Q 01/05

Ammonia takes its name from which ancient god, near whose desert temple a namesake salt was once gathered?

A) Amun

B) Osiris

C) Anubis

D) Horus

Answer · why

A) Amun

Amun was Ammon to the Greeks, and the Roman writer Pliny described a salt named for a nearby temple of his in North Africa; the name later passed to t...

Q 02/05

The pale upper clouds of which planet are made of frozen ammonia crystals floating above deeper layers?

A) Venus

B) Mars

C) Jupiter

D) Mercury

Answer · why

C) Jupiter

Jupiter's bright zones owe their lighter colour to the frozen ammonia, while nobody is yet sure what stains the darker belts that run between them.

Q 03/05

Ancient Roman launderers cleaned cloth by treading it in tubs of which stale, ammonia-rich liquid?

A) Vinegar

B) Urine

C) Seawater

D) Sour milk

Answer · why

B) Urine

Urine mattered so much to Rome's cloth trade that it was taxed, because once it goes stale it becomes a cleansing source of ammonium salts.

Q 04/05

Safety labels warn never to mix ammonia with which common household cleaner, because the pair release toxic fumes?

A) Starch

B) Borax

C) Dish soap

D) Bleach

Answer · why

D) Bleach

Bleach contains hypochlorite, which reacts with ammonia to form irritating chloramine gases and can go on to make an explosive compound, nitrogen tric...

Q 05/05

Which ammonia-releasing remedy, once used to revive fainting Victorians, do athletes now reach for before competing?

A) Smelling salts

B) Epsom salts

C) Rehydration salts

D) Bath salts

Answer · why

A) Smelling salts

Smelling salts give off ammonia gas that triggers a sharp reflex breath, and most boxing competitions now ban them for fear of masking a serious injur...