Brainwave City Hot on the heels of ‘Howzat for Genius?!’ here’s another test of your knowledge of inventors and inventions … This time, the first prize on offer is a very coooool contraption – an ice cream maker. We have three to give away, and they’ll be sent out in May, just in time for summer. And 10 runners-up will win an Inventor’s Kit from The Big Idea in Irvine, the UK’s first inventor centre… Thinking caps on? Here we go: GOOD LUCK! >>>
	01 What did Samuel Morse invent? Green cross code Morse code Moral code Codeine 02 James Dewar was a chemist who worked with extremely cold liquified gases. He invented the Dewar or vacuum flask in 1892 to keep his liquid gases cold. How did it work? The flask had a small fridge element attached to it which continually pulled heat away from the inside. It was made of two layers of silvered glass with a vacuum in between. This prevented heat entering by conduction and radiation and the lid stopped any convection. It was made of a material which was completely impervious to heat. We now call this material plastic. The container of liquid gas was surrounded by ice that was continually replaced as it warmed up. 03 Arthur Fry invented post-it notes. What was their original purpose? Sticking signs, like 'kick me', on his colleagues' backs for a laugh. He used them as bookmarks in his hymn book. He used the notes to cheat at an origami competition. As wallpaper testers - they were originally in a much larger range of colours than are found today. 04 The electric flashlight began life as which of the following? A glow worm on the end of a stick. Unfortunately the glow worm uses its glow to attract insects for food and the person using this early torch was often covered in insects. A battery in a flower pot. Originally the battery powered a bulb which made the flower light up but this was never sold, instead the flower pot was thrown away and the battery and bulb were encased in a paper tube. A mirror and some lenses in a tube of cardboard. This early invention had to be continually adjusted to reflect light from a natural source in the direction that the torch was pointing. In a completely closed dark room it didn't work at all. A candle with a long horizontal flame. It was difficult to control the length of the flame and these early torches frequently set objects and people on fire. 05 In what century was the first photograph taken? 1600s 1800s 1900s 2000s 06 Who choked on their own invention? Hubert Cecil Booth the inventor of the vacuum cleaner. In testing how a vacuum cleaner would work, he was sucking dirt by mouth through a piece of material and ended up with a lungful of dust. Egbert Samuel Smythe the inventor of false teeth. At his first major demonstration of the invention someone slapped him on the back and he choked on his prototype. Peter Branston the inventor of pickled onions. Ten years after the invention, a pickled onion from a cheese sandwich lodged in his windpipe, and he choked to death. James Watt, who developed the steam engine. The first time he fired it up it produced such a large cloud of soot and steam he was almost suffocated and had to be taken to hospital. 07 The tin can was invented in the early 1800s by Peter Durand of London. How long was it until the can opener was invented? The can opener already existed as an instrument to free people from ships' holds. Durand invented it at the same time realising how cumbersome a hammer and chisel were. It was nearly 50 years before the tin opener was invented - on the other side of the world. Being unable to open the tins Durand’s wife invented a tin opener 10 years later. 08 The names of inventions can radically change over time. In 1839 the Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the velocipede - what do we call it today? A running shoe. A bicycle. A submarine. A tap for running water. 09 The English chemist Joseph Priestley invented fizzy water but he was more famous for discovering a particular gas. Which gas did he discover? Carbon dioxide. Oxygen. Iron. Krypton. 10 Which of these inventions came first? Swimming pools. Toothpaste. Lawn mower. Pencil. Back to Quizzes & Competitions