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Inventions & Discoveries Quiz Worksheet

QUIZLINO
Set 1 · Mixed
Name:Class / Group:Score:     / 20

Choose the best answer for each question. The answer key is on the last page.

  1. Which German engineer independently developed a jet engine in the 1930s?
    A. Hans von Ohain B. Wernher von Braun C. Ferdinand Porsche D. Hugo Junkers
  2. Who developed an early practical incandescent light patent in Britain alongside Edison's work?
    A. Joseph Swan B. Nikola Tesla C. James Watt D. Michael Faraday
  3. Who designed an early flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth I in 1596?
    A. Thomas Crapper B. John Harington C. Alexander Cumming D. Joseph Bramah
  4. The Bessemer process was a major invention for making what cheaply?
    A. Glass B. Paper C. Rubber D. Steel
  5. What 19th century invention by Samuel Morse revolutionized long-distance communication?
    A. The telephone B. The telegraph C. Radio D. The typewriter
  6. Which Bayer chemist is credited with making aspirin in 1897?
    A. Friedrich Bayer B. Arthur Eichengrün C. Felix Hoffmann D. Hermann Kolbe
  7. Who discovered the structure of DNA's double helix, along with Francis Crick?
    A. James Watson B. Gregor Mendel C. Charles Darwin D. Louis Pasteur
  8. Who invented the Geiger counter for detecting radiation?
    A. Hans Geiger B. Ernest Rutherford C. Wilhelm Rontgen D. Marie Curie
  9. Who invented the safety pin in 1849?
    A. Walter Hunt B. Elias Howe C. Isaac Singer D. Eli Whitney
  10. Who first calculated the speed of light with reasonable accuracy using astronomical observations?
    A. Ole Romer B. Isaac Newton C. James Clerk Maxwell D. Albert Michelson
  11. Which inventor's 1938 creation, using xerography, revolutionized document copying?
    A. Chester Carlson B. Thomas Edison C. Xerox founders D. Willis Carrier
  12. Which company's scientists created the Post-it Note?
    A. 3M B. Kodak C. Xerox D. IBM
  13. Which engineer built the first practical steam-powered locomotive used commercially?
    A. George Stephenson B. James Watt C. Richard Trevithick D. Robert Fulton
  14. Who launched the world's first liquid-fuelled rocket in 1926?
    A. Wernher von Braun B. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky C. Hermann Oberth D. Robert Goddard
  15. Which research lab developed the first practical solar cell in 1954?
    A. Bell Labs B. IBM C. MIT D. General Electric
  16. Which inventor conceived the Analytical Engine, an early mechanical computer concept?
    A. Charles Babbage B. Alan Turing C. Ada Lovelace D. Blaise Pascal
  17. Who invented the modern trampoline?
    A. Joseph Pilates B. James Naismith C. George Nissen D. Walter Camp
  18. Which scientist developed a vaccine for rabies?
    A. Louis Pasteur B. Edward Jenner C. Robert Koch D. Paul Ehrlich
  19. Who discovered the electron in 1897?
    A. J. J. Thomson B. Ernest Rutherford C. Niels Bohr D. James Chadwick
  20. Which ancient invention revolutionized transport and machinery?
    A. The sail B. The wheel C. The plow D. The compass
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Answer key – Inventions & Discoveries (Set 1)

