View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Leibniz–Newton calculus controversy was an argument between Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over what?
(a) Who had first invented geometry.
(b) Who had first invented algebra.
(c) Who had first invented calculus.
(d) Who had first invented quantum mechanics.

2. According to the author in Chapter 6, “Infinity's Twin,” “i” appears whenever one takes the square root of what?
(a) A negative number.
(b) A fraction.
(c) Zero.
(d) Infinity.

3. What kind of stars did the Hubble space telescope use to measure the size of the universe?
(a) Cepheid stars.
(b) Hypergiant stars.
(c) RR Lyrae stars.
(d) White dwarfs.

4. What term refers to a physical constant that is the quantum of action in quantum mechanics?
(a) M-Theory.
(b) The Planck constant.
(c) The Golden Ratio.
(d) The Pythagorean theorem.

5. What term refers to a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers?
(a) Number theory.
(b) Geometry.
(c) Algebra.
(d) Classical physics.

6. In physics or chemistry, what term refers to particles that are smaller than an atom?
(a) Derivative particles.
(b) Static particles.
(c) Subatomic particles.
(d) Bionic particles.

7. What term in theoretical physics refers to an extension of string theory in which 11 dimensions of spacetime are identified?
(a) Space theory.
(b) M-theory.
(c) Big Bang theory.
(d) Planck theory.

8. The author notes in Chapter 6, “Infinity's Twin” that multiplying zero or infinity by itself equals what?
(a) Its negative.
(b) One.
(c) Its inverse.
(d) Itself.

9. What refers to an optical telescope that uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image?
(a) A chromatic telescope.
(b) A reflecting telescope.
(c) A refracting telescope.
(d) An Alhazen’s telescope.

10. In Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero,” the author states that the Hubble telescope saw that most galaxies were flying away from one another by using red-shifting and blue-shifting effects, the cosmological equivalent of what?
(a) The radon effect.
(b) The Heisenberg effect.
(c) The Doppler effect.
(d) The differential effect.

11. Bishop Berkeley was a philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called what?
(a) “The Golden Ratio.”
(b) “String theory.”
(c) “Calculus.”
(d) "Immaterialism."

12. The author suggests in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero” that zero might spawn universes through a froth of what?
(a) Quantum foam.
(b) Quantum memory.
(c) Quantum gravity.
(d) Quantum disparity.

13. What mathematical term refers to a function giving an exact pairing of the elements of two sets?
(a) Derivation.
(b) Infinity.
(c) Bijection.
(d) Injection.

14. What term refers to a region of spacetime from which gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping?
(a) Limit.
(b) Derivative.
(c) Black hole.
(d) Omicron.

15. What mathematical term refers to a function that preserves distinctness by never mapping distinct elements of its domain to the same element of its codomain?
(a) Bijective function.
(b) Injective function.
(c) Derivative function.
(d) Differential equation.

Short Answer Questions

1. Calculus allowed Newton to combine the known natural laws of physics into one grand set of laws that could be expressed as what?

2. In particle physics, what refers to a proposed symmetry of nature relating two basic classes of elementary particles: bosons and fermions?

3. Approximately when did Johannes Kepler live?

4. What principle states that no two electrons can occupy the same quantum state?

5. What term in geometry refers to a straight line that just touches a plane curve at a given point?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 542 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample