is the next number in this sequence of triangular numbers: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, ______?
     
     Answer: 45
     
     
115. Engineer Gilbert Levin insisted that a Viking Lander discovered life on what planet in 1976?
     
     Answer: Mars
     
     
116. What 16th-century Italian physician and botanist with a “G” last name created the first recorded herbarium in the world, as well as the first botanical garden in Europe?
     
     Answer: Luca Ghini
     
     
117. What 19th and 20th century Italian mathematician was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory? This man with a “P” name developed a systematic approach to mathematical induction while teaching at the University of Turin.
     
     Answer: Giuseppe Peano
     
     
118. "Mathman," a parody of the arcade game of Pac-Man, was a recurring segment on what educational TV show produced by the Children's Television Workshop?
     
     Answer: Square One
     
     
119. In "The Martian," a stranded Mark Watney communicates with NASA using what base 16 numeral system?
     
     Answer: Hexadecimal
     
     
120. In a standard subtraction math problem, the difference is the solution you will receive after subtracting the subtrahend from what “M” word?
     
     Answer: Minuend
     
     
121. What unique unit of measurement is equal to 1/100th of a second and is also the partial name of a famous snack brand invented in 1958 by chemist Frederick C. Mennen that is “as much fun to make as it is to eat”?
     
     Answer: Jiffy
     
     
122. What collective name is given the gemstones sapphire, ruby, emerald, amethyst and diamond, traditionally considered the most precious? In mathematics, this name is used for numbers that denote a quantity, in contrast to ordinal numbers.
     
     Answer: Cardinal
     
     
123. What 1st century Greek mathematician and engineer, from the city of Alexandria, showed that a path of light is shortest when reflected by a plane mirror, in his book “Catoptrica?” His name implies that he was a real savior to his people.
     
     Answer: Hero Of Alexandria
     
     
124. Which conjecture states that every even whole number greater than two is the sum of two prime numbers?
     
     Answer: Goldbach's conjecture
     
     
125. A bag holds ten balls: five blue balls, three red balls and two yellow balls. What is the probability of a blue ball, followed by a red ball, followed by a yellow ball being randomly selected from the bag? Each selected ball is not replaced in the bag. Express your answer as a fraction is its lowest terms.
     
     Answer: 44950
     
     
126. What American comic book author of the 2000’s and 2010’s has written for “Invincible Iron Man” as well as a popular run on “Hawkeye” that introduced the protege character Kate Bishop? His pen last name is the same as a mathematical function, a part of the whole.
     
     Answer: Matt Fraction
     
     
127. What mathematical term refers to hard deposits of mineralized material that adhere to a tooth’s crowns or roots? The type of math had its rules defined by Leibniz.
     
     Answer: Calculus
     
     
128. What 1997 drama film centers around the aftermath of a devastating school bus accident in a small town in British Columbia, and stars Ian Holm as a lawyer who pursues a class-action lawsuit on the victims' behalf?
     
     Answer: The Sweet Hereafter
     
     
129. What “B” term refers to a line that divides an angle into two equal angles?
     
     Answer: Bisector
     
     
130. Tabletop role playing games often require a set of dice with different numbers of sides. How many sides are on the die mathematicians would identify as a "dodecahedron?"
     
     Answer: Twelve
     
     
131. Despite catastrophic flooding to Houston from Hurricane Harvey, the Astros won the 2017 World Series. Inspired by their city's resilience in the aftermath of the devastation, the team wore a special patch during their games that had their team logo with what single six-letter word underneath?
     
     Answer: Strong
     
     
132. Pressing Alt-M in Microsoft Excel will take you to which tab in the Ribbon where you’ll find “Date and Time,” “Math and Trig,” and “Auto Sum?”
     
     Answer: Formulas
     
     
133. If you want to round down toward zero to the nearest number of significance you’ve specified in Excel, which math function can you use? (Hint: It sounds like something under your feet)
     
     Answer: Floor
     
     
134. A mathematics professorship endowed by English clergyman Henry Lucas has been held by Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, and Stephen Hawking at what university?
     
     Answer: Cambridge University
     
     
135. A British scientist gave his name to what familiar four-by-four square, used to illustrate the probability that the offspring of two individuals will have a given genotype?
     
