RIDDLES

1. I am an organic compound
2. I have a symmetrical molecule.
3. My functional group enables me to form a crystalline derivative with 2,4-
dinitrophenylhydrazine.
4. I do not react with Tollens’ or Fehling’s reagent.
5. I have a carbonyl group that sits right in the middle of the compound.
6. If my backbone consists of five carbons in an open chain, then,
Who am I?

ANSWER: 3-Pentanone

1. I am an isotope.
2. As isotopes go, I am one of the lightest.
3. I am an isotone of 1.
4. I am named for the Greek god of the sun.

Who am I?

ANSWER: Helium-3

1. I am an integer.
2. My smallest value is 1.
3. My largest known value is relatively small, less than 120.
4. I describe a nuclide.
5. I distinguish hydrogen from helium from lithium from beryllium and so on.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Atomic number

1. I am a hydrocarbon.
2. I am fully saturated.
3. I have a straight backbone.
4. The number of carbons in my molecule is an odd number which is also a square of an
odd prime number.
5. If the number of hydrogens in my molecule is an exact multiple of 10, then
 Who am I?
ANSWER: Nonane (C9H20)
IDDLES

1. If all pretensions are removed, I am just a beam of light.

2. I am found in homes, offices, hospitals, supermarkets, laboratories and so on.
3. I find widespread use in communications and entertainment.
4. When I was invented, I was called the “Death Ray”.
5. But I have rather brought life and joy to many.
6. I am special because the photons in my beam are all in phase and have the same energy.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Laser

1. I am one of the several molecular geometries.

2. You may not be very familiar with me, but it does not mean you do not know me.
3. Have you thought of the shape of PCl5?
4. Imagine a symmetrical shape formed from the hybridization of one d, one s and three p
orbitals.
5. Can you imagine the shape obtained by putting two ammonia molecules together back to
back?
6. I am therefore a bipyramid
7. Before I became a bipyramid, I had a three sided base.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Trigonal Bipyramid

1. I am an inorganic substance.
2. I may be produced when a certain metal is burnt in excess air.
3. I dissolve in water to give a solution which turns red litmus blue.
4. The metal from which I am formed is never found in nature in the uncombined state.
5. That metal is the eighth most abundant element in the earth’s crust with atomic number
12.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Magnesium oxide (MgO)
1. I am a white, solid, inorganic substance.
2. I am the only exception in the family as far as colour is concerned.
3. I am made up of a metal cation and a non-metal anion.
4. My metal cation can be found at the tail end of the first d-transition series.
5. When my anion combines with a proton a substance which smells like rotten egg is
formed.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Zinc sulphide/ZnS
1. I am a property of a substance that is known to and used by all.
2. I hate temperatures higher than ambient temperatures.
3. I am attributed to certain non–organic ions present.
4. My name suggests I can hardly be persistent.
5. I can cause you to spend on soaps for your laundry and other related activities.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Temporary Hardness of water

1. I am an element.
2. I exist as molecules.
3. In the earth’s atmosphere or crust you would hardly find me in the free state.
4. The irony is that I am the most abundant element in the entire universe.
5. I form an explo0sive mixture with the second most abundant gas in the earth’s
atmosphere.
6. My atomic number is 1 and it is believed most elements are derived from me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Hydrogen (gas or element)
1. I am a ternary compound of penta-atomic molecules
2. All the elements in my molecule are non-metals
3. The oxidation state of the central atom, located in my anion is +5.
4. I am produced on industrial scale by the Oswald Process.
5. My preparation therefore involves, basically, catalytic oxidation of ammonia.
6. I contain one ionisable hydrogen
Who am I?

ANSWER: HNO3/Trioxonitrate (V) acid

1. I am a property of a substance.
2. I characterize phase changes.
3. My SI unit is joule per kilogram.
 4. I am the thermal energy required for the isothermal phase change of unit mass of
substance.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Specific latent heat

1. While my father’s ancestors were all farmers, I decided to stay in the classroom and
lecture rooms.
2. I was born in Sweden.
3. My love for mathematics ended me in University of Uppsala to study physical
sciences.
4. I worked under a Professor in the Swedish Academy of Sciences.
5. Though I wrote a thesis on electrolytes I am better known for a Theory of acids and
bases.
Who am I?
ANSWER: (Svante) Arrhenius

Riddle #1

1. I am an inorganic substance made up of one atom of a metal and an atom of a non-

metal.
2. I am a black powder
3. When I am strongly heated I give out oxygen gas
4. My metal component is the major constituent of the alloy, bronze
Who am I?
ANSWER: Copper (II) Oxide or CuO
(Cu2O is orange-yellow)
Riddle #4

6. I am a constituent of an atom.
7. There are as many of me in an atom as the atomic number of the atom.
8. I have the smallest mass of all the constituents of an atom.
9. I am negatively charged.

Who am I?

ANSWER: Electron
Riddle #2

1. I am an organic molecule
2. My shape is two tetrahedrons fused together at one joint.
3. This means my two carbons are both sp3 hybridised
4. If I am a hydrocarbon, then who am I?
ANSWER: Ethane (C2H6)
Riddle #3

1. We are the first born of our family

2. We are twins, identical for that matter
3. We are always together and you can only use force to separate us
4. We are very sociable and I can say we or one of us can be found almost every part of
the universe
5. We have identical weight, which is not much
6. In fact among the family we individually have the lightest weight
7. We form an explosive mixture with oxygen gas
Who are we?

ANSWER: H2/hydrogen (gas)

Riddle #2

1. Consistency and accuracy are my traits

2. Therefore I hate guesswork or approximations
3. I love aqueous solutions
4. Pieces of graduated glassware are my best friends
5. Above all these you need an indicator to identify me
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Volumetric Analyse

1. I am sensitive to external pressure, including the atmospheric pressure.
2. I am also sensitive to the presence of a second substance.
3. Although I am usually referred to as a point, I am presented as a range.
4. I am a property of all substances especially liquids.
5. I am the temperature at which the vapour pressure of a liquid is equal to the external or
atmospheric pressure.
6. I am a physical characteristic of a pure substance.
Who am I?

ANSWER Boiling Point

1. I am a collection of some basic statements.

2. All the relevant conclusions and predictions are made from these statements.
3. My basic statements are also referred to as postulates in certain circles.
4. I describe the physical behaviour of all matter with emphasis to gases.
5. I have five postulates, the last one giving an alternative meaning or definition of
temperature.
6. I am also able to explain Brownian movement.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Kinetic Theory of Matter/Gases or Kinetic-Molecular Theory of
Matter/Gases
1. I am an organic compound.
2. My molecules have only carbon and hydrogen atoms.
3. My shape can be used to illustrate the perfect tetrahedral shape.
4. I am a hydrocarbon with only one carbon in my molecule.
5. I am a gas obtained from natural sources and therefore called Natural Gas.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Methane (CH4)
1. My name is derived from a Greek word that means heavy.
2. With atomic mass of over 130 most would agree that I am a heavy element.
3. I am a metal discovered in 1808, and a member of the Main Group elements.
4. Because of my chemical reactivity, I do not occur in the uncombined state in nature.
5. My tetraoxosulphate (VI) salt is a white solid used in the manufacture of white paint.
6. The aqueous suspension of the same solid is referred to as a meal in X-ray diagnostic
work.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Ba or barium (metal)
8. I am one of the several molecular geometries.
9. You may not be very familiar with me, but it does not mean you do not know me.
10. Have you thought of the shape of PCl5?
11. Imagine a symmetrical shape formed from the hybridization of one d, one s and three p
orbitals.
12. Can you imagine the shape obtained by putting two ammonia molecules together back to
back?
13. I am therefore a bipyramid
14. Before I became a bipyramid, I had a three sided base.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Trigonal Bipyramid

1. If I and my friends were boxers, we would belong to the heavy weight division.
2. We are mainly organic substances with big molecules.
3. Our bodies do not hate repeated units, in fact we love them.
4. We are formed from the combination of many small units.
5. We may be classified as Addition or Condensation depending on the chemistry of the
combination of the units.
Who are we?
ANSWER: Polymers
Riddle #4

1. I am the third in command in our little village in the nation

2. My name starts with A just like in Amma
3. Our village is known as village of noble people
4. Our main drawback is that we are not sociable and therefore ignorant of what is
happening outside our village
5. The name of the first in command in the village has some two letters found in the name of
the upper limb of human body

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Argon (Ar)

Riddle #1

1. My origins can be traced to nature and natural processes.

2. I am very, very old.
3. I am part of a brownish to black liquid mixture mined from underground.
4. During fractional distillation of the mineral, I am collected between 68oC and 168oC.
5. I am usually given an octane rating
 6. You can call me Mr. G or Miss P
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: GASOLINE/PETROL

Riddle #1

1. I am an element
2. I belong to the Main Group Elements
3. Specifically I belong to Group 1
4. In my pure state I am a solid with silvery, shiny looks
5. Whether in dry or moist air my shiny looks disappear.
6. I react with chlorine to give a white solid, one of the best seasoning for food.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: SODIUM

1. I am an organic compound.
2. My molecules on paper appear as a regular polygon.
3. In real practice my molecules have a puckered structure.
4. All my carbon atoms try to maintain the tetrahedral angle.
5. I have chair and boat conformations.
6. If I am a hydrocarbon of six carbons then.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Cyclohexane

1. I am a solid metal with a difference.

2. I am not just one metal element but a solid solution of two metal elements.
3. My colour, which is normally a shade of yellow, depends on the proportions of the two
metals.
4. One of my constituent elements has the atomic number of 29 and atomic mass of 63.5
5. My other element, a blue-white metal has the atomic number of 30 and atomic mass of
65.4
6. I am used in making all kinds of household items and musical instruments.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Brass
 1. As an element I have three well known allotropes all of which can be found free in
nature
2. There is a fourth allotrope of mine discovered only recently
3. I occur in a vast number and variety of compounds everywhere in the world.
4. While most of my compounds are useful and needed for the survival of mankind a
few are working hard to bring the world to an end.
5. My name originated from a Latin word for a substance produced by destructive
distillation of organic matter.
6. Without me life in general would be impossible
Who am I?
Carbon
RIDDLE MC 2

1. I am an inorganic substance
2. I have both acidic and basic properties.
3. I have an oxygen atom in my formula
4. The biodata on me show that I am white
5. Whenever I travel to a region of hot climate I turn yellow
6. My cation is derived from a metallic element which occupies the top-most position in
Group 2B or 12 of the Periodic Table.
Who am I?
Zinc oxide or ZnO
1. I am an organic liquid compound with 19 atoms in my molecule.

