Q 01/05

Which element comes straight after neon, at number 11?

A) Fluorine

B) Sodium

C) Magnesium

D) Argon

Answer · why

B) Sodium

Sodium has just one more proton and electron than neon, yet the two could hardly differ more: neon reacts with nothing, while sodium tarnishes within ...

Q 02/05

What colour does neon glow in a discharge tube?

A) Pale green

B) Deep blue

C) Reddish-orange

D) Pure white

Answer · why

C) Reddish-orange

Reddish-orange is the only colour pure neon gives, so signs in every other shade rely on different gases and glowing tube coatings, and many 'neon' si...

Q 03/05

Which Asian city, famed for neon-crowded streets, has been stripping out its old signs under a building-safety crackdown?

A) Tokyo

B) Bangkok

C) Hong Kong

D) Singapore

Answer · why

C) Hong Kong

Hong Kong inspectors began ordering down unauthorised signs that overhang its streets, and many shops swapped the rest for cheaper LEDs; an estimated ...

Q 04/05

The name 'neon' comes from a Greek word meaning what?

A) Stranger

B) Bright

C) New

D) Hidden

Answer · why

C) New

New is the meaning of the Greek neos: after finding argon, Ramsay expected a lighter gas to be missing from the periodic table, and when the sought-fo...

Q 05/05

Who suggested the idea behind neon's name to its discoverer William Ramsay in 1898?

A) His co-discoverer

B) His glassblower

C) His wife

D) His young son

Answer · why

D) His young son

His young son proposed a Latin name for the freshly isolated gas; Ramsay liked the thought but swapped in the Greek equivalent, and neon it became.