     Answer: Punnett Square
     
     
136. In Excel, using the math MOD function returns which value in division?
     
     Answer: Remainder
     
     
137. Which education theory developed by Howard Gardner states that “we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves?”
     
     Answer: Multiple Intelligences
     
     
138. What do you call the longest side of a right triangle (that is, the side that’s opposite the right angle)?
     
     Answer: Hypotenuse
     
     
139. The "Institute of Technology" in what U.S. state was the first college to offer a Bachelor of Science program in Renewable Energy Engineering? The campus of this school is in the city of Klamath Falls and there are additional campuses in Wilsonville and Salem.
     
     Answer: Oregon
     
     
140. What prestigious medical journal founded in 1823, gets its name from a type of window as well as another term for a scalpel?
     
     Answer: The Lancet
     
     
141. What 20th century American mathematician made fundamental contributions to game theory and partial differential equations, all while overcoming his personal issues with schizophrenia? He story was famously told in the 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind.”
     
     Answer: John Nash
     
     
142. The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions created by human activity is better known by what two-word term which originated from a concept conceived by environmentalists William E. Rees and Dr. Mathis Wackernagel during the 1990s?
     
     Answer: Carbon footprint
     
     
143. Prior to Hayley Arceneaux’s 2021 flight on SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission, who was the youngest American astronaut to fly into space at 32 years old – who also became the first American woman to fly into space in 1983?
     
     Answer: Sally Ride
     
     
144. If you dip a paper towel in water, the water will climb up the towel, appearing to ignore gravity. This is an example of ______ action. The same action is what helps plants pull water up their roots. What C-word fills in the blank?
     
     Answer: Capillary
     
     
145. How many children are there in the Von Trapp family in "The Sound of Music?"
     
     Answer: Seven
     
     
146. What colorful word is used to describe a special ratio (approximately equal to 1.618) that appears frequently in architecture, nature, and geometry? The number was the subject of Mario Livio's book, subtitled "The World's Most Astonishing Number."
     
     Answer: Golden
     
     
147. USGS is a bureau within the US Department of the Interior with the motto "science for a changing world." What do the initials of this organization stand for? The group is headquartered in Reston, Virginia and is a fact-finding organization with no regulatory responsibility.
     
     Answer: United States Geological Survey
     
     
148. Also called a tetrakaidecagon, a tetradecagon is a polygon with how many sides?
     
     Answer: 14
     
     
149. As its name implies, a computer’s arithmetic ______ unit (ALU) is part of the CPU and performs various math functions—sort of like the CPU’s calculator.
     
     Answer: Logic
     
     
150. Mathematician Leonard Euler solved a famous problem named for seven of what kind of structures in the city of Konigsberg?
     
     Answer: Bridges
     
     
151. In a feat of inter-species biotechnology, researchers at the University of Wyoming were able to insert the silk-producing gene from spiders into what mammal which enabled them to harvest long strands of spider milk from the animal's milk?
     
     Answer: Goats
     
     
152. The first 3-digit number in the Fibonacci sequence is also the largest square number to appear in the sequence - what is it?
     
     Answer: 144
     
     
153. What is the "R" name for DNA created by combining fragments from different sources? These are occasionally referred to as "chimeric" DNA and are considered a key feature in much of DNA biotechnology applications.
     
     Answer: Recombinant DNA
     
     
154. There are three basic shapes of bacteria: round, called "coccus," spiral, called "spirilla," and cylindrical, whose technical name is what B-word?
     
     Answer: Bacillus
     
     
155. What is the sum of the only number that is spelled with its letters in alphabetical order and the only number that is spelled with its letters in reverse alphabetical order?
     
     Answer: 41
     
     
156. Commonly found on live oaks and bald-cypresses, what is the name of the flowering plant with a doubly-inaccurate name that is referred to as "grandpas beard" in French Polynesia and is generally considered to be in a commensalistic relationship with the trees on which it lives?
     
     Answer: Spanish moss
     
     
157. Symbolized as “PW," 1000 terawatts is equivalent to one of what unit of measurement commonly used to measure the potency of solar electricity?
     