2. I have carbons, hydrogens and oxygen in my molecule.

3. I do not possess any intra- or inter-hydrogen bonding.

4. I do exhibit inter-molecular dipole-dipole forces.

5. I have six carbons in my straight backbone and twice as many hydrogens.

6. My only functional group is a carbonyl, found on the second carbon of the chain.

Who am I?
 2-Hexanone

1. I am a substituted organic acid

2. If the chlorine atom were not in my molecule, my molecule would have contained

four carbons, eight hydrogens and two oxygens

3. Because of the chlorine I am a stronger acid than my parent compound

4. The chlorine is not located where I would have been the strongest of the possibilities

5. Neither is it located where I would have been the weakest.

6. I have four carbons in a straight chain without any carbon-carbon double bond.

Who am I

3-Chlorobutanoic acid

1. I am not an armed robber but I am a robber of some sort

2. A lot of natural processes love me and use me.
3. Scientists in the their laboratories depend on me in a number of their chemical
transformations
4. I am therefore an agent for change
5. Like a savings bank I am always receiving rather than lending.
6. If electrons are the only currency I use for my transactions then who am I?
Oxidising Agent

1. My constituent elements are all non-metals

2. While two of my elements are gaseous one is a solid when in the uncombined state.
3. My three elements gave birth to me as a very viscous liquid
4. The ratio of the different atoms in my covalent molecule is 4:2:1
5. A lot of heat is generated when I am mixed with water
6. When I am added to table sugar the sugar changes colour from white to black
What is my systematic name?

Tetraoxosulphate VI Acid

1. I am a transition metal
 2. My familiar valences are 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
3. I am a greyish white metal
4. I hardly occur in nature in the uncombined state
5. Because of my very high melting point and low vapour pressure I am used
extensively as a filament in electric lamps.
6. My name and symbol are as far apart as Tamale and Weija
Who am I?

Tungstein (W)

1. I am an organic compound
2. I am indeed a typical hydrocarbon
3. My classification is a problem because I am partly aromatic and partly non-aromatic
4. I have a total of eight carbons and ten hydrogens in my molecule
5. Six of my carbons are sp2 hybridized and the rest are sp3 hybridized.
6. My aromatic and non-aromatic parts share my ten hydrogens equally.
Who am I?
Ethylbenzene
1. If I were a Referee I would be accused of always being partial
2. Bu I like minding my own business thinking others would behave like me
3. I hate peer pressure
4. I depend solely on population and not on mass or weight.
5. I obey strictly an experimental observation that later became a Law.
6. Dalton tells me the pressure I exert cannot be influenced by others.
Who am I
Partial Pressure (of a gas)

1. I was first prepared in 1797 by reduction of my oxide with carbon at a high

temperature
2. My ores are mined in West and South Africa, Philippines and Russia
3. My name in Greek means ‘colour’ even though I am not that colourful
4. I am a hard, bluish-white transition metal
5. I do not tarnish easily in air
6. I am used a lot in electroplating because I give such items almost permanent lustrous
appearance.
 Who am I?

1. I am mostly an industrial material; I could also be a substance used in the laboratory

2. When I am pure I have high ability to adsorb chemicals

3. I could also be regarded an inorganic material capable of existing in several crystalline

forms.

4. When I am mined as a natural product my name and colour depend on which impurity is

present in me

5. I may called ruby, or emery or sapphire among others

6. A company at Tema performs electrolysis on my molten form to yield a useful metal.

Who am I?

Alumina or Aluminium Oxide

Chromium (Cr)

1. I was born in July 1841 in Germany

2. I started an apprenticeship in Pharmacy in Hamburg in1862 five years after finishing
basic school
3. I started studying chemistry at the same time and submitted a Thesis and was
awarded a PhD in 1864
4. Thereafter I worked in Germany, France and Portugal.
5. I returned to Gottinsberg in Germany in 1872
6. In my active life I researched extensively into carbohydrates and developed a silver
mirror test which was named after me
Who am I?
(Bernhard Christian Gottfried) Tollens
1. I am an organic compound.
2. I am usually synthesized by combining two basic functional groups
3. Acid hydrolysis of me will normally split me up to give two organic compounds while
base hydrolysis of me will give a compound and a salt.
4. I belong to a group of compounds with a name sounding like a female name
 5. When I am hydrolyzed my alkanoic acid component has five carbons in a straight
chain
6. My alkanol component has only two sp3 carbons.
Who am I?
Ethyl Pentanoate
Riddle #4

1. I am a process.
2. You can call me a reaction.
3. I divide into two. Because of that I am similar to binary fission, but I have nothing to
do with cells.
4. I operate with nuclei of heavy atoms.
5. By me much energy is produced.

WHO AM I? -

ANSWER: Nuclear fission

Riddle #2

1. I am a law.
2. I describe the behavior of gases.
3. I can tell you the volume of a fixed quantity of gas.
4. I am named for a French physicist whose last name is a common first name.
5. I state that the volume of a fixed quantity of gas at constant pressure is proportional to
temperature.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Charles’s law

Riddle #4

1. I am a hydrocarbon

2. A look at my molecular formula would suggest I do not have my full complement of

hydrogens.

3. I am therefore chemically unsaturated

4. All my carbons are in a ring

 5. One mole of me can and will react with two moles of bromine usually dissolved in
chloroform.

6. If I have 8 carbons then what is my molecular formula?

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: C8H12 (With the full complement of H C8H18 but Ring + 2 double
bonds = -6H)

Riddle #2

1. My chemistry is made of redox reactions

2. Therefore if I were human, my blood would be made up of electrons.
3. I am partly made up of a container with two electrodes.
4. I am incomplete without an electrolyte.
5. When I am in operation a current is passed through me.
6. Electroplating is one of my important applications.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Electrolysis
Riddle #3

1. I am a binary compound.
2. I am very soluble in water.
3. I am normally gaseous at room temperature.
4. I am produced in an industrial process whose chemistry is often used to illustrate Le
Chaterlier’s Principle.
5. I or my aqueous solution turns red litmus blue.
6. My geometry is described as trigonal pyramid
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: AMMONIA/NH3

Riddle #3

1. I am an organic compound.
2. There are three different elements in my molecular formula.
3. I am a member of a homologous series called n-alkanols.
 4. Indeed I am the second member of the series.
5. The chemistry of my industrial manufacture has been known to mankind since the ancient
days
6. My aqueous solutions are drunk as a beverage
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Ethanol

1. The atomic number of my atoms is an odd number but the atomic mass is an even
number.
2. I am an element that exists in nature as molecules
3. I do support life of animals in a different way.
4. I do not encourage destruction the way my next door neighbours does
5. If I hold the majority shares of about 80% of the atmosphere, then

Who am I?

ANSWER: N2 or Nitrogen gas.

RIDDLE # 3

1. We belong to a family of mainly but not exclusively organic compounds

2. Our formulae are usually big
3. We have repeating units in our systems
4. We can be classified broadly as condensation or addition compounds.
Who are we?
ANSWER: Polymers.

RIDDLE 1

1. I was born in 1766 and lived for 78years.

2. My major aim in life was to understand the chemical nature of matter.
3. My thoughts did not receive the favour of my contemporaries
4. After several experiments I suggested that matter was made up of small particles called
atom.
Who am I?
 ANSWER: (John) Dalton.
RIDDLE 3
1. I am the name of a certain class of chemicals.
2. I can be moulded into all kinds of shapes and I do come in various colours.
3. Sand is my commonest raw material.
4. I cool from my molten state to give an amorphous solid
Who am I?
Ans: Glass
1. I am an element that has been known to mankind since the 18th century (1790).
2. I am the only metal that can burn in a pure nitrogen atmosphere.
3. I am present in meteorites and was also found in the rock samples brought from the moon
by Apollo 11 and the subsequent missions.
4. I got my name from one of the Greek gods, which means ‘enormous strength’.
5. If I were the chief component of the Titanic Ship, the ship would not have sunk in the
Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
6. I am a member of the first d-transition series of the Periodic Table, indeed the second.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Titanium

1. I am a natural phenomenon.
2. Although I am associated with particular substances,
3. I can be induced to occur in substances that are not associated with me.
4. I am associated with the emission of small particles such as electrons and photons from
atomic nuclei.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Radioactivity

1. My name does not immediately imply energy change but that is what I am.
2. I could be of negative or positive value.
3. I am told the more negative I am the more desirable I am.
4. Those elements on the left of the Periodic Table tend to have my positive values.
5. I measure how readily or otherwise an anion can be created from a neutral atom.
6. If I am usually recorded in kJmol-1 then,
Who am I?
 ANSWER: Electron Affinity

Riddle 2

1. I was first prepared in the laboratory as far back as 1818

2. I am a colourless ,viscous liquid with a freezing point of 4◦C

3. I am easily decomposed by heat or light to produce an explosive mixture.

4. My component atoms are derived from hydrogen and oxygen in equal proportions.

Who am I?

ANSWER: H2O2 or hydrogen peroxide.

RIDDLE 1

1. I am made up of symmetrical molecules

2. I am a hydrocarbon
3. My formula suggests that I am unsaturated but I am not
4. If I have 5 carbons in a ring then who am I?
Ans: Cyclopentane

RIDDLE 3
1. I am sometimes described as a rare element but I am more abundant in the earth’s
crust than sulphur and lead
2. I am a soft transition metal and named after the first mythical sons of the earth.
3. I have a high strength/weight ratio and so I am useful in the aircraft industry
4. I am the second element of the first d-transition series.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Titanium.

Riddle #3

1. I am described as an acid.
2. But I am not well known as an inorganic nor organic acid.
3. I am one of two such acids in the world.
4. I am responsible for the synthesis of all proteins and enzymes.
5. The difference between me and my sibling is my deficiency in one oxygen atom in
my sugar residue.
 6. Structurally I occur as a double strand held by strong hydrogen bonds, that coils into a
helix.
WHO AM I?

NSWER: Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA

A Riddle #3

1. I am an element and I occur in nature as diatomic molecules

2. I am also a colourless gas

3. Under pressure and on cooling I condense to give a blue liquid

4. My normal boiling point is -196oC

5. Though I have an even number of electrons I am paramagnetic

6. Ironically I am a supporter of combustion that kills, and I’m a supporter of life

WHO AM I?

Riddle #4

1. I am an inorganic substance.

2. My constituents consist of a metal and two non-metals

3. I am very corrosive.

4. I am usually prepared on industrial scale by electrolysis

5. I am used to saponify fats and oils to give hard soap

6. My cation is derived from a metal of atomic number 11

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: NaOH or Sodium Hydroxide or Caustic soda.

