Q 01/05

Which SI unit is named after Michael Faraday?

A) The tesla (magnetic flux density)

B) The farad (capacitance)

C) The henry (inductance)

D) The weber (magnetic flux)

Answer · why

B) The farad (capacitance)

The one-farad capacitor is enormous by everyday standards; most electronics use microfarads and picofarads.

Q 02/05

Faraday's central discovery, made in 1831, was the principle underlying what?

A) Superconductivity

B) The photoelectric effect

C) Radioactivity

D) Electromagnetic induction

Answer · why

D) Electromagnetic induction

It is the reason a moving magnet near a wire produces current, and the basis of every generator and transformer.

Q 03/05

What trade was Faraday apprenticed to at 14, giving him seven years to read the books he handled?

A) Printing

B) Apothecary

C) Bookbinding

D) Clockmaking

Answer · why

C) Bookbinding

His master George Riebau's shop was in Blandford Street, Marylebone, now marked by a blue plaque.

Q 04/05

Which book by Jane Marcet particularly inspired the young Faraday's interest in science?

A) Opticks

B) Conversations on Chemistry

C) Principia

D) The Improvement of the Mind

Answer · why

B) Conversations on Chemistry

He also enthusiastically applied the study methods in Isaac Watts's The Improvement of the Mind.

Q 05/05

Which eminent chemist's lectures did Faraday attend in 1812 and then send a 300-page book of notes to?

A) Humphry Davy

B) Joseph Priestley

C) Antoine Lavoisier

D) John Dalton

Answer · why

A) Humphry Davy

The reply was immediate and kind, and the following year the chemist hired him as an assistant.