     Answer: Petawatt
     
     
158. Mary Golda Ross was a NASA mathematician and engineer who, in 1958, stumped some of the panelists on what game show?
     
     Answer: What's My Line?
     
     
159. What math-y word is considered a foundational working tool in calculus and can be geometrically interpreted as the slope of the curve of a mathematical function?
     
     Answer: Derivative
     
     
160. What "flawless" two-word phrase means a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive divisors (excluding the number itself), such as 6, 28, or 496?
     
     Answer: perfect number
     
     
161. What is the most common name for the geometric term which is the part of a straight line that originates at one point on the line and extends in one direction indefinitely from that point?
     
     Answer: Ray
     
     
162. In math, how many radians make up a complete revolution of a circle?
     
     Answer: 2p radians
     
     
163. What holistic therapy involving scents can be used to induce relaxation and help with sleep?
     
     Answer: Aromatherapy
     
     
164. The four conic sections are the nondegenerate curves generated by the intersections of a plane with one or two nappes of a cone. A hyperbola is a conic section. An ellipse is a conic section. And some consider a circle a conic section. What conic section is missing from this list?
     
     Answer: Parabola
     
     
165. The James Webb Space Telescope, launched by NASA in 2022, observes deep space objects using what form of electromagnetic radiation, which has wavelengths longer than those of visible light?
     
     Answer: Infrared
     
     
166. Group 17 on the periodic table of elements, which includes fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine, are also commonly referred to by what term, which comes from Greek roots meaning "salt-producing?"
     
     Answer: Halogens
     
     
167. What is the (quite fun to say or spell) name for an infection disease caused by an agent that has jumped from a non-human animal to a human?
     
     Answer: Zoonosis
     
     
168. Which type of elementary particle that carries a fractional electronic charge shares its name with a dairy product made by warming sour milk?
     
     Answer: Quark
     
     
169. At only one-half of one millimeter long, tardigrades are considered a microanimal found in marine environments that also happen to be one of the most resilient animals known. What is the more common two-word name for these animals based on their resemblance to a certain land-bound animal?
     
     Answer: Water bear (or moss piglet)
     
     
170. Silver iodide is a favorite "seeding agent" that is used in meteorological professions largely because it has a crystalline structure very similar to a natural ice crystal. What are the everyday objects that silver iodide is used to "seed"?
     
     Answer: Clouds
     
     
171. The date of the first Sunday of 2017 was January 1st. What was the date of the first Sunday of 2016?
     
     Answer: January 3rd
     
     
172. According to a famous theorem, one of the first to be proven by computation, no more than how many colors are needed to color the regions of any map so that no two adjacent regions share the same color?
     
     Answer: Four
     
     
173. In what year did the Manhattan project start? We'll accept responses within one year of the correct answer. As a reminder, this is the project that led to the development of the atomic bomb.
     
     Answer: 1939 (1938 - 40 accepted)
     
     
174. In geometry, what "distorted" term describes two lines that are not parallel, yet do not intersect with each other?
     
     Answer: skew
     
     
175. What “P” math term describes expressions consisting of interdeterminates and coefficients, involving only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and exponentiation?
     
     Answer: Polynomial
     
     
176. Rotational symmetry is the property in which a shape looks the same after a partial rotation or turn. When applied to biology such as in sea anemones, what other "R" term is used to describe this characteristic?
     
     Answer: Radial symmetry
     
     
177. Take the number of rocky planets in our solar system plus the number of teaspoons in a tablespoon. What's the sum?
     
     Answer: Seven
     
     
178. Earth is the densest planet in the solar system. Which of the giant planets of the solar system is its least dense planet?
     
     Answer: Saturn
     
     
179. Because it is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava, it's often known as magmatic rock. But it has a more common name as well. What is it?
     
     Answer: igneous rock
     
     
180. A Type II error in statistics is a failure to reject a false null hypothesis in a test procedure. What is the two-word phrase by which type II error's are more popularly known in day-to-day vernacular?
     
     Answer: False negative
     
     
181. Two consecutive elements on the periodic table have the same atomic number as the number of letters in their English names. What are they? We need the names of both.
     