ANSWER: Oxygen or O2

ROUND 4 – Riddles
Riddle #1

1. I am a colourless gas with boiling point -61oC

2. I am only slightly soluble in in water and can be removed from water by boiling
3. I burn in air with a blue flame
4. I am a combination of two non-metallic elements
5. I have a characteristically bad smell that can be detected in very small amounts
6. Chemically I am a weak acid and also a reducing agent
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: H2S Riddle #3

1. I have been a useful friend of mankind for many centuries

2. I am an exceptionally ductile metal
3. Because I have only one electron in my valence shell I am considered a member of
the Main Group elements.
4. Chemically I behave as a transition element
5. If you love brass band music and admire artifacts from bronze then you know me
6. I am a reddish metal with a very high melting point
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Copper

or hydrogen sulphide
Riddle #3
1. We occur in nature as units of natural polymers.
2. We are set free when the polymers are hydrolysed.
3. There are 20 different kinds of us.
4. Chemically we are ampholytes.
5. We have both amino and carboxylic functional groups bonded to the same carbons.
6. Our polymers keep mankind alive
WHO ARE WE?
ANSWER: Amino acids

RIDDLE MC 16

1. You need to do very accurate measurements when I am in operation

2. It means I am one of the quantitative methods in science especially in Chemistry
3. Measurement of volumes is not of ultimate interest to me
4. An accurate analytical balance is a must.
5. When I am in operation formation of an insoluble precipitate is necessary.
6. The precipitate must be filtered, washed and dried to constant weight.
What am I?

Gravimetric Analysis

1. I am one of the several characteristic properties of an element

2. Unlike another property I know I possess both positive and negative values
3. Whether positive or negative one can be sure that in real terms the atom of the
element gains something
4. I am a measure of the willingness of the element to accept a precious gift.
5. Elements on the left of a Period of the Periodic Table generally have lower negative
values of me or sometimes positive values.
6. I am the exact opposite of first ionisation energy
Who am I?

Electron Affinity

1. I belong to a family of substances

2. The mention of the type of family we are would direct your mind to substances that
belong to that middle state of matter.
3. But no, I am and most family members are solids
4. My pure components are solids.
5. My larger component is reddish-brown in colour
6. My second component is a bluish-white metal which is a close neighbor of the first
7. Who am I?
8. Brass [copper – zinc alloy]

1. I am an integral part of that virtual piece of furniture

2. My members are perceived to be lazy and inactive
3. They think they belong to an upper class so they do not mix with commoners
4. Even if you provoke them they will not take notice of you.
5. Like similar parts of that furniture the mass of the individual members increases down
the street
6. I hide the nobility of my members by refusing to be associated with any natural
number.
Who am I?
Group zero/0
1. My origins date back to June 5, 1783.

2. I owe my existence to an experiment performed with a balloon filled with air on

that day

3. I bear the name of a fellow countryman who investigated the phenomenon

observed.

4. Try to heat the air in a balloon through its opening and you would see me at work

5. Because the air in the balloon, on heating becomes less dense the balloon begins

to rise.

6. If the volume of the balloon increases at constant pressure during the heating then

I am at play.

So who am I?

Charles’ Law

1. I am a loner in some respect

2. I was discovered by Ramsay and Travers in 1898

3. I was given the Greek name that means ‘stranger’

4. My atomic number is 54 atomic weight is 131

5. In the entire Periodic Table I am the only one with that alphabet as the first of my two

letter symbol

6. Currently I am the last but one element in Group 0, that class of nobility.
 Who am I?

Xenon (Xe)

1. I belong to a homologous series

2. Some of my members show geometric isomerism but I do not.

3. I have no branches in my carbon chain which serves as my backbone.

4. I decolourise bromine in tetrachloromethane

5. I also can undergo polymerisation under cationic, anionic and free radical conditions.

6. I have a total of four carbons in my molecules.

Who am I?

1-Butene OR But-1-ene

1. If I were in the military I would not qualify to be in the reconnaissance group.

2. I lack the ability to penetrate any place known or unknown

3. Luckily I am not a soldier, I am a product of nuclear decay

4. I have the properties of a wave

5. Of the known nuclear emissions my name suggests I am number one

6. I have a mass unit of four and proton number of two and I have the greatest ability to

cause mutation by ionization.

Who am I?

The Alpha particle/Emission

1. I normally would rent a one-room apartment

2. I am not rich enough to rent a two-room apartment

3. In my family the segregation is so strong that two groups are forced to sleep at the

opposite sides of the room

4. Age is not an important criterion

5. Segregation depends on the charge my family members carry

6. I use electricity to reduce the positive charge on one group and also reduce the

negative charge on the other groups

Who am I? Ans: Electrolysis

1. I am by no means cheap or easily obtained.

2. You have to carry out many experiments to obtain me.
3. You possibly have to draw many graphs as well.
4. You cannot simply predict me from a balanced chemical equation
5. I am a law but not a universal one in that sense
6. At a glance you can tell from me how the rate of a chemical reaction depends on its
reactant concentrations
Who am I?

Ans: Rate law

RIDDLE MC 26

1. I had my tertiary education at G-Poly

2. I exist in many food items
3. Strictly I am made up of two distinct parts
4. With hot water, my two parts can be identified
5. My prominent part constitutes 80 % of me and the other part only 20.0 % of me
6. I am present in corn, yam, plantain, rice sorghum and cassava and many more.
Who am I?

Ans: Starch

RIDDLE MC 27

1. My younger sibling is very much loved by everyone where ever he goes

2. No one takes notice of me and yet we have the same functional group
3. We are all at the primary level of our education
4. As an alkanol how much education do I need, no secondary nor tertiary for me
5. My functional group allows me to enjoy strong hydrogen bonds in my liquid state
6. I have 4 carbons, all in a straight chain as my backbone
Who am I?

1-Butanol or Butan-1-ol

1. In chemistry there are so many exceptions to the Rule or Law

2. Mine is extraordinary
3. You would find me in the Periodic Table
4. My colour is silvery white which is common to all who are in my family
5. I am a poor conductor of heat and a fair conductor of electricity
6. I am a metal sharing a common name with the first planet of the solar system
Who am I?

Ans: Mercury

1. I am an organic compound

2. Fortunately I was born with seven carbons, all in a straight chain as my backbone

3. I have only one sp2-hybridised carbon bonded to oxygen in that chain

4. I do not respond positively to Fehling’s and Tollens’ tests

5. I would form a beautiful, crystalline derivative with 2,4-dinotrophenylhydrazine if

given a chance

6. My sp2 carbon occupies the third position in the carbon chain

Who am I?

Ans: 3-heptanone

1. My beautiful colour is due to my complex anion and not the cation

2. My complex anion contains a metal covalently bonded to oxygen

3. On paper there are 11 atoms from three elements in my molecule

4. I am readily soluble in water to give a powerful oxidizing agent in acidic medium

5. My cation is derived from the third metal element of Group (I) of the Periodic Table

6. My complex anion which has the oxidizing power and is the source of my beautiful

orange colour has two atoms of the same transition element, with atomic number 24.

Who am I?

Ans: K2Cr2O7

RIDDLE MC 32

1. I am a red inorganic compound with a melting point of 196oC.

2. I am also an acidic oxide with a metal and oxygen as my constituent elements.
3. I am a powerful oxidizing agent, especially to organic compounds.
4. Since I am an anhydride, I dissolve in water to give a very strong acid which is also a
powerful oxidizing agent.
5. It is not surprising because my metal is in oxidation state of +6.
6. Steel electroplated with my metal has a bright appearance and is more resistant to
corrosion.
Who am I?
ANSWER: CrO3 or Chromium (VI) oxide

1. I am a hydrocarbon.
2. My carbons are in a ring.
3. My molecular formula would also suggest a straight chain hydrocarbon with one
triple bond.
4. My number of carbons is a product of two prime numbers.
5. I have something in common with benzene.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Cyclohexene
RIDDLE 1

1. I am a particle emitted by radioactive substances.

2. I am charged.
3. My range is small compared to other emissions.
4. I contain two protons and two neutrons.
 Who am I?
Alpha particle
1. My boiling point is 119oC
2. I am a liquid hydrocarbon
3. The numbers of carbon and hydrogen in my molecules are in a simple ratio of 1 to 2.
4. While my cousin who has the same molecular formula as I do decolorize bromine in
CCl4, I do not
5. If I have 7 carbons in each of my molecules then who am I?
Answer: C7H14 cycloheptane

1. There are two important laws in science standing in my name

2. I was born in 1791 in South London in to a poor family

3. For that reason I could only receive formal education up to the basic level

4. But I did not lose hope, I educated myself by reading science textbooks

5. In my active years I made significant contribution to the field of electromagnetic

induction, electrical transformers, electric generation and electrochemistry.

6. I retired as Professor of Chemistry

Who am I?

Ans: (Michael) Faraday

1. I guess I was born in the country of pyramids

2. I am manufactured on industrial scale in all the industrialised world
3. I am a binary compound with tetra atomic molecules
4. I have a lot in common with methane and others that have central atoms with sp3
hybridised orbitals
5. Unlike them my fourth orbital is not occupied
6. I therefore have a pyramidal shape with nitrogen at the apex and three hydrogens
forming a trigonal base
Who am I?
Ans: Ammonia NH3
1. I occur all around you to the extent that I am sure I am taken for granted

2. I am not an animal but I do contribute to the well being of the animal kingdom

3. I am an organometallic compound

4. My organic part is made up of 5 rings, 4 of them holding hands and carrying

appendages

5. My metal component is derived from a Group (II) element of the Periodic Table

6. I catalyse the transformation of the CO2 in the atmosphere and water into

carbohydrates

Who am I?

Ans: Chlorophyll

1. In the animal kingdom the phenomenon is called multiple birth

2. The products of multiple birth share several common characteristics

3. The bottom line is that they all come from the same parentage

4. I am a phenomenon in the chemical world

5. I allow compounds of similar or even divergent looks to claim the same parentage

6. I occur when more than one compound with the same number of atoms from the same

set of elements but having different structures exist.

What am I?

Ans: Isomerism

1. We constitute a system that abounds in nature.

2. Each one of us has two acknowledged phases.

3. The phases are described as dispersed and continuous.

4. My system may be classified as a sol, emulsoid, or gel depending on the level of

attraction between the dispersed and continuous phases.

 5. Smoke, foams, gelatin, ice creams, cooked starch and aerosol sprays are well known

examples of me

6. At least one phase of any member has particle size between 10-9 to 10-6 m

Who am I?

