Chemistry: The Science of Matter and Change!

#79 Week 17

Author

Sigrun Sørumgård
April 21, 2025

How well do you know atoms, reactions, and the building blocks of everything?

  1. What is the process called when a substance changes from a liquid to a gas?

  2. Which gas emission contributes most to the greenhouse effect?

  3. What is the process called when plants make sugar using sunlight?

  4. What is a water molecule made of?

  5. What is the chemical formula for table salt?

  6. What is an isotope?

  7. What is the chemical formula for ammonia?

  8. What is the chemical formula for ethanol (alcohol)?

  9. What is the atomic nucleus made of?

  10. What is the pH value of pure water?

The Wonder Wall

  • The story goes like this: About two thousand years ago, a cook was busy preparing a meal. She accidentally mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate, three ingredients that were common in the kitchen. Potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter, has long been used as a preservative. When these three ingredients were heated, they exploded. The mixture was more or less what we know today as gunpowder. The cook then poured the mixture into a bamboo tube, which caused the pressure from the gases to build up, and the explosion became even bigger. So the next time you see fireworks, give a thought to a Chinese chef who (at least according to myth) is said to have stumbled upon the recipe sometime around the year zero!

  • Like everything else in the world, your body is made of elements. Hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus make up the majority, while potassium, chlorine, magnesium, sulfur, and sodium make up less than one percent.

  • From all the carbon in your body, it is possible to make almost 10,000 pencils!

Friday´s Questions & Answers

  1. In which small seaside town in Devon, England, was Agatha Christie born on September 15, 1890?

    Torquay

  2. What job did she do during World War I, which gave her knowledge of poisons?

    Nurse and pharmacy technician.

  3. What was the title of Agatha Christie's first published novel?

    The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)

  4. In 1926, Christie's first marriage, to Archibald Christie, ended after he left her for another woman. What infamous real-life mystery occurred shortly after?

    Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days due to an apparent nervous breakdown or publicity stunt, depending on who you ask.

  5. Christie's famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot had a very good friend and chronicler in several books? What was his name?

    Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings

  6. Christie had many notable, best-selling novels to her name. Which mystery is her most profitable work?

    Although it doesn't feature one of Christie's iconic detectives, And So There Was None is her best-selling work. It has been adapted and translated into 50 languages, a play, films, TV series, and even a video game.

  7. What was her pen name when she wrote romance novels?

    Mary Westmacott

  8. What is the name of the detective couple who appear in several books as husband and wife and partners?

    Tommy and Tuppence Beresford

  9. Which Agatha Christie play is the world's longest-running play?

    The Mousetrap

  10. What hobby does Miss Marple often pursue that also symbolizes her way of thinking?

    Knitting