So, you’ve just decided to take a break from studying and need something to pass the time. Or maybe you’re waiting for a plane, or you’re stuck at the train station, and you want something to keep your brain occupied for the next hour or so. If you’re up for some challenging brainteasing, science riddles are the perfect combination of fun and education!
Science riddles can take riddling to a new, more intellectual level, with tricky questions that use science to stump you. They are perfect for any occasion where you need a break from your everyday routine and want to spice things up with some science brain teasers. But don’t worry if you don’t know too much about science. Most of these riddles about science are just perfect for keeping everyone entertained, whether they’re an expert in physics or not, since they test your creativity and problem-solving skills rather than your actual knowledge of science.
Here we are with the best science-themed tricky riddles (with answers) that will test your ability to think outside the box!
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If bananas were to have a chemical formula, what would it be?
What did the scientist say when he found 2 atoms of helium?
What number do Nickel and Neon make when they’re combined?
I can burn your mouth and sting your eye, but I am consumed everyday what am I?
What would you call a re-make of the classic film Tron?
You will find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?
You can’t see me, but I can see you. To be more specific, I see through. What am I?
How did Ben Franklin feel after discovering electricity?
What can be measured, but has no length, width, or height?
Each of your parents gave you twenty-three threadlike strands that made you who you are today. What are they?
What is black when you get it, red when you use it, and grey when you are finished with it?
At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen.
I am a unit of chemical elements, but I can never be trusted. What am I?
I am as hard as a rock, but when you heat me up I melt. What am I?
H, Be, F, S, Mn, Kr, In, Gd, and Tl? What’s the next in the sequence?
Answer: Fm. These are the chemical elements whose atomic numbers are perfect squares.
You are in a room with two metal rods and no other metal. One of them is magnetized and the other is not. How can you determine which one is magnetized and which is not?
What four periodic elements, when combined, make up something that terrifies criminals?
I'm unique in one way but you can find two of me in your daily drink. What am I?
I am under your face and outside your mind. What am I?
I am a black hole’s equivalent of a one-way street. What am I?
Not a perfect analogy. You can still, technically, go the wrong way down a one way street. Once you pass the event horizon, however, there's no going back.
I have been around for millions of years but am only a month old. What am I?
What do the numbers 11, 69, and 88 all have in common?
I love to roam, but I always stay home. If you carried what I carried, you’d end up breaking your back! What am I?
Lots of people have heard it, but no one has seen it. It will not speak back unless spoken to. What is it?
I come as a gas, and I’m in line with Neon. I’m also the home of a very Super man. What am I?
What chemical element doesn’t like to follow?
What do chemists call a benzene ring with iron atoms replacing the carbon atoms?
I am said to be only one dimension, and as small as can be, some say I am the foundation of all that you see. What am I?
I'm sometimes full, but I never overflow. What Am I?
Kids really love me because I make things float. You can even use me to expand small things. What am I?
Which weighs more, a ton of concrete or a ton of feathers?
I can rush, be still, be hot, be cold, and be hard. I can slip through almost anything. What am I?
What can go up and come down without moving?
How do we know that Saturn was married more than once?
Shiny like a silver, denser than lead, pricier than gold, could stop a bullet, if I wanted to. What am I?
What kind of rocks are on the bottom of the Mississippi River?
What was the first animal to go into space?
I am needed for flight but cannot fly on my own. What am I?
Planes fly without feathers, but need wings. Hot air balloons fly without either, but need air. They all need air, but air flies on its own. In short, this is stupid.
I am a god, I am a planet, and I can measure the temperature. What am I?
Which concept in physics is the loneliest?
I am the equivalent of a one-way street in the universe. What am I?
What is a priest’s favorite thing about physics?
I’m an individual on my own - but you can find two of me in your daily drink. What am I?
I’m essential for healthy bones and teeth, and you can find me in every dairy product. What am I?
