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6 responses

1. 

   Martin

   28 August, 2018

   The answer to question 4 is “depends” because it could be “3” if the triangle was done on the surface of the Earth.

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2. 

   David

   28 August, 2018

   Good point!
   Most people assume that a triangle is a shape drawn on a flat surface. But in curved space, such as on the surface of a sphere, you can definitely get two or even three right angles in a triangle. Depends on whether you consider lines like the equator to be straight.

   I wonder if you can draw a three right angle triangle on a flat sheet of paper, if you twist it into a mobeus strip first?

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3. 

   David

   7 September, 2018

   We’ve had some interesting comments about question 2 in this quiz.

   One reader notes that, of the elements in the question, only gold can be found as a pure substance. Uranium is typically found as uranium oxide and not pure uranium metal.

   Another reader wonders about the word ‘heavier’. Uranium atoms are the heaviest naturally occurring atoms, but they don’t pack together that well, so uranium metal is not as dense as gold, platinum or osmium.

   Our quiz plugin won’t let us have multiple right answers, but if you got this question wrong, then feel free to give yourself a bonus point. We’ll have a think and see if we can word the question a bit better.

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4. 

   Martin Towell

   7 September, 2018

   I took the meaning of question 2 to mean a single atom.

   If you start introducing things like Uranium oxide, then we’re talking about a compound and not an element.

   If we’re talking about several elements together, then that would be something like an “elementary substance”. The substance might not be as dense, but it still has weight/mass – given the same number of atoms, one substance will still weigh more than another made from a different element.

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5. 

   Markus

   7 September, 2018

   Möebius Strip depends on how you embed it into R^3. If you make it from twisted paper, it probably won’t work. Just make a Moebius Strip using squared Paper and you will see that right angles will be preserved by this embedding.

   Reply
6. 

   Addison

   17 September, 2018

   I got all the Qs right!

   Reply