Q 01/05

Scandium, named after Scandinavia, was discovered in 1879 by a chemist working in which country?

A) Denmark

B) Sweden

C) Finland

D) Iceland

Answer · why

B) Sweden

Sweden's Uppsala University is where the new metal's oxide was first separated, and its finder named the element after Scandia, the Latin for Scandina...

Q 02/05

Which Russian chemist left a gap for scandium in his periodic table years before its discovery?

A) Dmitri Mendeleev

B) Mikhail Lomonosov

C) Alexander Butlerov

D) Alexander Borodin

Answer · why

A) Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev forecast the missing element's atomic weight and the formula of its oxide, and scandium fitted both when it turned up a decade later.

Q 03/05

Scandium-aluminium alloys were used in which Soviet fighter jets, including the 21 and 29 models?

A) Sukhoi Su

B) Tupolev Tu

C) Mikoyan MiG

D) Yakovlev Yak

Answer · why

C) Mikoyan MiG

Mikoyan MiG fighters used alloys holding just 0.1% to 0.5% scandium, a pinch that is enough to strengthen the aluminium.

Q 04/05

Laser crystals containing scandium were made for the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed after which film series?

A) Star Trek

B) Flash Gordon

C) Buck Rogers

D) Star Wars

Answer · why

D) Star Wars

Star Wars became the nickname of Ronald Reagan's 1983 missile-shield plan after Senator Ted Kennedy mocked it, and its laser research used garnet crys...

Q 05/05

Scandium ranks only 50th among the elements on Earth but is the 23rd most common element in which body?

A) The Moon

B) Mars

C) The Sun

D) Jupiter

Answer · why

C) The Sun

The Sun ranks scandium 23rd among its elements, far above the metal's 50th place on Earth as a whole, though it climbs to 35th in the crust.