I am your local weatherperson. I track storms and use weather satellites to provide you with an accurate forecast. What career did I choose?
I am the part of your body that controls all your decisions. I need to be nurtured and stimulated, but I will help you learn. What am I?
What is the fastest way to determine the gender of a chromosome?
Born in the ocean and white as snow. When I fall back to water I disappear without a trace. What am I?
What is stomach's way of letting you know you've neglected it?
I may not be gold but I make gold look more beautiful. I help you fly and even though I'm not popular, my prices run high. What am I?
I'm in your kitchen pantry, waiting for you to wrap me over something. What am I?
You can get me for free, but inside an atom, I add a lot of weight. What am I?
I cannot live, but I make life possible. When I sit with others, I prefer the upper left of the table. I am light and can combine with others of my kind to be bright. I only own one thing, no one knows exactly where it is. I am one to share, but not with those that are the heaviest. What am I?
I touch your face. I am in your words. I am a lack of space and beloved by birds. What am I?
What is the moon worth?
Give it food and it will live; give it water and it will die. What is it?
When the son of the water returns to the parent, it dies. What is it?
How did the astronaut serve dinner in outer space?
I am a gas that is essential for plants - but I can’t be bought at the gas station. What am I?
What are 10 things that you can always count on?
I am hard as a stone but you can find me on your body. What am I?
I can be good for you, but I can also be bad for you, and you will find me wherever you go. What am I?
It is very hard to create me, but I can’t be destroyed - I can only change form. What am I?
I make up almost ¾ of the universe, but no one knows anything about me. What am I?
What happened when the chemist read the book about helium?
Which element is the most boring one?
Which element is derived from a Norse god and a Marvel hero?
I am bigger than a daim but worthless. What am I?
What element is a girl’s future best friend?
I am the least interesting scientist to listen to? Who am I?
Without me as a part of your brain, you would lose your posture and balance, and be unable to coordinate muscle movements. I always hang out near my good friend the brainstem. What am I?
What are the only two periodic elements to have a liquid state?
I am a hypothetical tunnel, a short cut if you will, of space-time which connects far away regions. I am a what?
What planet has the shortest year?
Behind where it hangs it hides. What is it?
Electrically charged particles called ions are found here. Who am I?
I am where radio waves are bounced back to the earth's surface. Who am I?
What can kill with only a thimbles worth; yet is around you at all times?
With more than a thimble your survival is doubted, yet always surrounded and you'll die without it. What is it? Oxygen
Of all the glands, I am known as the master because I boss around the other endocrine glands and tell them what to do. But even though I am a bit bossy, you need me for many things, such as secreting hormones required for s**ual development and promoting bone and muscle growth.
When two light nuclei become one, I liberate quite a bit of nuclear energy? What am I?
I was once an old massive star and soon I will be a brightly colored gas cloud, but for now I am a massive explosion. What am I called?
What periodic element do pyromaniacs love the most?
Ronnie’s teacher told him that he and his classmates all had to dress up as a part of the body for the school’s Halloween party. The teacher also said it couldn’t be the same old thing, it had to be something new. Ronnie had the perfect idea. What costume did he come up with?
I am a rock bigger than Venus but smaller than Uranus. What am I?
Earth’s climate is an intricate system that involves many different parts. What part of earth’s system helps prevent the harmful UV rays of the sun from raising the temperature of the earth’s surface or from damaging our skin?
I give you a group of three. One is sitting down, and will never get up. The second eats as much as is given to him, yet is always hungry. The third goes away and never returns.
Thirty white horses on a red hill, first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still.
If you put your eye to this, it can help you to see far, It helps you to see planets, The moon or even a star.
I can keep a swimming pool clean, but I can poison you as well. What am I?
Yellow in color, I can be a laboratory risk. You’ll most often find me used in an explosive. What am I?
I can protect you from the sun’s strong rays. You can apply me on your skin to prevent sunburn. What am I?