     Answer: Boron (5) and Carbon (6)
     
     
182. Mount Eddy is the highest point in which mountains system in north-western California and south-western Oregon whose name derives from the Chinook word “tlamatl,” meaning a people native to this area?
     
     Answer: Klamath
     
     
183. Microbiology has many branches including virology (studies viruses), parasitology (studies parasites), and nematology (you guessed it -- studies nematodes). What is the more common compound-word name for a nematode?
     
     Answer: Roundworm
     
     
184. Also NPR's Puzzlemaster since 1987, who has served as crossword editor of the New York Times since 1993?
     
     Answer: Will Shortz
     
     
185. First coined and explained by 19th-century mathematician William Forster Lloyd, what is the "tragic" term in economics which describes a situation where individual users act independently according to self-interest and ultimately deplete a resource through uncoordinated action?
     
     Answer: Tragedy of the Commons
     
     
186. What biome is also known as the boreal forest or snow forest? The biome is identifiable through its coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. Although sparsely populated compared to other biomes, it is the world's largest apart from the oceans. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska.
     
     Answer: Taiga
     
     
187. What is the "T" name given to fossils that consist not of animal body parts but rather their footprints, nests, poop, and other associated objects?
     
     Answer: Trace fossils
     
     
188. The first Sunday of 2017 was January 1st. What was the date of the first Sunday of 2016?
     
     Answer: January 3rd
     
     
189. Often used in the mortgage industry, what is the 16-letter term that refers to the likely ability of a borrower to repay debt?
     
     Answer: Crediworthiness
     
     
190. What was the name of the franchise of educational video games from the 1990s that featured a green protagonist and titles such as "Episode I: In Search of Spot" and "Episode II: Secret of the Lost City"?
     
     Answer: Math Blaster!
     
     
191. Beginning nearly 12,000 years ago (after the last glacial period), what is the name of the current geological epoch? It's also the name of a song on Bon Iver's self-titled 2011 album.
     
     Answer: Holocene
     
     
192. Talc is a one and Diamond is a ten on what qualitative scale that uses “scratching” to discern differences between minerals?
     
     Answer: Mohs Scale of Hardness
     
     
193. German mathematician Felix Klein was the first to describe the object seen here, a "non-orientable" surface that, despite appearances, has only one side. This object is usually referred to as a Klein ____, where the blank is filled with what kind of common household object?
     
     Answer: Bottle
     
     
194. What is the name of Walmart's private label pharmacy, healthy, and beauty brand? The six-letter word is also often found in a math classroom.
     
     Answer: Equate
     
     
195. William Elwood Byerly was the first-ever Graduate student to graduate from Harvard. In 1873, he was awarded a PhD in what core academic subject?
     
     Answer: Math
     
     
196. In chemistry, what 10-letter A-word means the adhesion of atoms or molecules from a gas or liquid to a surface, creating a thin film on the surface?
     
     Answer: Adsorption
     
     
197. Which element (number 100 on the periodic table) is the only one named after an Italian?
     
     Answer: Fermium
     
     
198. Although at least 500 naturally-occurring amino acids are known, a much smaller subset are considered the "essential" amino acids. How many of these necessary compounds exist?
     
     Answer: Nine
     
     
199. Written around 300 BC, "The Elements" is a famous treatise on geometry by what legendary ancient Greek mathematician?
     
     Answer: Euclid
     
     
200. What English man was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, and is largely considered the originator of the concept of a digital programmable computer? Hint: his name rhymes with a common vegetable
     
     Answer: Charles Babbage
     
     
201. Stat 101: what is the term in statistics for the number of standard deviations by which the value of a raw score is above or below the mean value of the measured data? These can be positive or negative and are often used as a step in determining statistical significance.
     
     Answer: Z-score
     
     
202. Harvard alumni have won the most of what mathematical prize, awarded to mathematicians under 40 every four years at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union?
     
     Answer: Fields Medal
     
     
203. Who is the only woman in history to win an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine? She received the award in 1983 for the discovery of mobile genetic elements.
     
     Answer: Barbara McClintock
     
     
204. In chemistry, what E-word means two molecules whose atomic arrangements are mirror images of each other, and that cannot be superimposed on each other just by turning them in space?
     