Ans: Colloids/ Colloidal solutions/ Colloidal systems

Riddle #4

1. I am very useful in the identification of compounds and elements.

2. I am even comfortable with elements with single or several isotopes.

3. The essential requirement is that the substance under investigation should be able to form
a vapour in a vacuum.

4. One of the notable parts of me is a magnet

5. Ions are produced from the substance when I am in use.

6. Ions are recorded and identified as mass over charge ratios.

WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Mass Spectrometer

ROUND 4 – Riddles

Riddle #1

1. I have atomic number96 and atomic weight 247.

2. I was discovered in Chicago in the United States of America in 1944.
3. I have 13 known isotopes.
4. I was formed by helium bombardment of a certain nuclide.
5. In the Periodic Table I come after the element americium.
6. I was named after a French couple who made a name in radiochemistry.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: CURIUM//Cm

Riddle #1

1. I am a white crystalline compound

2. I am not a covalent compound so I easily dissolve in water

3. I am derived from two elements, one metallic one non-metallic

4. I do impart yellow colour to a blue flame

5. When chlorine water is bubbled through my aqueous solution the solution turns brown

6. This means my anion is derived from an element in Group 7or 17 with atomic mass 80

WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Sodium bromide or NaBr

PROBLEM OF THE DAY

You are provided with about 250 cm3 of a mixture of two organic solvents, one with a

boiling point of 65oC and the other with a boiling point of 80oC. Outline a method by

which the two solvents can neatly be separated.

SOLUTION:

1. The liquid mixture is transferred into a 500 cm3 round bottom flask with a funnel.

2. A few boiling chips are added.

3. The flask is clamped over a water bath or in a heating mantle.

4. A fractionating column is connected to the flask, followed by a still head with a

thermometer.

5. A water/Liebig condenser with a receiver adapter is attached.

6. With the water running in the condenser and a receiver in place, the heating of the
water bath is started.

7. As the mixture boils drops of the first solvent collect in the receiver.

8. The temperature is watched and the moment it rises to 65oC the receiver is changed
and the collection of the first solvent begins.

9. When all the first solvent distills off, the temperature drops.
 10. The receiver is changed, the bath temperature increased and kept at a steady
temperature until all the second solvent distills off.

1. The In the scientific method, I am an empirical procedure.

2. I am used to verify, refute, or validate a hypothesis.
3. I provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a
particular factor is manipulated.
4. I vary greatly in goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedures and logical
analysis of the results.
5. Researchers also use me to test existing theories or new hypotheses to support or disprove
them.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Experiment

11. distillation is stopped when about 5 cm3 is left in the flask.

1. I am a collection of some basic statements.

2. These are described as postulates by scientists.
3. For gases at ordinary temperatures and pressure, I do not acknowledge the presence of
their units, molecules or atoms.
4. I am able to explain why gases exert pressure.
5. If I only begin to see the sizes of the molecules or atoms of gases when the gases are
under very high pressures or at very low temperatures, then
Who am I?
ANSWER: Kinetic Theory of Matter/Gases or Kinetic Molecular Theory of
Matter/Gases.

1. I am an element discovered in 1826.

2. I am one of those elements whose smallest units are not atoms but molecules.
3. I have a boiling point of about 59oC.
4. I am used in making fumigants, flame proofing agents, water purification compounds,
sanitizers and many more useful products.
 5. I am the only liquid non–metallic element and my colour is reddish–brown.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Bromine

1. I am a type of gas.
2. I exhibit a tendency to condense.
3. So I am not an ideal gas.
4. My equation of state is similar to that of an ideal gas;
5. But the volume term is smaller by a quantity that takes the actual volume of my
molecules into account.
Who am I?
ANSWER: van der Waals gas

1. I am a process in chemistry and other related fields.

2. I am usually very destructive but if properly controlled can provide lots of benefits.
3. While my reactants are usually organic matter, water vapour is formed as a product.
4. A poisonous gas or a greenhouse gas or both may be formed in addition to the water
vapour depending on the circumstances.
5. I usually provide heat and sometimes light but it is the former which is most useful to
Ghanaians especially the Ministry of energy.
1. Who I have nothing more than carbons and hydrogens in my molecule.
2. I react readily and separately with a mole each of bromine in trichloromethane and
cold, dilute and neutral KMnO4 solution both with drastic physical changes.
3. If I were a fully saturated compound I should be entitled to 16 hydrogen atoms in my
molecule but I am not.
4. I have a total of seven carbons in my molecule.
5. My active functional group is located between the last but one and the last but two
carbons from one end of the chain.
Who am I?
ANSWER: 2-Heptene or hept-2-ene

am I?
ANSWER: Combustion
 1. I occur when a wave encounters the boundary between the media.
2. I return the incident wave back into the medium of incidence.
3. In doing so, I do not permit transmission of the wave into the other medium.
4. I only occur for a limited range incidence angles.
5. And only when the wave speed in the medium of incidence is smaller than the wave
speed in the other medium.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Total internal reflection

1. I am a d-transition metal.
2. I was used by the pre-Columbian Indians of South America.
3. I was not noticed by any Western scientists until 1735.
4. I do occur freely in nature but sometimes, I am found in deposits of gold-bearing
sand.
5. I am dense, malleable, ductile and very resistant to corrosion; that is why I am used in
making jewellery, wires, electrical contact sets and laboratory vessels.
6. My name originated from a Spanish word meaning “silver-like” and I have an atomic
number 78.
Who am I

ANSWER: Platinum

1. I am a naturally occurring compound belonging to a renowned family of compounds.

2. I am a white solid, but appear yellowish when contaminated with impurities.
3. Among my family members, I was the first to be discovered, structurally characterized
and synthesized in the laboratory.
4. I am supposed to be a vital amine but chemically am an organic acid not a base, which is
a contradiction.
5. I am used as a food preservative, a flour improver in bakeries and an animal food
additive.
6. I am the major component of the citrus family or fruits.
 Who am I?
ANSWER: Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid

1. I am a transport mechanism.
2. I can transfer energy through material media.
3. I am effective in both liquids and solids.
4. I transfer energy without the transfer of material particles of a medium.
5. So I am able to transfer energy through vacuum.
6. I transmit energy in the form of waves.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Radiation

Riddle #3
1. I belong to a family of techniques, named as if the colourless do not belong.
2. I and the rest of the family constitute a general method for separating mixtures.
3. When any of us is in operation, there is always one kind of competition or the other
among the constituents of the mixture being separated.
4. I, just like the others, have a stationary phase and a moving phase.
5. The competition or the race involves electrostatic or physical adsorption or partition.
6. In my case different ions in the mixture compete for ionic sites on the stationary phase.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Ion Chromatography

1. I was the eldest son of a provincial lawyer and royal official, who lost his position in the
French Revolution of 1789.
2. I was born in 1778, and therefore grew up during both the French and Chemical
Revolutions.
3. I analyzed the compositions of Earth’s atmosphere at different altitudes.
4. I discovered the element Boron, when some of my colleagues and I were working on a
project.
5. Two gas laws, one about variation of volume of a gas with temperature at constant
pressure and a second one about ratio of combining gases were attributed to me.
6. I requested that the Law about variation of volume with temperature be attributed to
Jacque Charles because I used much of his unpublished data from 1787.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Gay-Lussac (Joseph Louis)

1. You cannot touch me with your bare fingers whether I am in my natural state or in an
aqueous solution.
2. As a solid I am highly hygroscopic.
3. I am usually prepared in Ghana and elsewhere in West Africa in semi – large
quantities using not so sophisticated set – ups.
4. In other parts of the world I am produced by electrolysis.
5. I am supposed to be caustic, though needed for making soft soap.
Who am I?
ANSWER: KOH or Caustic Potash

1. I am an organic compound with molecules containing a line or plane of symmetry.

2. I have no rings.
3. My molecular structure can be likened to that of a bird, a central body with two wings
of equal length on the sides.
4. The carbonyl group constitutes the body of the bird.
5. The wings are three sp3 carbons each on both sides of the carbonyl.
Who am I?
ANSWER: 4–Heptanone

RIDDLE #2

1. I possess a carbon-oxygen double bond

2. I am not an acid or a derivative of an acid.

3. The arms of my carbon-oxygen unit consist of a 2 carbon unit and a three carbon unit.

4. I have no other functional group

Who am I?

ANSWER: 3-Hexanone

ROUND 4 – Riddles

Riddle #1

1. I am a binary compound
2. I possess a very symmetrical molecule
3. Although I am an endothermic compound I possess some special chemical stability;
4. I am a storehouse of conjugation and delocalisation .
5. My six carbons each bonded to a hydrogen are in a ring
6. I undergo selectively reactions that respect the status of my stability
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Benzene

ROUND 4 – Riddles

Riddle #1

1. I am a physical process.
2. Someone might think that I cheat nature
3. I am able to make some bodies disappear into the thin air
4. But to think of it certain purifications would not be possible without me
5. Some of the air fresheners and pesticides work because I am available to help.
6. Camphor and iodine are two of my several friends and they know me very well.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Sublimation

Riddle #3
1. I am an inorganic compound.
2. I am derived from a metal and a non-metal
3. I exist in two crystalline forms.
4. One of my crystalline forms usually coloured reddish yellow, is called litharge
5. My other crystalline form is yellow in colour and is traditionally referred to as massicot
6. I am easily reduced to my metal component when I am heated with carbon or hydrogen
7. My metal is the last member of Group 4 or 14
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Lead II oxide or PbO

Riddle #2

1. I was born in Germany in July 1841 and attended school in Hamburg till the age 16
2. I then started apprenticeship in pharmacy and completed that in 1862.
3. I then embarked on postgraduate studies in Chemistry and received my PhD degree
Chemistry in 1864
4. I worked as Chemistry lecturer in Germany, France and Portugal before returning to
Germany in 1872.
5. I made a name in carbohydrate chemistry and developed a reliable reagent for reducing
sugars
6. This reagent is named after me and you know it as Silver Mirror Test.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: (Bernhard Christian Gottfried) TOLLENS

Riddle #3
1. I am a binary compound made up of triatomic molecules.
2. My name suggests that if I were a boxer I’d belong to the heavy weight group
3. I am not as common as the binary compound derived from my brother.
4. I am a liquid of boiling point 101.4oC
5. I am left as residue after a prolonged electrolysis of binary compound of my brother.
6. I am used as moderator in nuclear reactors

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: - D2O or Heavy water

Riddle #3
1. We have been known to mankind since very early times.
2. We are among the few elements which mankind finds everywhere either in the pure
form or in the combined state
3. We are indeed allotropes of the same element.
4. Take us away from the earth and there will be no life as we know it
 5. Though we are in a way siblings our beauties are strikingly different.
6. One of us is the hardest natural substance known to mankind

WHO ARE WE?

ANSWER: - (Allotropes of) CARBON

Riddle #2

1. I am a chemical reaction normally associated with organic compounds

2. I am an addition reaction.
3. I can be used as a test for the presence of an unsaturated bond
4. My progress can be followed by the disappearance of a brown colour
5. When I am in progress no fumes are evolved
6. My main reagent involves the third member of the halogen group
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Bromination of unsaturated compounds/alkenes

(do not accept bromination of benzene)
Riddle #1

1. I was born in 1837.

2. My parents are Russians so you can guess my country of birth.
3. My father was an Army Officer.
4. Chemistry students love and often quote or use the rule that I am named after.
5. My rule governs the addition of unsymmetrical reagents to double bonds,
6. I was also the first Chemist to synthesize 4-membered and 7-membered rings which until
that time were considered not stable enough to be isolated.