I have six eggs I broke two, cooked two, and ate two. How many do I have left?
What is the next number in this sequence?
3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 6. 6.
Answer: 6. It's the number of letters in the corresponding 'n' number for example one has 3 two has 3 etc. and 12 has 6 letters.
I'm a odd number, take away one letter I am even, which number am I?
I am the hottest body in the solar system, and I keep everyone warm. Who am I?
You can’t see me, I can’t be touched, you can’t feel me - but I cook your lunch. What am I?
Cesium and iodine love to watch television together. What is their favorite show?
I know you may like to eat sugar, but when you eat too much of it and your blood-sugar levels rise, then my good friend Pancreas releases me into the bloodstream to restore blood sugar levels to their norm. What am I?
I was once called an embryo, but I have now gone through more than eight weeks of development, so my name is now changed to what?
What kind of animal lives longest in zoos?
What did the fox scientist name his laboratory?
I am four times as old as my son. In 20 years time I shall be twice as old as him. How old are we now?
When Henry was six years old, he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height. Five years later at age eleven, Henry returned to see how much higher the nail was. If the tree grew by ten inches each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Answer: The nail would be at the same height since trees grow at their tops.
What goes around and around the wood but never goes into the wood?
Occasionally associated with smelly things, what state of matter am I?
You have a glass of milk and a glass of water. You need to pour them into the same container such that the two liquids are differentiated and can be separated. How do you do it?
I am the one who remains awake when you sleep. But I need to rest when you awake. Who am I?
When a volcano erupts, it holds the potential to spew magma over the surrounding area. What type of rock is formed as the magma cools and solidifies?
I am the oldest form of igneous rock. I make up the majority of the earth’s crust. And I am one of the hardest materials in the world. What type of rock am I?
Nature is shaped through many natural phenomena. What is the process that causes the breakdown of rocks over time through water and wind?
Nature is organized on several different levels. How would scientists classify a group of the same species living in the same area?
All earthquakes are not the same. What scale do we use to measure the size and impact of earthquakes?
What scale do we use to measure the amount of drinking I need to do to finish these? Delirium tremors.
Everything takes up space in the world. Without space, there would be no place for anything, and that would be no fun! What unit do scientists use to measure how much space an object takes up?
Umm I don't think volume is a unit. A liter is a unit of volume. But volume is a measurement, not a unit. I think.
Number one is hydrogen. Twenty-five is manganese. Sodium is eleven. What list contains all of these?
Andrew was going to bleach his socks because they had gotten muddy the day before. As he was pouring the bleach into the washing machine, he spilled some on the floor. He got some cleaning fluid and mopped it up with a rag. Minutes later Andrew was dead. Why?
Hahaha. Great one! What s gas. You're killing me. Seriously please finish the job.
Earthquakes can be disastrous if the world is unprepared. Not only are some strong enough to shake the earth and bring down buildings, but they can also cause other natural disasters. What natural disaster commonly follows a large earthquake?
I am the largest land animal on the earth. I usually live to be 70 years old and drink water through my natural straw. What am I?
What freezes after it is heated up?
Martha throws a ball from a 90-foot building. The ball is quite bouncy and when it hits the ground, it bounces back half way up. It keeps bouncing back to half way up. How many bounces will the ball take before it comes to a permanent halt?
There are two rooms connected by a door, once you go through the door from room 1 to room 2, you can't go back. You can't see in-between room 1 and room 2. In room 1 there are three light switches labeled A, B and C connected to lightbulbs A, B, and C in room 2. You don't know what order the lightbulbs are in. How do you find out which switch is connected to which lightbulb?
Answer: Turn on A and wait a few minutes. Then turn on B and go into the second room. A is on and hot. B is on and not hot. C is off.
I'm growing larger with every second that passes, growing faster and faster. However, 80% of me reminds empty. What am I?
It's not air, but it's everywhere, what am I?
