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Physics in Everyday Life

Cold doorknobs, blue skies and floating ice cubes all run on rules you use without noticing. Twenty questions on the physics hiding in your day.

🔬 Science medium 20 questions ~7 min

What this quiz asks

Why does a metal handrail feel colder than a wooden one in the same room?
A spinning skater pulls her arms in and speeds up. Which principle explains it?
Dropped together in a vacuum, a hammer and a feather hit the ground at the same moment.
Why does the daytime sky look blue?
You see lightning before you hear thunder because...
Why does ice float in a glass of water?
Select ALL of these that are units of energy.
A microwave oven heats food mainly by making the water molecules in it flip back and forth.
Why does a straw look bent where it enters a glass of water?
Why do you feel thrown outwards when a car turns sharply?
Sound travels faster through water than through air.
A vacuum flask works mainly because the gap between its walls blocks conduction and convection.
Select ALL of these everyday devices that rely on an electromagnet.
Select ALL of these quantities that have a direction as well as a size.
Why does a pressure cooker cook food faster?
Why does a siren sound lower once the ambulance has passed you?
Do your ears pop on a plane because the pressure inside them is balancing against the cabin pressure?
What makes walking on ice so difficult?
Leaving a fan running in an empty room lowers the room's air temperature.
What splits sunlight into the colours of a rainbow?