2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 1 4. The fact is, I am a mixture of two
1. On the outward I appear to be only
different acids
one.
5. Mixed in a ratio of 1:3
2. In reality, I always have two or more
Who am I?
present.
Ans: Aqua regia
3. I am highly sought after when there is
a problem
CONTEST 3
4. For some reason, the word
homogenous is always used in 1. I am like your divorce attorney in
describing me Chemistry
5. I have two main parts: solute and 2. This is because, I am perhaps the most
solvent powerful when it comes to separation
Who am I? 3. It’s okay if you think I am using
Ans: solution colourful words
4. I consider two options: are you mobile
CONTEST 2
or static?
1. I am a very strong acid 5. Your affinity for one or the other helps
2. So strong, I dissolve noble metals such with the separation
as gold and platinum Who am I?
3. Because of this, I am referred to as Ans: Chromatography
“regal water”
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 4 5. Because I tend to limit how much
others can contribute during chemical
1. I am an energy associated with
reactions
chemical reactions
Who am I?
2. Without me, change is impossible
3. I am modest but uncompromising
Ans: Limiting reagent
4. Because I always maintain my
standard
CONTEST 6
5. With me, you can overcome barriers
Who am I? 1. Usually my name does not convey
anything good
Ans: Activation energy
2. In chemistry however, I bring about
CONTEST 5 useful products
3. I make the complex become simple
1. During a chemical reaction, I hold all 4. Heat is my most important tool
the aces 5. I break long chain hydrocarbons into
simpler and more useful ones
2. Ironically, I am the poorest
Who am I?
3. Unlike my counterparts, I don’t
Ans: Cracking (or thermal cracking)
survive in any reaction I partake
4. But I determine the amount of products CONTEST 7
formed 1. I am quite special based on my
position on the periodic table.
2. Considering my weight, I should be
stable, but I am not.
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
3. I am the first element to be produced 5. So, I am referred to as a spectator
artificially
instead of a participant in chemical
4. One of my isotopes is currently the
reactions
most widely used in diagnostic
medicine Who am I?
5. My name is derived from the Greek Ans: Spectator ion
work “Technetos”, which means
artificial
Who am I? CONTEST 9
Ans: Technetium 1. I have been originally defined by my
taste
2. With powerful members, I am often
CONTEST 8
feared than admired
1. Unlike my counterparts, I do not
3. Water is a vital platform for my action
change
4. My power tends to diminish in the
2. I always end up in the form in which I
presence of a base
began
5. I turn blue litmus paper red
3. For this reason, I am treated as if I am
Who am I?
less important
4. I neither form a precipitate nor change Ans: Acid
my oxidation state during a reaction
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 10 Who am I?
1. I represent a change in state
Ans: Lactic acid or 2-Hydroxypropanoic
2. I come about as a result of change in
acid
temperature and pressure
3. I love cool things CONTEST 12
4. I give you dew most morning 1. I am an essential functional group present
5. I represent a change from gas to liquid in the human body
2. A few members in my group are soluble in
Who am I?
Ans: condensation water as a result of H-bonding
3. I do not contain oxygen
CONTEST 11 4. I am an important component of amino
1. I am an organic compound with the
acids
molecular formula; C3H6O3
5. I am a derivative of ammonia
2. I am an optically active carboxylic acid
Who am I?
3. I am also a breakdown product of
Amines / Amino group
anaerobic glycolysis
4. You will find me present in yoghurt CONTEST 13
and other fermented milk products 1. We are a group of naturally occurring
5. I am produced industrially by compounds that protect cells in the
fermentation of carbohydrates such as body
glucose, and lactose
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
2. We are mostly found in fruits, Ans: (chemical) bond
vegetables, and whole grains
CONTEST 15
3. We act by removing free radicals that
may cause cell damage
1. I am one of the so called “noble” metals
4. Our main role appears to be protecting
2. This is perhaps due to my fully filled d-
cells from oxidation processes
orbital
5. As our name suggest, we do not like
3. I am very resistant to oxidation or
oxidants.
corrosion
Who are we? 4. As a result, I am extensively used in
Ans: Antioxidants
jewellery
5. I am a soft, shiny white metal, sandwiched
CONTEST 14
between copper and gold in the same
1. Where two or more are gathered, I am group of the Periodic Table
present Who am I?
2. I bring unity Ans: Silver
3. This is irrespective of whether similar or
opposite views are shared
4. I am a force that keeps things together
5. For many, my first name is James
Who am I?
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 16 4. I am also probably the most visible in
1. I am a process of joining elements
the family
together
5. My discovery was quite a surprise, so I
2. I produce a special type of covalent
was given the name “new”
bond
Who am I?
3. I readily occur in carbon but also Ans: Neon
present in silicon, sulphur and boron
CONTEST 18
4. I link atoms of the same element
1. I am an element in group 8 of the periodic
together table
5. Through me, long chains of self- 2. I am highly unreactive
3. So much that, I am called “idle”
linking covalent bonds are formed
4. I am mostly employed when an inert
Who am I?
atmosphere is needed
Ans: Catenation
5. I make up about 1% of air
Who am I?
