Q 01/05

Glucose was first isolated in 1747 by German chemist Andreas Marggraf from which dried fruit?

A) Apricots

B) Raisins

C) Prunes

D) Dates

Answer · why

B) Raisins

Raisins were Marggraf's source, and in the same year he announced finding sugar in beets, the discovery that launched Europe's sugar industry.

Q 02/05

Which North American amphibian survives being frozen in winter by flooding its cells with glucose?

A) American toad

B) Tiger salamander

C) American bullfrog

D) Wood frog

Answer · why

D) Wood frog

Wood frog hearts stop and breathing ceases while the animal is frozen, with the glucose limiting how much ice forms until the spring thaw.

Q 03/05

Which human organ makes up about 2% of body weight but uses roughly a quarter of the body's glucose?

A) Brain

B) Heart

C) Lungs

D) Spleen

Answer · why

A) Brain

Brain tissue gets almost all its energy from glucose yet stores very little, so it depends on a constant supply from the blood.

Q 04/05

Which pantry food slowly turns grainy and solid in the jar because its glucose separates out as crystals?

A) Treacle

B) Custard

C) Honey

D) Molasses

Answer · why

C) Honey

Honey holds more sugar than its water can keep dissolved, so the glucose drops out as solid granules; gentle warming makes it runny again.

Q 05/05

Early Indian physicians recognized diabetes after noticing that patients' sugary urine attracted which insects?

A) Bees

B) Ants

C) Moths

D) Wasps

Answer · why

B) Ants

Ants drawn to the urine were the telltale sign; in the 1670s the English physician Thomas Willis described the same symptom by its sugary taste.