How to use this quiz: choose an answer before opening the explanation. Each answer is supported by two independent sources checked on 2026-08-27.
10 accidental inventions questions
1 · Warm-up
How did the adhesive created during development of Post-it Notes behave?
- Harden only underwater
- Conduct electricity
- Stick lightly and peel away
- Glow under ultraviolet light
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: Stick lightly and peel away. The adhesive could be removed and reused.
3M chemist Spencer Silver created small adhesive spheres that gripped surfaces without forming a permanent bond. Art Fry later used the adhesive to keep bookmarks in place in his hymnal.
Sources: American Chemical Society and Lemelson-MIT Program.
2 · Warm-up
Percy Spencer found which item melted in his pocket?
- A butter packet
- A roll of film
- A plastic pen
- A candy bar
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: A candy bar. Microwave energy melted a candy bar.
Energy from the magnetron melted a candy bar in Spencer's pocket. He followed the observation with food experiments, helping Raytheon develop an oven that used the effect.
Sources: Lemelson-MIT Program and University of Michigan.
3 · Core
Burrs cling through which microscopic feature?
- Tiny hooks
- Sticky scales
- Braided fibers
- Hollow needles
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: Tiny hooks. Microscopic hooks in the burrs inspired Velcro.
De Mestral examined burrs caught on his clothes and dog and saw small hooks gripping loops in fabric and hair. He reproduced that hook-and-loop structure in a reusable fastener.
Sources: Velcro Companies and Smithsonian Gardens.
4 · Core
In Alexander Fleming's contaminated culture dish, which observation indicated the mold's potential?
- The mold turned blue
- A clear no-growth zone formed
- Sugar crystals appeared
- The dish became warm
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: A clear no-growth zone formed. Bacteria did not grow around the mold.
Fleming observed that staphylococci failed to grow around the contaminating mold. The clear zone showed that the mold released a substance capable of killing or inhibiting bacteria.
Sources: Science History Institute and Nobel Prize.
5 · Core
When Édouard Bénédictus dropped a laboratory flask, what unusual condition did he observe?
- The glass softened
- The flask bounced
- The shards held together
- The liquid changed color
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: The shards held together. The flask cracked but retained its shape.
In the account commonly associated with Bénédictus, a cellulose-nitrate film held the broken glass together. He applied the observation to laminated glass designed to limit the scattering of dangerous shards.
Sources: McGill University Office for Science and Society and National Park Service.
6 · Core
After Greatbatch installed the wrong resistor, how did the circuit behave?
- Amplified speech
- Measured blood pressure
- Warmed the skin
- Produced rhythmic electrical pulses
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: Produced rhythmic electrical pulses. The circuit emitted pulses resembling a heartbeat.
The mistaken component caused Greatbatch's circuit to emit regular pulses that resembled a heartbeat. He recognized the medical potential and developed a practical implantable cardiac pacemaker.
Sources: University at Buffalo and Lemelson-MIT Program.
7 · Core
Inside an apparently empty refrigerant cylinder, what unexpected material did Roy Plunkett find?
- A slippery white powder
- A bright blue liquid
- Copper-colored crystals
- A rubbery black foam
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: A slippery white powder. The gas had polymerized into PTFE.
The stored gas had polymerized into a white PTFE powder that was chemically resistant and had very low friction. The material became known under the trademark Teflon.
Sources: Science History Institute and National Inventors Hall of Fame.
8 · Core
Which property made cyanoacrylate unsuitable for clear wartime gun sights?
- It was too cloudy
- It stuck to everything
- It melted in sunlight
- It turned purple
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: It stuck to everything. Cyanoacrylate bonded immediately to nearby surfaces.
Harry Coover's team initially dismissed cyanoacrylate because it bonded to equipment and was difficult to handle. Years later, they recognized immediate adhesion as the material's useful property.
Sources: American Chemical Society and National Inventors Hall of Fame.
9 · Challenge
Which malaria treatment was Perkin attempting to synthesize?
- Artemisinin
- Chloroquine
- Quinine
- Mefloquine
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: Quinine. The experiment was an unsuccessful attempt to synthesize quinine.
Perkin was attempting to synthesize quinine when a dark residue produced a vivid purple color on silk. His mauve dye became commercially successful and helped establish the synthetic chemical industry.
Sources: Science History Institute and American Chemical Society.
10 · Challenge
What did its inventors initially try to sell the sealed air-bubble sheets as?
- Car-seat padding
- A swimming-pool cover
- Shoe insulation
- Textured wallpaper
Show the answer, explanation, and sources
Answer: Textured wallpaper. The first commercial proposal was three-dimensional wallpaper.
Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together and marketed the resulting sheet as wallpaper. After that proposal failed, the material found a lasting use as protective packaging.
Sources: Sealed Air and Stevens Institute of Technology.
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