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Vladimir Markovnikov.

Riddle #1

1. I am a spontaneous transformation.
2. Some scientists would describe me as mother to daughter transformation.
3. The biologist would regard part of me as an unfortunate and avoidable process.
4. This mother to daughter transformation involves a loss of 4 mass units and two units of
charge.
5. No matter the mother population and where and when I occur it takes the same time for
50% of the mothers to produce daughters.
6. The particles ejected from the mothers’ womb have very weak penetrating ability.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Alpha-decay

Riddle #2

1. I am a physical process often carried out under a chemistry umbrella

2. But to think of it I am a process taking place everywhere and all the time
3. To animals, especially humans, I am experienced whenever an idea comes up in a very
clear form.
4. Normally but not always I prefer to deal with saturated solutions.
5. I can also be a powerful analytical tool.
6. In the end solids with clearly defined shapes are formed through me
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Crystallization

Riddle #4

1. I like it big because everything about me is big.

2. I contain many, many smaller units combined in a chemical reaction.
3. My independent units will decolorize bromine dissolved in trichloromethane.
4. The actual carbon-hydrogen ratio in my independent unit molecules is 2:4.
5. My manufacture has provided employment for many throughout the world including
sanitation officers.
6. I am not biodegradable and despite my usefulness, I have become a threat to the
environment.

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Polythene/Polyethene
Riddle #3
1. I am a metallic element which when freshly cut has a silvery appearance
2. I was discovered as far back as 1808 by Davy and named after a town in Scotland.
3. My atomic number 38, and hence electronic configuration puts me in Group 2
4. As a metal in the 5th Period I am softer than my predecessor and react more vigorously
with water.
5. I spontaneously ignite in air if I am finely divided and impart a beautiful crimson colour
to the flame
6. For this reason I am used in fireworks

WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Strontium

1. We are two very close friends

2. Our chemical composition is the same
3. We give off CO2 with mineral acids
4. We are both cave dwellers
5. While I grow from the floor upwards, my associate defies nature and grows from the
ceiling downward.
6. If we both contain calcium, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen then who are we?
ANSWER: Stalactites and stalagmites

1. In my natural state I am gaseous, made up of two different elements

2. I have two pi bonds in my molecule
3. In my pure form, I am colourless and odourless
4. I am relatively non-polar because of my structure.
5. Despite this I can easily be compressed, going from the gaseous state straight into the
solid state
6. My solid form has a nick-name ‘Dry-Ice’
Who am I?
ANSWER: CO2 or carbon (IV) oxide.
1. If you have my qualities it means you are strong and firm.
2. Without me how could industrialization in the 20th and 21st Centuries have been possible?
3. But I am a mere solution.
4. And I am a solution of a kind because both my solvent and solute are solids.
5. If I contain a certain percentage of carbon then I am supposed to be mild.
6. Electroplating me with chromium produces a material that can be used for making cutlery
and utensils.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Steel

1. I am an inorganic salt.
2. I am soluble in water, ethanol, methanol and propanone.
3. I possess a metal cation and a complex anion.
4. My anion is made up of another metal and oxygen.
5. Apart from being a powerful oxidizing agent, I can be used as a disinfectant at home.
6. My characteristic purple colour is due to this my complex anion.
Who am I?
ANSWER: KMnO4 or Potassium tetraoxopermanganate (VII).

1. I have units of kJmol-1.

2. I am a characteristic property of chemical substances.
3. You can tell the stability of substances by a close look at me.
4. I am associated with synthetic or transformation reactions.
5. When it is synthesis I am not just interested in any kind of synthetic reaction.
6. The synthesis should involve the elements of the substance in their standard states.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Standard Enthalpy of formation / Standard Heat of Formation

1. I was born in 1859 in Sweden and received a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1903.
2. My ancestors were farmers but my father and one uncle decided to go into academia.
3. I discovered in my childhood that I was gifted in arithmetical calculations.
4. I entered University of Uppsala in 1876 to study mathematics, physics and chemistry.
5. I did not like the place much as facilities for practical physics were lacking and so I left to
go and work under a Professor at the Swedish Academy of Sciences.
6. I wrote a thesis on electrolytes, including acids and bases for which reason the first theory
of acids and bases was named after me.
Who am I?

ANSWER: (Svante) Arrhenius.

ROUND 4 – Riddles

Riddle #1

1. Sometimes I am visible, sometimes not so visible and you have to fish me out.
2. All substances in the elemental form do not want to have anything to do with me
3. I trace my ancestry to the oxygen atom.
4. At the end of the day I am only a number.
5. With regard to oxygen I am a negative integer, with hydrogen I am a positive integer.
6. Though Reduction and Oxidation constitute an inseparable pair I am stuck only to the
latter
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Oxidation number/state

1. I am a cation
2. I am derived from an element in the main group of the periodic table
3. My element is white, soft, and ductile.
4. Whereas I am soluble in water and quite comfortable in aqueous medium, the element
I am derived from is not soluble.
5. When I am in an aqueous solution, I am partly responsible for the solution’s inability
to lather with soap.
6. I burn in steam and I am a constituent of several, useful light alloys.
Who am I?

Answer: Mg  [magnesium ion]

 ROUND 4 RIDDLES
RIDDLE 1
1. I am a solid solution and known for my resilience
2. Without carbon I would succumb to any minute stress and weather condition.
3. I am malleable when I am red hot.
4. My strength and beauty are increased when small amounts of other transition
elements are added to me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Steel.
1. If I were a Minister of Finance, I would be commended for lowering taxes all the time.
2. But I am not a Minister, I am only a chemical.
3. When I am in active service, no matter the duration, my character or integrity does not
change although my outward appearance may change.
4. I have no effects on heats of reaction
5. My special gift is to lower the activation energy of a system with which I am working
Who am I?

ANSWER: Catalyst

1. I belong to a class of organic compounds.

2. Despite the fact that I belong to a class of organic compounds, I am sometimes
referred to as a derivative of another class of compounds.
3. I am sensitive to both mineral acids and alkali.
4. I am hydrolyzed by mineral acids to give two neutral molecules A and B; A gives
effervescence with NaHCO3 and B evolves hydrogen with sodium metal.
5. While A has 4 carbons in a straight chain B has only one carbon.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Methyl butanoate
1. I am an important member of the Main Group elements.
2. Indeed I am one of the metals in that group with a silvery-white colour.
3. I can exist in three allotropic forms.
4. I am resistant to most of the common reagents.
5. I am therefore used in electroplating sheets of steel in the industry for the manufacture of
food containers.
6. I combine with copper to form a popular alloy used by sculptors.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Tin or Sn

1. I am a chemical.
2. My name appears to be a generic name for the whole family.
3. I have a metal and a non-metal as my constituent elements.
4. My constituent elements are very harmful to man but I am harmless.
5. If I were a British citizen I would probably be a member of House of Commons.
6. Without me most of your foods will be tasteless.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Sodium Chloride or NaCl or Common salt

1. I am a group of lines in the spectrum of an atom.

2. I am described by a term formula that was discovered in 1885.
3. My series limit as given by the Rydberg formula is one-quarter the Rydberg constant.
4. I am the only group of hydrogen atom spectral lines with visible wavelengths.
5. My first term corresponds to a red wavelength.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Balmer series (or Balmer lines)

1. I am a sudden digression or change of course.

2. I am a trigonometric ratio involving the legs of a right angle triangle.
3. I am the part of a survey line that is straight.
4. I am a straight line touching a curve without crossing it.
5. As a trigonometric entity, I am the ratio ‘opposite/adjacent’.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Tangent

ROUND 4 RIDDLES

RIDDLE 1
1. My name is a big contradiction.
2. I am supposed to be hard but I am not even a solid.
3. I am told I am hard simply because I am harsh on soaps but not on detergents.
4. I am usually an aqueous solution containing small amounts of multivalent cations.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Hard water

RIDDLE 1
1. My aqueous solution is very colourful and characteristic of me.
2. I contain a metal cation which does not contribute to that purple colour.
3. I am a solid and good oxidising agent with gram formula mass of 158.
4. My purple colour is attributed to the presence of a transition metal in my complex anion.
Who am I?
ANSWER: KMnO
Riddle #3

1. I had very little formal education in my childhood.

2. I was the third of 4 siblings.
3. At the age of 14 in 1805 I started an apprenticeship in bookbinding.
4. I started educating myself during the apprenticeship by reading science books.
5. I became a Professor of Chemistry later in my life and I discovered the laws of
Electrolysis.
6. I also discovered the electric motor and constructed the first dynamo
 WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Michael Faraday

Riddle #2

1. If I were covalent molecule you would describe me as a diatomic molecule

2. But I am not a covalent molecule because my units carry fully formed charges.
3. One part of me is derived from a metal and the other from a non-metal.
4. Although I am a chemical, an inorganic compound I am universally known as a
condiment
5. My common name suggests I am a salt of or for a particular type of furniture.
6. My metal portion has atomic mass of 23 and the non-metal part atomic mass of 35.5
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Sodium chloride/NaCl
Riddle #1

1. In my town I live in a neighbourhood reserved for the rich citizens

2. Indeed my closest neighbours are very rich if not the richest in town but unfortunately I
am not.
3. Everyone knows me as a good messenger, able to send electrical power to all corners of
your country cheaply and quickly.
4. I have been known to mankind for at least the past 5,000 years
5. As an element I reside in nearly the last room of what may be regarded as the transit
quarters of the Periodic Table.
6. Bronze and brass are two of my important alloys.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: Copper/Cu
Riddle #3

1. I am the third born of three siblings of a closely knit family.

2. In our house obesity is unknown since we all keep our body weight index below average.
3. Despite being the youngest I am the heaviest.
4. We deal in the acid trade, indeed our oldest sibling is synonymous with acidity, whether
organic or inorganic.
5. I and my siblings we form about 75% of the mass of the universe.
6. Of the three of us I am the only radioactive one with a half-life of 12 1/2 years.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: TRITIUM

Riddle #2

1. I consider myself a physical attribute.

2. I can also be a powerful analytical tool.
3. I am usually associated with one of the phases of matter in which the Kinetic Energy of
the constituent units is neither at its maximum nor at its minimum.
4. I vary with pressure
5. I am regarded by scientists as a point but I do not share their point of view
6. If you know what 100oC is to water then you know who I am?
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: BOILING POINT
Riddle #2
1. I studied at Canterbury College in Christchurch and got BA, MA and BSc degrees in that
order.
2. I was the 4th of 12 siblings, my father a farmer and mother, a teacher.
3. In 1895, at the age of 24, I enrolled as the first Research Scientist at the Cambridge
Cavendish Laboratory.
4. I left the Laboratory in 1902 and worked in Canada as a Chemist and Physicist, returning
after 5 years to England as Professor in University of Manchester.
5. I was regarded as the father of the Nuclear Age, having discovered the α- and β-particles
and receiving a Nobel Prize in 1908.
6. My experiment involving firing α–particles at a metal foil led to the discovery of the
modern structure of the atom.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Ernest Rutherford
Riddle #6

1. I am a chemical element.
2. I cannot be prepared by any chemical means; I am obtained only by electrolysis.
3. I am so reactive that I react with most elements in the Periodic Table.
4. I can attack your precious metals, gold and platinum if they are hot.
5. I have atomic 9 so you can work out which group of the Periodic Table I belong.
6. According to Pauling’s scale I am the most electronegative element known.
WHO AM I?

