24 Jul 2016

Quiz 16 - 10 Questions on Gases of chemical warfare - Answer

1.This war  veteran  took up running as therapy for his lungs, which had been damaged by mustard gas during World War 1. In the 1920 Antwerp Olympic games he managed to beat the favourite Paavo Nurmi in 5,000-metre race and won the Gold. Who?

Ans: Joseph Guillemot

In the same Antwerp games the 10,000 m final was brought forward by almost three hours by the request of King Albert. Guillemot heard it after finishing a very large lunch. Fighting stomach cramps and shoes that were two sizes too big (his own shoes had been stolen), Guillemot had to be satisfied with a silver medal. The strain he underwent ultimately caused him to vomit his food at the award ceremony.

2. The nerve gas Sarin was used in a terrorist attack in a Tokyo subway station in 1995 that killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000. Which cult was responsible for the attack?

Ans: Aum Shinrikyo (Japanese for “Supreme Truth”) . Its founder Chizuo Matsumoto, combined tantric (mystic) yoga, Buddhism, and Daoism (Taoism) with his own vision of Christian prophecy and a belief that disasters would soon befall Japan and offered deliverance from this world to a higher world of Supreme Truth

3. The use of  Gases for  chemical warfare began, when Germany used this gas on April 22, 1915, on fields near Ypres, France against  unprepared Allied lines. At 5 p.m German combat engineers opened 5730 cylinders of this gas and was blown by the wind, towards the allies. Which gas?

Ans: Chlorine Gas.
Although poison gas had been used before, at the Battle of Bolimów three months earlier, the gas had liquified in the cold and become inert.

4. Mustard Gas, is not a gas but a liquid and was invented by Frederick Guthrie in 1860, who reacted Ethylene with Chlorine, and noticed the toxic effects it had on his own skin.Why is it called "Mustard gas"?

Ans: Because the vapours of this chemical, when in impure "agent quality" smells like mustard.



5. This  nerve agent was accidentally discovered by German scientists in 1938 while researching  organophosphate pesticides. The name is an acronym of the discoverers but was never used by Germany. In 1988, Iraq used it against the Kurds and also during the Iranian soldiers. Although banned by the Chemical weapons convention the gas continues to be used in the Syrian Civil war.   Which gas?

Ans: Sarin ( named after its discoverers  Schrader, Ambros, Rudriger and Van der Linde) its chemical  name is O-Isopropyl     methylphosphonofluoridate

6. VX gas was developed in the Porton Down Chemical Weapons Research Centre, Wiltshire, England in 1952 by British chemist Dr. Ranajit Ghosh. The British traded the technology of VX with the United States of America for what?

Ans: For information on thermonuclear weapons. .

7. When Germany was defeated in World war 1, Hitler was lying in a military hospital (1918), what was he hospitalised for?

Ans: Hitler was temporarily blinded by mustard gas. Although recently a few researchers have claimed that Hitler was blinded by a mental disorder known as ‘hysterical blindness' or hysterical amblyopia, a psychiatric disorder that can make sufferers lose their sight.

8.  This nerve gas was the forerunner of all other nerve agents .It is a clear, colourless, tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odour and becomes vapour if heated. Also known as GA it was first developed by Germany as a insecticide in 1936.During the Nuremberg Trials, Albert Speer, testified that he had planned to kill Adolf Hitler in early 1945 by introducing this gas into the Fuhrerbunker ventilation shaft.
During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the Iraqi military fired artillery shells filled with this against Iranian infantry.Which nerve agent?

Ans: Tabun.

9. This chemical can be classified as nerve gas itself, but is a suitable antidote to VX gas.This poisonous alkaloid is obtained from plants of the Nightshade family. It is also used medically to stop spasms and cosmetically to dilate the pupils of the eyes (Used by Cleopatra in the hope that she would appear more alluring ) . Which alkaloid?

Ans: Atropine
Atropine is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. Naturally present in Plants like Mandrake.

10. During the Nazi period this company  took over chemical companies in German-occupied territories, used slave labor in many of its plants, and produced the Zyklon-B gas used for the mass murder of Jews and others. Some of its directors, were convicted of war crimes in 1947. During the war the US government auctioned off all of its American assets, including its name and the name of one of its famous product.These remained outside the company's control until it bought them back from SmithKline Beecham in 1994. Which company?

Ans: Bayer AG , their most famous product being Aspirin. Discovered by Felix Hoffman, a Bayer employee

1 comment:

  1. The scores are as follows.
    Ameya 3
    Annie 10
    Gouthami 3
    Anil Rodrigues 3
    Paul 3
    Raghunandan 2
    Anjali 2
    Sahil H R 4

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