QUIZ 
Monster Minds
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LEGENDS  |  TOPICS
Can you answer these questions about twentieth century physicists all of whom are connected with the study of elementary particles? This quiz is quite hard - many have attempted it but so far only three people have completed it.
 E-mail your answers to

Ag@egglescliffe.org.uk
.
with your address and we'll send you a numbered certificate if they are all completely correct!


Winners so far:
First (Jun. 2000)     Sarah Crookes    Student      Glasgow University
Second (Apr. 2001)     Mona Evans     Science Teacher    London
Third (Nov. 2001)   Zeljka Djelevic     Engineer    Belgrade, Yugoslavia


1) Who is the twentieth century physicist in the picture? What did he postulate in 1930 that was not verified until 1956 ?

2) Starting in 1925 he developed a theory of quantum mechanics, called matrix mechanics, in which the mathematical formulation is based on the frequencies and amplitudes of the radiations absorbed and emitted by the atom. Who was he and what is his nationality ?

3) In papers between 1913 and 1915,his work drew on Rutherford's nuclear model of the atom, in which the atom is seen as a compact nucleus surrounded by a swarm of much lighter electrons. Who is this a picture of and what nationality was he ?


4) Arguably the most towering intellect of the twentieth century, who is this a picture of ? What was his now ubiquitous contribution to particle physics ?


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5) United States physicist, noted for his classification of subatomic particles and his proposal of the existence of quarks. Who is he ? Who else hypothesised quarks but called them 'Aces'?

6) At the University of Rome he developed a new kind of statistics for explaining the behavior of electrons. He also developed a theory of beta decay and, from 1934 on, investigated the production of artificial radioactivity by bombarding elements with neutrons. For the latter work he was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics.What is his full name ?

7) Which three physicists shared the Nobel prize in physics in 1979 for their work on a successful model unifying the theories of electromagnetic and weak interactions.One of them wrote a popular book entitled 'The First Three Minutes'.

8) American nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate, noted for his work in quantummechanics. He was born in Shanghai and educated at the Chekiang and National Southwest Associated universities in China and at the University of Chicago. With his associate Chen Ning Yang, he proved experimentally that the law of conservation of parity did not hold true for weak nuclear reactions.

9) What is the nationality of the physicist in the photograph? Who is he and what very famous equation bears his name ?


10) Who produced the first relativistically correct modification of 9's equation ? What was his fullname ? What new particles did his equation predict ?

11) In 1900 he postulated that energy is radiated in small, discrete units, which he called quanta. Developing his quantum theory further, he discovered a universal constant of nature.His picture is below.

12) In particle physics, an energy field or fields in what would otherwise be considered a perfect vacuum are the theoretical construct of a British physicist, ( who ?), who developed them to help account for the particles known as massive gauge bosons without breaking the symmetry laws of modern physics. The concept has been used in an attempt to develop a unified field theory incorporating all the fundamental interactions of matter.

13) With his associate Tsung Dao Lee, he proved that one of the basic quantum mechanics laws, the conservation of parity, is violated in the so-called weak nuclear reactions, those nuclear processes that result in the emission of beta or alpha particles

14) Author of the first 'Bible' of quantum mechanics and inspiration for much of Richard Feynman's work , who is pictured below ? With what property of elementary particles was his work concerned ?


15) Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate, known for his contributions to the understanding of the interactions of elementary particles, he was born in Jhang Maghiana, India (now in Pakistan), attended the Government College at Lahore, and received a doctorate in mathematics and physics from the University of Cambridge in 1952.There is a picture of him in 'The First Three Minutes'.


16) He produced a revolutionary hypothesis concerning the nature of light ;he not only proposed that under certain circumstances light can be considered as consisting of particles, but he also hypothesized that the energy carried by any light particle, called a photon, is proportional to the frequency of the radiation.In which year was this paper published ? When did he die ?

17) British physicist and Nobel laureate, who is best known for his discovery in 1932 of one of the fundamental particles of matter, the neutron, a discovery that led directly to nuclear fission and the atomic bomb.


18) Of whom is this a picture ?
Which other question concerns this physicist ?

19) He was one of the first and most important researchers in nuclear physics. Soon after the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by the French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel, he identified the three main components of radiation and named them alpha, beta, and gamma rays.

20) Her study of radioactive elements contributed to the understanding of atoms on which modern nuclear physics is based. She died in 1934.

 E-mail your answers to

Ag@egglescliffe.org.uk
.
with your postal address and we'll send you a numbered certificate if they are all correct!


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