     Answer: Enantiomers
     
     
205. One of the most common and least-costly practical applications of solar power is through a solar cooker. In particular, the p______ solar cookers which concentrate sunlight to a single point and require no fuel or operating costs. What geometric word fills in the blank in the preceding sentence?
     
     Answer: Parabolic
     
     
206. An ancient algorithm for finding prime numbers is known as the _____ of Eratosthenes, where the blank is filled with what kind of tool you might find in your kitchen?
     
     Answer: Sieve
     
     
207. Trepanging is the harvesting of what elongated, leathery Pacific creature you probably don't want in your gyro?
     
     Answer: Sea cucumber
     
     
208. What “A” science refers to the scientific approach to crop production?
     
     Answer: Agronomy
     
     
209. On July 5, the Earth will be the farthest from the Sun that it will be for all of 2022—that’s 94,510,886 miles, to be exact. What astronomy term is used to describe this phenomenon?
     
     Answer: Aphelion
     
     
210. The "Era of Good Feelings" is a period in the political history of the U.S. typically considered as having a unified sense of national purpose and a desire for unity. This "Era" was in the aftermath of what war?
     
     Answer: The War of 1812
     
     
211. What French mathematician and child prodigy exchanged a series of influential letters with Pierre de Fermat on probability theory which strongly influenced the development of modern economics and social science?
     
     Answer: Blaise Pascal
     
     
212. The 'Q Guide,' Havard's student feedback site, lists what class as the hardest freshman math class available, with around 480 hours of homework per semester? We're looking for a word and a number.
     
     Answer: Math 55
     
     
213. In what decade did scientists observe seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges and start accepting the earlier proposed theory that Earth’s lithosphere is separated into tectonic plates?
     
     Answer: 1960s
     
     
214. If you just drooled after smelling cold cream, your saliva was activated by what part of your brainstem with what P-word name from the Latin for "bridge"?
     
     Answer: Pons
     
     
215. Based out of Salem, the Wheatland Ferry has been taking people across the Willamette River since the 1850s. Each ferry is named after the man who founded it. What was his name?
     
     Answer: Daniel Matheny
     
     
216. The Italian method, the Chinese method, gelosia multiplication, and shabakh are all alternate names for what popular method of multiplication to multiply multiple multiple-digit numbers?
     
     Answer: Lattice multiplication
     
     
217. Which synthetic chemical element with the symbol Sg was the first chemical element to be named after a person alive at the time?
     
     Answer: Seaborgium
     
     
218. What kind of "motion," the random movement of particles in a liquid or gas, is named for a Scottish botanist?
     
     Answer: Brownian Motion
     
     
219. The Sieve of Erastothenes is an ancient algorithm used to find what?
     
     Answer: Prime Numbers
     
     
220. Because they are 1 less than a power of 2, the numbers 31, 8191, and 2305843009213693951 are all what specific kind of prime numbers, which are named for a French friar?
     
     Answer: Mersenne Primes
     
     
221. What “P” organic compound is represented by the chemical formula “C 5H 5N”? It is highly flammable, so it makes sense that it’s prefix is from the Greek for “fire.”
     
     Answer: Pyridine
     
     
222. What Boston burial ground features the bodies of its hill's namesake along with Increase Mather and Cotton Mather?
     
     Answer: Copps Hill
     
     
223. In linear algebra, what “i” is a square matrix consisting of zeros apart from on the main diagonal on which there are ones?
     
     Answer: Identity
     
     
224. What "effect"--by which a rotating object experiences a force perpendicular to the direction of motion--is the reason toilets flush clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere?
     
     Answer: Coriolis Effect
     
     
225. What “A” bacterium uses horizontal gene transfer to cause plant tumors? Its name is reminiscent of a prefix used to refer to plant production.
     
     Answer: Agrobacterium
     
     
226. Formed of leaflike parts called sepals, what five-letter word means the bottom part of a flower, which provides support for the petals?
     
     Answer: Calyx
     
     
227. The solstice is defined as the start of summer because it is the date when the Earth gets the most exposure to the Sun’s rays. What “i” term is a technical measurement of this exposure?
     
     Answer: Insolation
     
     

Math Trivia Quizzes (Frequently Asked Questions)

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