Science Quiz is a free online science quiz game you can play in your browser, with no download and no account. Each round gives eight clues — "Light bending as it passes from one material into another, making a straw look broken in a glass of water" — and you name the idea from four answers. After every pick you see which field it belongs to and one more fact, with every number given in its proper unit. There are 156 ideas from physics, chemistry, the human body, the living world, Earth science and space, and eight levels that get harder in a way you can feel: at first the wrong answers come from other fields, and on the last level all four are the same kind of thing from the same field. A second mode, Myth or fact?, asks you to judge 63 claims, from "the seasons happen because Earth is closer to the Sun in summer" to "a day on Venus is longer than its year", and explains each one.
How to play Science Quiz
- Choose a mode at the top: Name it (eight levels) or Myth or fact? (practice rounds with a best score).
- In Name it, read the clue on the card — it describes a science idea without using its name — and pick the idea from four answers: tap one, or press 1-4 or A-D.
- After each pick the right answer lights up green, and underneath you see its field, what sort of answer it is and one more fact.
- Press Next clue (or Enter) to move on. A round is eight clues; the dots along the bottom show which you got right.
- Get at least 4 of 8 right to open the next level, the level's mark for two stars, and all eight for three stars.
- In Myth or fact?, read each claim and decide whether it is true: tap Fact or Myth, or press F or M. The reason appears after every answer.
Tips
- Ask two questions about every clue: which field is it from (physics, chemistry, the body, the living world, Earth or space), and is the answer an object or substance, a process that happens, or a term or unit? On the early levels either answer usually leaves just one choice.
- From level 5 on the wrong answers share the field or the sort of answer, and on level 8 they share both — then the details decide it: "turning straight into a gas" is sublimation, "turning slowly into a gas at its surface" is evaporation.
- Words like "the unit of" or "how much" point to a term or unit; words like "turning", "breaking down" or "passing" point to a process.
- In Myth or fact?, be wary of neat explanations you have heard many times: the seasons, the tongue map and "no gravity in space" are all famous myths.
- Every round of Myth or fact? holds at least three myths and at least three facts, so answering the same way every time never scores more than five.
FAQ
Is Science Quiz free to play?
Yes. Science Quiz is free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
What subjects does the quiz cover?
Six fields: physics (26 ideas), chemistry (26), the human body (25), the living world, such as cells, plants and genes (27), Earth science (25) and space (27) — 156 ideas in all. Each one is an object or substance (a prism, an electron, the liver), a process (refraction, rusting, photosynthesis) or a term or unit (the joule, pH, latitude). Animals are left to our Animal Quiz.
How accurate are the facts?
The quiz sticks to settled textbook science and to facts that do not change, so it never counts a planet's moons or quotes a record. Every measured number comes with its unit and, where it matters, its conditions: water boils at 100 °C at sea-level pressure, and below that on a high mountain. Approximate figures are marked as approximate, such as light travelling at about 300,000 km/s.
What makes the later levels harder?
The wrong answers. On level 1 they come from other fields and are other kinds of answer, so a clue about a chemistry process might sit next to a planet, a bone and a unit of force. By level 8 all four are the same kind from the same field, such as four chemistry processes. Measured on 1,000 rounds per level, a player who knows only each answer's field or only what sort of answer it is gets all eight right on level 1 but about two of eight on level 8.
How do stars work?
Four right out of eight passes a level and opens the next one. Two stars need the level's own mark, which is one more than that field-or-kind guesser's usual score there — 7 on the first levels, 3 on the last. Three stars need all eight.
What is Myth or fact?
A second mode with 63 claims, 31 true and 32 famous misconceptions, such as "heavier objects fall faster in a vacuum", "old window glass is thicker at the bottom because glass flows" and "Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006". You judge eight at a time, each round holds three to five myths, and every answer comes with the reason. It plays in rounds with a best score.
Will I see the same questions again?
Each new round steers around the last 40 questions you were asked, so repeats come back only once you have played through much of the bank. Playing a level again deals a different round.
Does Science Quiz work on mobile?
Yes. Tap an answer on a phone or tablet; on a computer you can also play with the keyboard, using 1-4 or A-D to pick, F or M in Myth or fact?, and Enter for the next question.