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Grade 12 Challenge: Think Like a Scientist Worksheet with Answers
Grade 12 (US) · Year 13 (UK) · Class 12 (India) · Physics
Unit 6: Going FurtherChallenge PuzzlesChallenge
Surprising questions and thought experiments that test real scientific reasoning. This free high school worksheet has 12 questions and a full answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF — every answer is checked by code, not guessed.
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Practice Sheetaethelsystems.comChallenge: Think Like a Scientist
Grade 12 · Physics
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Class
Date
Learning goal: Challenge Puzzles
Directions: Read each question carefully and write your answer on the line.
- 1
Why does a metal ship float when a metal nail sinks?
- 2
You are in a closed room with a candle, a match and a lamp. What do you light first?
- 3
A ball is thrown straight up. What is its speed at the very top?
- 4
Why do you see lightning before you hear thunder?
- 5
Ice floats in water. What does that tell you about its density?
- 6
If you could fold a sheet of paper 42 times, roughly how thick would it be?
- 7
On the Moon (no air), a hammer and a feather are dropped together. Which lands first?
- 8
Why does your breath make fog on a cold window?
- 9
If Earth stopped spinning, how long would one day (sunrise to sunrise) be?
- 10
Why is the sky blue?
- 11
Does a kilogram of feathers weigh more than a kilogram of iron?
- 12
Why does a spinning ice skater spin faster when she pulls her arms in?
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Free printable worksheets with answer keys · aethelsystems.com/worksheets/physics/12/challenge_science_thinking
Answer key — Challenge: Think Like a Scientist (Grade 12)
- 1.the ship's shape displaces enough water; its average density is less than water
- 2.the match
- 3.zero (for an instant)
- 4.light travels much faster than sound
- 5.ice is less dense than liquid water
- 6.far enough to reach the Moon (about 440,000 km)
- 7.they land at the same time
- 8.water vapor in your breath condenses on the cold glass
- 9.about one year
- 10.air scatters short blue wavelengths of sunlight more than red
- 11.no — they weigh the same
- 12.conservation of angular momentum
Answer key (click to show)
- 1.the ship's shape displaces enough water; its average density is less than water
- 2.the match
- 3.zero (for an instant)
- 4.light travels much faster than sound
- 5.ice is less dense than liquid water
- 6.far enough to reach the Moon (about 440,000 km)
- 7.they land at the same time
- 8.water vapor in your breath condenses on the cold glass
- 9.about one year
- 10.air scatters short blue wavelengths of sunlight more than red
- 11.no — they weigh the same
- 12.conservation of angular momentum
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