Fossil Fuel Quiz

They run our cars, generate our electricity, heat our homes, and mess with our climate. They're fossil fuels, and boy do we love 'em. Test your knowledge about these combustibles with this quiz.
image
What fossil fuel supplies more than half of the U.S.'s electricity?
What fossil fuel supplies more than half of the U.S.'s electricity?

Natural gas

Plutonium

Coal

Gasoline

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You chose:
Coal, through the magic of coal-fired power plants.
Why are fossil fuels called
Why are fossil fuels called "fossil fuels"?

They're made of dead stuff

The dinosaurs used them to generate electricity

They're old-fashioned, like a fossil

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You chose:
Fossil fuels are made of dead stuff. They're what's left over hundreds of millions of years after a bunch of plants, animals, and other organisms died and decomposed and got squished up in the Earth's crust.
What does pure natural gas smell like?
What does pure natural gas smell like?

Roses

Rotten eggs

Your mom

Nothing

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You chose:
Natural gas has no smell. That nasty stink is added so you'll notice a leak before it explodes. Unless you have no sense of smell. In which case you're kind of out of luck.
How do fossil fuels change the climate?
How do fossil fuels change the climate?

Burning fossil fuel creates heat, which warms the Earth

Removing fossil fuels from the Earth's crust throws off the balance between ground and air

Burning fossil fuel releases carbon dioxide, which goes into the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect

panelImageAltText You chose: You chose:
Burning anything - coal, oil, gas, pianos, beets - releases carbon dioxide, which goes into the atmosphere and warms the Earth, causing global warming and other kinds of climate change.
True/false: Carbon dioxide is the only problem created by burning fossil fuels.
True/false: Carbon dioxide is the only problem created by burning fossil fuels.

True

False

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You choose:
Ha. No. Don't forget about good, old-fashioned air pollution.
Where did that oil come from?
The Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound. Where did that oil come from?

Northern Alaska

The Aleutian Islands

Greenland

Chile

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You choose:
It came from the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope and traveled to Valdez in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline before being loaded onto the ship.
Oil wells bring up crude oil
Oil wells bring up crude oil, which is then refined into more useful products. Which of these is not made by refining crude oil?

Gasoline

Kerosene

Natural gas

Diesel

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You chose:
Natural gas – it comes out of the ground that way.
What are the top five oil-producing countries in the world?
What are the top five oil-producing countries in the world?

Saudia Arabia, Russia, U.S., Iran, China

Saudia Arabia, U.S. Norway, China, Kuwait

Saudia Arabia, Russia, U.S., Nigeria, Brazil

Australia, Burkina Faso, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador

panelImageAltText Correct! Whoops! You chose:
The top five oil-producing countries in the world are Saudia Arabia, Russia, U.S., Iran, and China. More than a quarter of the U.S.'s oil comes from the Gulf of Mexico.

Hmmm

Go watch a few re-runs of The Beverly Hillbillies and see if you can learn a bit more about what comes bubbling out of the ground...

Correct

Not bad! Your oil barrel is at least half full.

Correct

Holy smokes! You sure do know your fossil fuels! Now, take a few more Science quizzes and see how much you know about...oh...say...ZOMBIES!

Blow your mind with even more tricky Science quizzes!

 
 

our sites

video

shop

stay connected

corporate

Image Credits Photos.com/Jupiter Images|Stockxpert/Jupiter Images|©Photos.com/Jupiter Images|©Stockxpert/Jupiter Images|Stockxpert/Jupiter Images|Stockxpert/Jupiter Images|AP Photo|Comstock/Jupiter Images|Getty Images

Copyright © 2012 Discovery Communications, LLC. The number-one nonfiction media company.