ANSWER: FLOURINE
RIDDLE 2
1. I am an element and I exist in several allotropic forms.
2. One allotrope, the commonest one is yellow in colour.
3. 1 am used to manufacture matches and fireworks.
4. I gave birth to the process of vulcanization of rubber.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Sulphur

RIDDLE 2
1. I am a law of science dealing with gases.
2. I am most relevant when several gases are put in one, closed vessel.
3. Provided none of the gases react with one another chemically, I allow the gases to
retain one of their physical parameters.
4. I hate peer pressure and insist that each member exerts the pressure it would have
exerted in the absence of others.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Law of Partial Pressure.
RIDDLE 1
1. I have worked well for chemists although I am only a perception or an idea on paper.
2. I believe in hybrid-vigour.
3. I can account for the shapes of many simple and complex molecules.
4. By me, it is perfectly allowed to mix s, p and d orbitals to give new orbitals.
Who am I?
ANSWER; Hybridisation
RIDDLE 3
1. I am made up of triatomic molecules, containing polar covalent bonds.
2. I have a bent shape.
 3. Since my central atom is not as electronegative as my younger sibling, hydrogen
bonding between my molecules is not impressive.
4. I am therefore gaseous and you will notice my presence as soon as I come around
since I have a distinctive rotten egg smell.

Who am I?
ANSWER: H2S
RIDDLE 4

1. I am an inorganic substance made up of three different elements in the ratio 1 : 1 : 3

2. I am highly temperamental and I produce brown fumes when I am agitated.
3. Though I am a member of the Brönsted – Lowry family, in most of my reactions I am
acting as an oxidizing agent.
4. Nitrogen is one my elements in addition to oxygen and hydrogen
Who am I?
ANSWER: HNO3 or trioxonitrate (V) acid.

RIDDLE 2
1. I am a silvery – white metal, not a transition element but known to the ancient man.
2. I have about nine stable isotopes and three allotropes, named α, β, γ.
3. I am resistant to most chemicals and I can be polished to give a beautiful, white lustre
4. When I am coated over steel, the resulting metal can be used in making cans for
preserving food.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Tin / Sn

RIDDLE 2

1. I am an organic compound with a total of seven carbons in an open chain.

2. I am variously described as unsaturated
3. I decolourise dilute aqueous KMnO4
4. My characteristic functional group is between carbons 4 and 5from one end of the chain
What is my systematic name?
ANSWER: 3 – heptane
 RIDDLE 2

1. My nickname in English would suggest I am always sarcastic or bitter

2. I may be bitter but you dare not taste me because I can give you very nasty burns on your
fingers and tongue.
3. I am not manufactured in Ghana even though my raw material is plentiful in Ghana
4. Without me how can you produce your hard soap?
Who am I?
ANSWER: Sodium hydroxide / Caustic soda

1. I belong to a kingdom of twins.

2. You may describe me as being conservative because I resist changes.
3. I change only if the new idea will make a significant impact.
4. I am a two – in – one entity since one cannot function without the other.
5. The two parts in me have a conjugate relationship.
6. I resist changes in pH when small quantities of either an acid or a base are added to
the medium in which I am present.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Buffer

1. I am a solid solution.
2. My solvent is a liquid of a kind, and my solute is a solid.
3. My solvent bears the name of the planet in the solar system nearest to the sun.
4. My solute belongs to Group 1.
5. My solute is the first metal of Group 1.
Who am 1?

ANSWER: Lithium amalgam

 1. I am the simplest in my family.
2. But I am not that simple to describe accurately,
3. Even though I am made up of only two particles,
4. One of which is fundamental.
5. The first somewhat successful model of me was constructed by Niels Bohr
6. Who calculated my energy spectrum?
Who am I?

ANSWER: Hydrogen atom

1. I am a metal, and my origin is rather obscure hence my name.

2. When I am pure I am shiny and bluish–white in colour.
3. I am a confused citizen of the Periodic Table, because though I live among the
transition metals my chemistry mostly belongs to that of the Main Group Elements.
4. I am a constituent member of an alloy that has served mankind since ancient times.
5. If all elements are arranged in alphabetical order, I am surely among the last two.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Zinc

RIDDLE 4

1. I was born in 1627 in the Republic of Ireland

2. I was educated in England and lived and worked there thereafter.
3. I was the first scientist to perform controlled experiments and publish the method and
results for the benefit of mankind.
4. I showed that at a constant temperature if a volume of a gas is decreased, the pressure
increases proportionately
Who am I?
ANSWER: Robert Boyle
RIDDLE 1

1. I am a promoter of a kind of association

2. Through me a relatively strong linkage is formed between individuals or groups.
3. I am therefore a type of covalent bond
4. I believe in one bond at a time between neighbours so whether in Greek or English my
name starts with the alphabet S.
Who am I?
ANSWER: sigma bond / single covalent bond

RIDDLE 4

1. I am both a chemical and a physical process

2. Electrons are transferred during my operation
3. Unlike my cousin, I am content with a self-contained one room apartment
4. I only need external assistance in the form of electricity
5. I cannot work with AC but I am happy with DC.
6. I convert electrical energy into chemical energy
Who am I?
ANSWER: Electrolysis RIDDLES

RIDDLE 1

1. If were in politics I would certainly be in the opposition party

2. I resist changes, especially if they are insignificant

3. If it comes to gender it is not easy where to place me, because I have both the positive

and the negative genes.

4. This runs through all family members

5. I am able to mob up small quantities of acids and bases

6. I play an important role in the human physiology.

Who am I?

ANSWER: BufferRIDDLE 1
1. I am a law
2. I am based on some observations in the field of transportation
3. The movement may involve moving from one point in an open space to another point.
 4. The movement may alternatively involve moving through a small opening in a closed
space.
5. Whichever be the case, it is observed that the heavier the body in motion, the slower it
is.
6. To be more precise the speed of the transportation is inversely proportional to the
square root of molar mass
Who am I?
Ans: Graham’s law of Effusion / Diffusion

RIDDLE 3

1. I am a constituent of an atom.
2. There are as many of me in an atom as the atomic number of the atom.
3. I have the smallest mass of all the constituents of an atom.
4. I am negatively charged.
Who am I?
Electron
RIDDLE 2
1. I am not interested in enthalpies of reaction because however hard I may try I cannot
change them
2. I am also not able to alter equilibrium constants
3. No matter how harsh the conditions may be I never change
4. Of course this is not absolutely true, because my physical appearance may change
sometimes.
5. Activation energy is often my target
6. I can lower but not raise activation energies.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Catalyst

RIDDLE 3
1. I am an element but I exist as molecules
2. I was discovered in 1825
 3. My name is derived from a Greek word which means I cannot boast of a pleasant
smell
4. I am a dark-red, heavy liquid, never found in my native state.
5. Sea water is a good source of me
6. After precipitating all the sodium chloride from concentrated sea water, just bubble
some chlorine gas through it and I shall appear
Who am I?
ANSWER: Bromine
RIDDLE 1
1. I am felt or seen anywhere I come into contact with equilibrium process
2. I am effective only if I and the equilibrium have something in common
3. My effect is more dramatic when solutions of sparingly soluble salts are considered.
4. Try dissolving separately Ca(OH)2 in water and then is sodium hydroxide solution
5. The solubilities are different because I am in operation
Who am I?
ANSWER:Common-ion Effect.

RIDDLES
RIDDLE 1
1. I am a state of matter.
2. Samples of me have definite volume.
3. At the microscopic level, I am made up of particles that move chaotically at ordinary
temperatures.
4. The motion of my constituent particles is however limited.
5. Samples of me have a definite shape.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Solid
RIDDLE 4
1. I am a hydrated salt, quite bitter to taste
2. I am made up of a metal cation
3. Apart from my molecules of water of crystallisation my anion has two different non-
metal elements
4. My cation is derived from an element in Group 2 of the Periodic Table
5. During my preparation I crystallise out as a heptahydrated salt
6. I could be bought from a standard Pharmacy shop
7. I am a useful purgative
Who am I?
ANSWER: Epsom salt or Magnesium tetraoxosulphate (VI) heptahydrate or
MgSO4.7H2O
RIDDLE 1
1. I do occur in the uncombined state but that is rare
2. Often, I am in a combined state
3. The alchemists believed I am the oldest metal
4. The ancient Romans associated me with all successful plumbers
5. Indeed I am a metal among the Main Group Elements
6. I am the last member of Group (or 14) of the periodic Table with atomic number 82
Who am I?
ANSWER: lead
RIDDLE 3

1. I am a fundamental unit of matter.

2. I come in several varieties, but the number of different kinds of me is relatively small.
3. Indeed there are only about 112 known varieties of me.
4. Of the known varieties of me, 92 occur naturally.
5. I am the smallest unit of an element.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Atom
RIDDLE 2
1. I was born in the city of Turin in Italy in 1776
2. I studied for degrees in law at university
3. After graduation and during my practice as a lawyer I took private lessons in mathematics
and science, including chemistry.
4. I became interested and believed in the Theories of Dalton and Gay-Lussac although the
former did not believe the theory of the latter.
5. I did put out a hypothesis in chemistry which later became a law, which for almost half a
century my contemporaries did not accept
6. I hypothesised that, equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain
equal numbers of molecules
 Who am I?
ANSWER: (Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carl ) Avogadro
RIDDLE 2
1. I am a salt and at the same time a Bronsted and Lowry acid.
2. My anion is a simple one, one atom with a negative charge.
3. My cation is pentatomic.
4. All the atoms in me are derived from non-metals, three of them.
5. Add sodium hydroxide to me and a gas that evolves changes red litmus paper blue.
6. My anion will give a white precipitate with silver (I) ion.
Who am I?
ANSWER: NH4Cl or Ammonium chloride

