The Olympics Medals Quiz
1. What is the name of the goddess on the front of the Olympic medals?
a) Hera
b) Artemis
c) Boudica
d) Nike
Explanation: Nike is the Greek Goddess of victory.
2. When were the gold, silver and bronze medals first introduced?
a) 1900, Paris
b) 1904, St. Louis
c) 1908, London
d) 1912, Stockholm
3. Bronze is made of two metals; it is an alloy of ….
a) Gold and silver
b) Copper and tin
c) Copper and arsenic
d) Silver and tin
Explanation: Bronze contains approximately 90% copper and 10% tin. Bronze is always
predominantly copper, but the amount of tin may vary. It may also contain small
amounts of zinc.
4. The melting point of copper is 1083 ⁰C. What is the approximate melting point of the alloy,
bronze, which has about 10% of tin added?
a) 1140 ⁰C
b) 1083 ⁰C
c) 232 ⁰C
d) 950 ⁰C
Explanation: Adding about 10% of tin prevents the copper lattice from forming as
perfectly as with copper alone. The tin has to be regarded as an impurity and lowers the
melting point. In ancient times, it was difficult to reach sufficiently high temperatures to
melt metals, so lowering the melting point was a good idea.
The Olympics Medals Quiz Teachers Notes
5. Which of these is the densest metal?
a) Lead
b) Copper
c) Gold
d) Iron
Explanation: Gold is actually a very dense metal. It has a density of 19.3 g cm−3. It is
nearly twice as dense as lead.
6. The medals for London 2012 weigh on average 387.5 g. They have a diameter of 85 mm.
The Gold medal contains 92.5% silver and a minimum of 6 g of gold. Precious metals are
still generally measured in Troy ounces. How many Troy ounces of silver and how many
Troy ounces of gold does a London 2012 gold medal contain?
a) 11.5 Troy ounces silver and 0.2 Troy ounces gold
b) 13.5 Troy ounces silver and 0.1 Troy ounces gold
c) 9 Troy ounces silver and 3 Troy ounces gold
d) 15 Troy ounces silver and 0.5 Troy ounces gold
Explanation: A troy ounce is 31.1 g.
7. The total mass of gold mined in human history is about 165,000 tonnes. If all this gold was
put into a giant cube, how long would its side be?
a) 20.4 m
b) 33.6 m
c) 98.7 m
d) 152.3 m
Explanation:
1 tonne = 1,000,000 grams
165,000 tonne = 165,000,000,000 grams
Density = Mass / Volume
Volume = Mass (g) / Density (g cm−3)
= 165,000,000,000 / 19.3
= 8,549,222,797.9274611…cm3
Length = 3√8,549,222,797.9274611…
= 2,044.759 cm
= 20.4 m
The Olympics Medals Quiz Teachers Notes
8. The top silver producing country in the world is…
a) South Africa
b) Peru
c) Mexico
d) China
9. Which metal has the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals?
a) Copper
b) Platinum
c) Silver
d) Gold
10. The ability to produce metals has had a big impact on human history. Bronze is a hard and
strong metal alloy and it is so important that a period of ancient history is called the Bronze
Age. When was the Bronze Age?
a) 5000 – 3000 BC
b) 3000 – 1000 BC
c) 1000 BC – 0
d) 0 – 1000 AD
11. Even at the beginning of the Bronze Age, making bronze involved European wide trade,
because copper and tin ores are rarely found together. Where did most of the tin ore come
from?
a) Norway
b) Sicily
c) Crete
d) Cornwall
12. Which country is the largest consumer of gold?
a) USA
b) China
c) Russia
d) India
The Olympics Medals Quiz Teachers Notes
13. What is the Gold Standard?
a) Monetary system guaranteed by gold
b) Purity grade for gold
c) Reliable standard in exams
d) Code of ethics
14. Almost all metals are silvery grey. Apart from gold with its characteristic yellow colour, there
are only two metals that have a colour other than silvery grey. What are these metals?
a) Copper and platinum
b) Osmium and titanium
c) Copper and osmium
d) Titanium and platinum
15. Where were the ores for the 4700 medals needed for the 2012 London Olympics mined?
a) Tau Tona Mine, South Africa
b) Dachang Gold Project China
c) Super Pit Gold Mine, Western Australia
d) Kennecott Utah Copper Mine near Salt Lake City, USA
Explanation: A large proportion of the annual Gold and silver manufacture is nowadays
produced as a by-product of copper purification by electrolysis. The impurities collected
in the copper electrolysis process contain tiny gold and silver particles. The precious
metals for the medals are donated by Rio Tinto, a large mining company, and they are
mostly mined in their open cast copper mine near Salt Lake City.
The Olympics Medals Quiz Teachers Notes