  1. A. Hans von Ohain – Hans von Ohain, a German engineer, independently developed a jet engine in the 1930s. His engine powered the Heinkel He 178, which made the world's first jet-powered flight on 27 August 1939, just before World War II began. Frank Whittle developed a jet engine in Britain at the same time.
  2. A. Joseph Swan – Joseph Swan, an English chemist, developed a practical incandescent light bulb around the same time as Edison and demonstrated it in 1879. Swan's house was the first in the world lit by electric bulbs. Edison and Swan later merged their British companies as 'Ediswan'.
  3. B. John Harington – Sir John Harington, godson of Queen Elizabeth I, designed an early flushing toilet in 1596 and installed one for the Queen at Richmond Palace. He called it the 'Ajax'. Flushing toilets became common only after Alexander Cumming patented the S-bend in 1775.
  4. D. Steel – The Bessemer process, patented by Henry Bessemer in England in 1856, made steel cheaply by blowing air through molten iron to burn off impurities. It cut steel's price dramatically, enabling railways, bridges and skyscrapers. India's Tata Steel was founded in 1907 in Jamshedpur.
  5. B. The telegraph – Samuel Morse developed the electric telegraph and Morse code in the 1830s–1840s, revolutionising long-distance communication. In 1844 he sent the first long-distance message from Washington to Baltimore: 'What hath God wrought'. Messages that took days now took minutes.
  6. C. Felix Hoffmann – Felix Hoffmann, a chemist at Bayer in Germany, is credited with making a pure, stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin, in 1897. Willow bark, containing a related chemical, had been used for pain relief for thousands of years. Colleague Arthur Eichengrün later claimed he directed the work.
  7. A. James Watson – James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953 at Cambridge University. Their discovery depended on X-ray images by Rosalind Franklin. Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins won the 1962 Nobel Prize; Franklin had died in 1958 and was not included.
  8. A. Hans Geiger – Hans Geiger, a German physicist, invented the Geiger counter in 1908 while working with Ernest Rutherford, and improved it with Walther Müller in 1928. It detects radiation by counting particles, producing a clicking sound. It is still widely used to measure radioactivity.
  9. A. Walter Hunt – Walter Hunt, an American mechanic, invented the safety pin in 1849 by twisting a piece of wire into a coil with a clasp, reportedly in about three hours, to pay off a $15 debt. He sold the patent for just $400. Hunt also invented an early sewing machine.
  10. A. Ole Romer – Danish astronomer Ole Rømer first estimated the speed of light in 1676 by noticing that eclipses of Jupiter's moon Io happened earlier or later depending on Earth's distance from Jupiter. His estimate was about 220,000 km/s, close to the true value of about 300,000 km/s.
  11. A. Chester Carlson – Chester Carlson, an American physicist and patent lawyer, invented xerography in 1938, a dry photocopying process using static electricity. Over 20 companies rejected it before the Haloid Company developed it, later renamed Xerox. The first Xerox 914 copier, launched in 1959, was a huge success.
  12. A. 3M – 3M scientists created the Post-it Note. In 1968 Spencer Silver accidentally made a weak, reusable adhesive. In 1974 his colleague Art Fry used it to stop bookmarks falling out of his choir hymn book. Post-it Notes went on sale in 1980.
  13. A. George Stephenson – George Stephenson, an English engineer, built practical steam locomotives, including Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public steam railway, in 1825. His 1829 locomotive Rocket, with his son Robert, won the Rainhill Trials. He is called the 'Father of Railways'.
  14. D. Robert Goddard – Robert Goddard, an American physicist, launched the world's first liquid-fuelled rocket on 16 March 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts. It rose about 12.5 metres in 2.5 seconds. A newspaper once mocked his ideas, but rockets later took humans to the Moon. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is named after him.
  15. A. Bell Labs – Bell Labs in the USA developed the first practical silicon solar cell in 1954, created by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson. It converted about 6% of sunlight into electricity. Solar cells were soon used to power satellites, such as Vanguard 1 in 1958.
  16. A. Charles Babbage – Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, designed the Analytical Engine in 1837, a mechanical general-purpose computer with memory and a processing unit. It was never completed, but Ada Lovelace wrote what is considered the first computer program for it. Babbage is called the 'Father of the Computer'.
  17. C. George Nissen – George Nissen, an American gymnast, built the first modern trampoline with his coach Larry Griswold in 1936, inspired by circus trapeze artists bouncing on safety nets. The name comes from 'trampolín', Spanish for diving board. Trampolining became an Olympic sport in 2000.
  18. A. Louis Pasteur – Louis Pasteur developed a rabies vaccine and first used it in 1885 on Joseph Meister, a nine-year-old boy bitten by a rabid dog. The boy survived. This success led to the founding of the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1887. Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.
  19. A. J. J. Thomson – British physicist J. J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 using cathode-ray tubes, showing that atoms contain smaller particles. He proposed the 'plum pudding' model of the atom. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906, and seven of his students and assistants also won Nobel Prizes.
  20. B. The wheel – The wheel, invented around 3500 BC in Mesopotamia, revolutionised transport and machinery. It was first used for pottery-making before being used on carts. Wheels later led to pulleys, gears, mills and countless machines. The ancient Americas had wheeled toys but no wheeled vehicles.