RIDDLE 3

1. Apart from being chemical, there is nothing peculiar about me.

2. I have several siblings, encountered almost everywhere.
3. Some are known to be lazy and therefore are static.
4. Some, including me are hardworking and therefore are dynamic.
5. The Frenchman, Le Chatelier made several observations about me and published them for
the benefit of the scientific world.
6. I always have forward and backward processes.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Chemical Equilibrium
RIDDLE 2

1. I am an organic compound.
2. To be more precise, I am an alkanone.
3. I know I would fail the haloform test and so I do not try it.
4. My backbone is made up of 5 carbons in an open chain.
5. My isomeric friend tells me I am more symmetrical.
6. If I have no other carbon apart from the five, then
Who am I?
ANSWER: 3-Pentanone or pentan-3-one.
RIDDLE 2
1. I am a solid solution.
2. My solute is a Main group element.
3. My solvent is a d-transition element.
4. I am normally used in the chemical laboratory as a component of a reducing agent.
5. Including hydrogen, my solute is the 3rd member of Group 1.
6. My solvent is the only liquid metal known.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Sodium amalgam
RIDDLE 1

1. I am a famous simple formula.

2. I give the total energy of an object.
3. I am associated with a famous physicist whose fame I share.
4. I give the relation between mass and energy.
5. I contain a universal constant, the speed of light in vacuum.
Who am I?
ANSWER: 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2
RIDDLE 1
1. My existence was predicted as far back as 1871 by Mendeleev.
2. I was actually discovered in 1886 and named after a country.
3. I am a metalloid
4. Doped with Arsenic, Gallium or other elements, I am used as a transistor.
5. My oxide is transparent to infra-red. I am therefore used in optical equipment for
detecting infra-red.
6. I am named after a country whose executive leader carries the title chancellor.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Germanium

1. I am a Group in the Periodic Table.

2. Though my members individually have rooms in their houses to accommodate extra
electrons, they hardly welcome them.
3. They are rather quick at pushing out electrons to create even more vacant rooms.
4. My members feel more comfortable and stable moving about as electron deficient
entities.
 5. With the exception of my first member which is a metalloid the rest of us are all
metals.
6. My Group members are fond of expelling three electrons all at one go to form
trivalent cations,
Which group am I?

ANSWER: Group 3 or 13
1. I am a ternary aromatic compound.
2. My molecular formula is the same as the empirical formula.
3. I have a ring in my structure.
4. I am a white crystalline compound with a molecule containing six carbons.
5. My only functional group is an OH group.
6. This makes me acidic.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Phenol. (Do not accept Hydroxybenzene)

1. I am an inorganic salt, sparingly soluble in water.

2. I have 4 different elements, one metal and three non–metals in my formula.
3. In my normal form there is always a molecule of water hiding between two of my
remaining units.
4. When I am mixed with water I set to give a very hard material.
5. Paris is my favourite holiday city.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Plaster of Paris or CaSO4. ½ H2O

1. I am an inherent character of a substance very familiar to you

2. Diamond and steel are supposed to have the same trait as I have
3. I have a sibling, a character that cannot withstand stress especially when it is under fire.
4. I impart stability to this familiar substance
5. With me soaps do not lather well
6. Boiling cannot expel me either
Who am I?
ANSWER: Permanent Hardness of Water

am an element with a Greek name.

2. I exist in four allotropic forms.
3. I bear the ancient name of the planet Venus at sunrise.
4. Because I am very reactive, I am never found free in nature.
5. One of my allotropes in the pure form bursts into flames spontaneously in air .
6. I am a non–metal, an essential ingredient of all cell protoplasm, nervous tissues and
bones.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Phosphorus

1. I am virtually everywhere on this planet.

2. Though I am a stable compound it is my polymeric form that you are most familiar
with.
3. My polymers may or may not be edible.
4. My molecules can exist in the open straight chain form or in a heterocyclic form.
5. If you find me in my open chain form you can easily trap my alkanal functional
group.
6. Breakdown starch or cellulose by hydrolysis and you would find me.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Glucose

1. I regard myself as a derivative of a mother compound.

2. My mother compound and I both give effervescence with an aqueous solution of sodium
hydrogen trioxocarbonate (IV).
3. The presence of a chlorine atom in my molecule makes me a derivative.
4. My mother has a total of 3 carbon atoms.
5. The presence of chlorine in me enhances my ability to ionize, much better than my
mother.
6. There are two possible positions but the chlorine in me is positioned on the carbon where
its effect is less.
Who am I?
ANSWER: 3–Chloropropanoic acid (ClCH2CH2COOH)

1. You can find up to three elements in my molecule.

2. I am an inorganic compound with covalent bonds when I am pure.
3. In solution I ionize easily and readily to give three ions.
4. I am manufactured more than any other chemical in the world.
5. My concentrated solution is a viscous liquid and a powerful dehydrating agent.
6. I am used in preparing an ammonium salt which is a well-known fertilizer.
Who am I?
ANSWER: (Concentrared)Sulphuric acid or tetraoxosulphate (IV) acid or H2SO4

1. I am a hydrocarbon and a fully saturated one

2. The number of carbons in my molecule is a square of a prime number
3. I have a straight backbone, not bent and not branched
4. I am gaseous at room temperature and standard pressure
5. The number of hydrogens in my molecule is divisible by both 2 and 5
6. If I am a major component of the LPG used as a source of fuel in Ghana then
Who am I?
ANSWER: Butane
1. I am a member of the Main Group Elements in the Periodic Table.
2. My symbol is derived from my Latin name which means MARK.
3. I am not abundant in the earth’s crust but I am found in over 100 minerals.
4. I belong to Group 5 or 15 of the Periodic Table.
5. I am the heavier of the two semi–metals in that Group with atomic number 51.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Antimony (Sb)

1. I am an inorganic solid
2. I also occur naturally and can exist in several crystalline forms
3. I am variously called emery, ruby or sapphire depending on the impurity present in
me.
4. I have two natural isotopes and three artificial ones.
 5. Of all the elements I have the lowest melting point.
6. My liquid does not solidify even at absolute temperature zero unless there is external
pressure.
7. I am found everywhere in the universe except in the atmosphere of the earth.
8. I am used as a gas shield for arc welding.
9. In Ghana and elsewhere I am extensively used in filling ceremonial balloons.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Helium
10.
11. In my very pure form I have a high capacity to adsorb other substances onto my
surface.
12. It may not be obvious to you that I am ionic but I am easily electrolysed in my fused
state.
13. I am of course the raw material for the industry that justified the building of the
Akosombo Hydroelectric dam in Ghana in the sixties.
WHO AM I?
ANSWER: Alumina or Aluminium oxide
RIDDLE 2
1. I am an organic molecule and a member of the Brönsted and Lowry family.
2. Even with the chlorine atom in my molecule, I may be regarded as a daughter of a
member with the same family genes.
3. Including my characteristic functional group, I have three carbons in a chain.

4. My chlorine atom is bonded to the carbon atom next to the functional group.

Who am I?

ANSWER: 2-chloropropanoic acid

1. I help to kick out peer pressure, because I hate it.

2. But I am not in the Police service or the military.
3. I am only a scientific law helping gases to maintain order among them.
4. I ensure that unless there is a chemical reaction, each gas retains its belongings or
physical property as much as possible when they assemble.
5. I am particular about individual pressures.
6. I am named after the famous scientist who discovered me and also researched into the
composition of matter.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressure.
1. I am a binary compound with triatomic molecules.
2. My constituent elements are non–metallic.
3. I am formed when my central native element is burnt in air but I can also be prepared in
the laboratory by several methods.
4. I am therefore an oxide, and an acidic gas with a pungent smell.
5. I dissolve in water to produce an acid that has never been isolated as a pure substance.
6. Sulphur is the central atom in my bent molecule.
Who am I?
ANSWER: SO2 or Sulphur (IV) oxide.
1. I was born in an English town not too far from Manchester.
2. My father who was a book seller, wanted me to be an Engineer.
3. When I gained admission to Cambridge University I chose rather to read
mathematics.
4. I started working at the Cavsendish Laboratory also in Cambridge after graduation
and rose to become the Head of the prestigious Laboratory at the age of 28.
5. I did a lot of work on positively charged ions in electric and magnetic fields.
6. Despite my interest in positively charged ions I discovered the electrons and won a
Noble Prize for that in 1900 at the age of 50.
Who am I?

ANSWER: J. J. Thompson

1. I am a colourless, gaseous compound, made up of triatomic molecules.

2. I am only slightly soluble in water, giving a neutral solution.
3. Chemically, I am not reactive towards both oxidizing and reducing agents.
4. My molecules are made up of two different elements, both being non–metallic
elements in the ratio two to one (2 to 1).
5. I decompose on heating to generate a gas that supports combustion from the minor
element.
6. My major element is a close neighbour of the minor as they differ in atomic number
only by 1 and atomic mass by 2.
Who am I?

ANSWER: N2O or nitrogen (I) oxide

1. I have a beautiful, shiny black colour.

2. I am made up of diatomic molecules.
3. A molecule may be misnomer when applied to me, because I am a sparingly soluble
ionic salt.
4. I am precipitated when H2S gas is bubbled through a solution containing my cation.
5. My cation is derived from the last element of Group 4 or 14 of the Periodic Table.
Who am I?

ANSWER: PbS or Lead sulphide Lead (II) sulphide, galena

1. I am probably the most important fuel.

2. Because many fuels can be traced to me.
3. Even crude oil owes its existence to me.
4. I fuel the sun.
5. And the most devastating explosive devices.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Hydrogen

1. I am not sure I am what I am supposed to be.

2. I am an important virtual concept in chemistry.
3. Orbitals are my tools.
4. I am in the mixing business.
5. I am able to predict or explain the shape of molecules.
6. If my powers are derived from hybrid vigour then
Who am I?
 ANSWER: Hybridization

1. We live in that famous city designed and built by that Russian architect.
2. We live on the 4th avenue.
3. We are twins, with slightly different body–mass indices.
4. Despite the same parentage we have completely different looks and different abilities.
5. Whilst one of us is soft and very agreeable, the other is hard and uncompromising.
6. 6 and 12 are our favourite numbers.
Who are we?
ANSWER: Graphite and diamond OR Allotropes of carbon

1. I am a component of a measuring instrument.

2. I have a central electrode.
3. Which is surrounded by a cylindrical cathode.
4. I contain an inert gas in which an electron avalanche is generated.
5. In response to absorption of radiation in my active volume.
6. I am frequently paired with a counter.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Geiger-Mueller tube

1. I am a binary, covalent compound.

2. I have tetra-atomic molecules from two non–metallic elements.
3. I am quite popular as a compound from many angles.
4. I am the most favorite choice if a chemistry teacher wants an example of a weak family
member of Bronsted–Lowry or even the Lewis family.
5. I accept protons but not too eagerly or strongly.
6. I have a trigonal pyramidal shape with nitrogen as my central atom.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Ammonia (NH3)
1. If I were a soldier I would be in the first battalion.
2. But since I am only an element I belong to the first Group or Group I of the Periodic
Table.
3. I was discovered in 1807 and isolated by electrolysis.
4. I occur as the cation in naturally occurring mineral salts used in the manufacture of
inorganic fertilizer.
5. I am an extremely reactive metal.
6. My atomic and mass numbers are 19 and 39, respectively.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Potassium (K).
1. I am a common chemical process found in nature, laboratory and industry.
2. I am one of a set of twins.
3. I and my twin love each other so much that we are always together.
4. But in any conversation and action we oppose each other.
5. In terms of acquisition of property, while I am always bringing something home, my twin
is rather giving out family property.
6. We are visible when hydrocarbons burn in air or rusting of iron is taking place
Who am I?
1. ANSWER: Oxidation.
I belong to the couples’ Fellowship
2. As a couple we individually make sure we are compatible
3. We assist each other all the time
4. Any differences disappear when as a couple a bridge is established between us.
5. As a couple we never can re–establish the love between us once that love fades away
6. As a couple we are able to convert chemical energy into electrical energy
Who am I?
ANSWER: Primary Voltaic cell.

