Q 01/05

Which bodily fluid did an alchemist boil down by the bucketful in 1669 to make the first phosphorus?

A) Blood

B) Sweat

C) Urine

D) Saliva

Answer · why

C) Urine

Urine carries dissolved phosphates, so boiling it to a paste and roasting the residue left a waxy solid that glowed in the dark. He had been hoping fo...

Q 02/05

Which fictional detective discovers that a glowing, ghostly hound is simply a real dog painted with phosphorus?

A) Sherlock Holmes

B) Hercule Poirot

C) Father Brown

D) C. Auguste Dupin

Answer · why

A) Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes unmasks the trick in The Hound of the Baskervilles, where the villain coats a savage dog in phosphorus so that it looks like the demon...

Q 03/05

More than four-fifths of the phosphorus in the human body is locked away in which parts?

A) Brain and nerves

B) Blood and liver

C) Muscles and skin

D) Bones and teeth

Answer · why

D) Bones and teeth

Bones and teeth hold about 85% of the body's phosphorus as a hard crystalline mineral. An average adult carries roughly 0.7 kilograms of the element i...

Q 04/05

Phosphoric acid gives which kind of fizzy soft drink its sharp, tangy bite?

A) Lemonade

B) Cola

C) Limeade

D) Tonic

Answer · why

B) Cola

Cola gets its tang from food-grade phosphoric acid, additive E338, which doubles as a preservative. Such drinks are sometimes called phosphate sodas.

Q 05/05

The name phosphorus comes from Greek words meaning what?

A) Light-bearer

B) Fire-stone

C) Night-walker

D) Cold-burner

Answer · why

A) Light-bearer

Light-bearer is the meaning of the Greek phōsphoros. Its first maker went further and named his glowing find phosphorus mirabilis, adding the Latin fo...