CONTEST 17
Ans: Argon
1. I am a noble gas
2. I am mainly obtained from the
CONTEST 19B
fractional distillation of liquid air
1. My name suggests a point of
3. I am the fifth most abundant element in
completion
the universe
2. But that is not exactly the case
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
3. I aim to signal the point when two Ans: Carbon monoxide or carbon (II)
oxide or CO
substances have equivalent amounts
4. In practice, I can only tell when the
CONTEST 21B
amount of one substance is slightly
1. I am a soft, malleable and ductile metal
more than the other
2. I am considered as a noble metal
5. Because that is when visible colour
3. This is probably because of my fully
change mostly occurs
filled d-orbital
Who am I?
4. I am a standard when it comes to
Ans: Endpoint (of a titration)
electrical or thermal conductivity
5. You will find me sandwiched between
CONTEST 20B
1. I am colourless, odourless and tasteless copper and gold in group 11 of the
2. I am one of the most abundant Periodic Table
molecules in the universe Who am I?
Ans: Silver
3. I am quite dangerous to humans
4. I am known for my strong affinity for
CONTEST 22B
haemoglobin in blood 1. I am considered a pioneer in many
5. I am mostly produced from the ways
incomplete combustion of carbon fuels 2. But I am particularly known for
Who am I? radioactivity
3. Yes! I coined the term “radioactivity”
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
4. I am credited with the discovery of the CONTEST 2
1. I dislike changes
elements; radium and polonium
2. As such I prefer conditions to
5. I was the first person to win two Nobel
remain the same
prizes in two different fields 3. I am usually made up of a
Who am I? conjugate acid-base pair
4. Together we fight to resist any
Ans: Marie Curie
change in pH
5. We are usually successful when the
CONTEST 23B
attack is small
1. I am the name assigned to a functional
Who am I?
group in organic chemistry Ans: Buffer Solutions/system 4B
2. My members react with oxygen to
CONTEST 25B
produce carbon (IV) oxide and water
1. I am present at the beginning and at the
only
end
3. We mainly undergo addition reactions
2. I don’t change
4. Some of my members react with
3. Others around me change and I am
Tollens reagent to give a white happy to help them do so
4. My role is to help others overcome
precipitate
barriers
5. My most distinguishing feature is the
5. I facilitate change from reactants to
presence of a triple bond products
Who am I? Who am I?
Ans: C≡C or Alkynes (or Acetylenes) Ans: Catalyst
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 26B 5. Think of periodic columns, and we will
1. When you meet me, you should say hi!
be number one
2. I am a colourless and non-flammable
Who are we?
gas
Group one elements/ Alkali metals
3. When dissolved in water, I produce a
very strong and corrosive acid CONTEST 28B
1. I am an organic compound with as many
4. I react with oxygen to produce iodine
as 13 atoms from three different
and water
elements
5. I am a diatomic molecule made up of
2. I have a functional group noted for strong
hydrogen and iodine.
intermolecular hydrogen bonding
Who am I?
3. My empirical formula, C4H9O is the same
Ans: Hydrogen iodide (HI) as my molecular formula
4. My carbon backbone is not a straight one
CONTEST 27B
5. I cannot be oxidised with acidified K2Cr2O7
1. We are a group of elements on the
like my primary and secondary cousins
periodic table
Who am I?
2. We are very good at associating with
Ans: 2-methyl-2-propanol OR 2-
others
methyl propan-2-ol
3. As such, we are hardly found alone
4. We are known for our vigorous
reaction with water
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 29B CONTEST 31B
1. We are located in a dense portion of 1. I am into quantities
the atom 2. I don’t discriminate based on identity
2. Of course, we do contribute to the 3. I am a property of solutions
density of the atom 4. I change with changes in concentration
3. But we also bring unity 5. Boiling point elevation and freezing
4. More importantly, we don’t take sides point depression are some of my
5. We are neutral examples
Who are we? Who am I?
Neutrons Colligative property
CONTEST 30B CONTEST 32B
1. I am a colourless and odourless gas 1. Compared to others, I don’t have the
2. I am a noble gas stamina to go far
3. I am highly abundant in the Universe 2. This is largely because of my charge
4. I am named after the sun 3. I am often sacrificed when there is too
5. Due to my low density, I am often much weight to carry
employed in air balloons 4. My consolation is that, I am first!
Who am I? 5. I am identical to the helium nuclide
Helium / He Who am I?
Alpha particle / Alpha radiation
2019 Chemistry Riddles Compiled
CONTEST 33B CONTEST 35B
1. I am a nitrogen-containing compound 1. I am the same irrespective of where
2. I am one of the most soluble gases in you find me
water 2. I am not religious, but some gather
3. I am an important raw material in the regularly in my name
Ostwald’s process 3. I am a property of matter
4. I am most widely used in making 4. I reflect the quantity of matter in a
fertilizers
sample
5. I react with hydrochloric acid to form
5. My SI unit is kilograms
dense white fumes
Who am I?
Who am I? Ans: Mass
Ans: Ammonia (gas)
CONTEST 36B
CONTEST 34B
1. I am a radionuclide with a mass number
1. I am a standard for others
of 27
2. As a result, I like to be clean and pure
2. I largely undergo beta decay
3. However, I don’t like to get wet 3. This is because, I have twice as many
neutrons as protons
4. I also like to keep a huge mass
4. You will find me in group 7 of the Periodic
5. My role is to help determine the
Table
concentration of others 5. I have an atomic number of 9
Who am I? Who am I?
Ans: Primary standard
Fluorine