1. I am an organic compound made up of atoms from three different elements, carbon,

hydrogen and oxygen.
2. I am an aromatic compound with benzene as my nucleus.
3. I have two interesting functional groups.
4. My reaction with sodium hydroxide will lead to deprotonation and hydrolysis.
5. One product of hydrolysis, the smaller one is the ethanoate ion.
6. If I am a benzoic acid with an esterified phenolic group in the ortho position,
 Who am I?
ANSWER: Aspirin or Acetyl salicylic acid

1. I am a popular inorganic substance

2. I am not sweet, but I have a bitter and sharp taste
3. You dare not taste me because I will give your tongue a very strong burning sensation
4. I am a very soluble inorganic substance
5. My solution is used in the production of soap.
6. A drop of me in a blue flame will impart a bright orange-yellow colour.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Sodium hydroxide / caustic soda / NaOH.
1 I am an organic compound with the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in my
molecule.
2 I am quite rich in functional groups.
3 I have two double bonds and an alkanol in my molecule.
4 I have a backbone of six carbons in an open chain.
5 My first carbon which carries the alkanol functional group is just before the first double
bond
6 My second double bond is found on the fourth carbon.
What is my systematic name?

ANSWER: 2,4-Hexadien-1-ol Or Hexa-2,4-dien-1-ol.

7. I operate between two temperatures.

8. I accept thermal energy at a high temperature and
9. Reject thermal energy at a lower temperature.
10. I do useful mechanical work in the process.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Heat engine

1. I am a transition metal.
2. I have Swedish connections but I am not found there.
3. I have a melting point of 3410oC and boiling point of 5660oC.
4. I show multivalency of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in my compounds.
5. Because of my high melting point, I am used as filaments for electric lamps, electron and
television tubes.
6. My name and my symbol are as far apart as Tema and Wa.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Tungsten (W).

1. My early formal education was restricted to reading, writing and arithmetic.

2. I was the third of four siblings.
3. From age 14, and for 8 years, serving as an apprentice of a local bookbinder, I educated
myself by reading widely about science subjects.
4. From age 22, and employed as a chemical assistant of Davy Humphrey, his wife and
other scientists, I learned enough science to be able to carry out research on my own.
5. At age 39, I became Professor of chemistry at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich,
England.
6. I am credited with the two laws in Electrolysis
Who am I?
ANSWER: Michael Faraday.

1. I am an inorganic substance.
2. My hexa-atomic molecules could exist in the vapour state or solid state.
3. In the vapour state I am supposed to be a covalent compound.
4. My central atom, which is in oxidation state of +5 is an element of Group 5 or 15 of the Periodic
Table.
5. My other five atoms are identical, each with atomic mass of 35.5.
6. I am used in converting alkanoic acids into alkanoyl chlorides.
Who am I?
ANSWER: PCl5 or phosphorus pentachloride or phosphorus (V) chloride.

1. I am a law of nature.
2. I am named for a scientist who performed some of the experiments that led to my discovery.
3. I am a law of electromagnetism.
4. I describe the induced emf in a closed loop.
Who am I?
 ANSWER: Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction

Riddle #2
1. I was born in 1627 into a wealthy and influential family.
2. My father, a citizen of the Kingdom of Ireland was the Lord Treasurer.
3. Though I attended some prestigious schools, such as Eton, I never had any formal university
education.
4. Through self–tuition I became a foremost scientist and a member of the Royal Society of London.
5. I worked hard to invent a pump that could be used to create vacuum.
6. I am better known for my discovery of the relationship between pressure and volume of gases at
constant temperature.
Who am I?
ANSWER: (Robert) Boyle

1. I am a rare–earth element, a metal discovered in 1944 but isolated in 1947.

2. In scientific circles, I am known as a trans-uranium element.
3. My atomic number is 96 and atomic mass 247.
4. I have 13 known isotopes, all radioactive.
5. I am perhaps the only element named after two scientists.
6. If these two scientists are French physicists, then
Who am I?
ANSWER: Curium (Cm)

1. I have many industrial applications.

2. I cannot be engaged if there is no source of electrical power.
3. I hate alternating current since it makes me toil for nothing.
4. I am used extensively to produce jewellery, ornaments and house-hold items.
5. Faraday enunciated two laws regulating my operations.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Electrolysis

1. Generally I am a very desirable process but I can be destructive too.

2. I am able to break up big molecules into small ones.
3. I am an applied science mankind has practiced for centuries
4. I do not act alone, I need the assistance of some micro-organisms
5. Heat is one of my by-products but this always goes to waste.
6. Without me where will be the much loved club beer and star beer or gari?
Who am I?

ANSWER: Fermentation

1. I am a binary compound of triatomic molecules.

2. My constituent elements are both non-metals.
3. I am not as sociable as my younger sibling.
4. We both suffer from a form of physical deformity, that is, we have bent backs.
5. I tend to form insoluble, mostly black or brown precipitate with metal cations in solution.
6. You may like everything about me but not my offensive, rotten-egg odour.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Hydrogen sulphide/H2S
1.Iam only a theory
1. have been used over and over without any failure.
2. Through me Scientists are able to do what X-ray diffraction machines are meant to do.
3. I assist Scientists to predict or describe the shape of molecules.
4. I am able to mix up electron clouds of different shapes and energies.
5. As usual hybrid vigour is the winner.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Hybridization

1. My name starts with the same letter as the name of a country that has won the world cup the
highest number of times.
2. There are six of such elements in the Periodic Table.
3. I am an exception if you know them all.
4. I am the only one whose symbol is just one letter.
5. I am the only one which is not a metal.
6. I am the first member of Group 3 or 13.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Boron.

1. Together we constitute an important type of chemical reaction.

2. In our kind of reaction, reactants and products are always in association.
3. If you write any one of us down on paper one arrow is not enough.
4. We have a beginning but no end.
5. Without us equilibrium point or position will be a mirage.
6. Our forward and backward steps are in motion all the time.
Who are we?
ANSWER: Reversible reactions.

1. We are siblings.
2. We are of the same parentage
3. We have almost identical looks.
4. Our chemical properties do not differ.
5. If we do step on a weighing scale one after the other no two of us are likely to register the same
weight.
6. Our differences stem from the different number of neutrons we possess in our respective nuclei.
Who are we?

ANSWER: Isotopes

1. I have perfect covalent bonds.

2. I am an epitome of an sp3 hybridized structure
3. The interesting thing is that I may be regarded as a compound or as a polymer.
4. I am made up of a single element and I could be colourless, yellow, brown or black.
5. Because I am perhaps the hardest known solid, I am used in the industry for making cutting and
grinding tools.
6. In Akwatia, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, people dig everywhere looking for me.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Diamond

1. I am a well-planned city
2. I have well labelled streets, running east-west and north-south.
3. Since I do not want to appear traditional, I named my streets using Arabian numerals
4. In terms of apartment allocation it has been arranged such that those with low body-mass index
inhabit in the houses located in the extreme west or north
5. One well known Russian was my town planner and architect at the same time
6. He got the scientific world to name me as a Table.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Periodic Table
1. You cannot part with me without measuring a volume.
2. Consistency and accuracy are my hallmarks.
3. I detest guess work.
4. I work with solutions better than solids and gases
5. Graduated glassware such as pipettes and burettes are my foot soldiers.
6. A colour indicator of some sort is a must in my make-up.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Volumetric Analyses

1. I belong to a line of nobilities.

2. In our kingdom we go by our common names and not titles.
3. We are not sociable so quite often we do not know what is going on in our kingdom.
4. I am a colourless and odourless gaseous element with atomic number 18.
5. I am about twice more soluble in water than nitrogen gas.
6. I constitute about 0.94% of the earth’s atmosphere.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Argon

1. I am used in the manufacture of pottery.

2. I increase in volume when I lose fluids.
3. I set to give a hard solid.
4. When I am setting I trap a molecule of water between every two of my molecules.
5. Some building block manufacturers add me to the sand and cement mixture so as to
produce blocks that are not damaged easily by shock.
6. My name suggests I live in that city with the Eifel Tower.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Plaster of Paris or CaSO4.½H2O or 2CaSO4.H2O

1. I am an organic compound
2. My molecules are made up of 14 atoms from three different elements
3. I am not a natural product but usually obtained from natural sources
4. I am a constituent of some natural esters.
5. I am obtained when fats and vegetable oils are saponified.
6. I am a colourless, viscous liquid.
Who am I?
 ANSWER: Glycerol / Glycerine / 1,2,3-propantriol

1. I cannot tell you when I was born but I am very old, indeed more than 300 million years old.
2. I am black or brown
3. I am found in almost all the continents in the world
4. I am a solid used as fuel
5. When I am destructively distilled, a number of gases and a thick black liquid are obtained
6. Coke is the residue after I have been destructively distilled
Who am I?
ANSWER: Coal.
1. I am a property of fundamental particles.
2. I am used to classify particles into one of two categories.
3. You probably think of a top when you think of me.
4. I can have integral or half-integral values.
5. For electrons, I have a value of half.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Spin

1. I am a chemical process encountered both in the laboratory and in industry.

2. Despite my numerous services to man, I am not tolerated at home.
3. If I were human I would be expected to invest in large stocks of glues because I join molecules
up.
4. For my services I demand a small molecule for every joint made by me.
5. One of my useful synthetic products is nylon.
6. May be I am also a source of environmental pollution.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Condensation Polymerisation