Bonus
Before it was discovered, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted this element would have properties similar to manganese and thus gave it the provisional name “eka-manganese.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this first synthetic element, created in 1937 by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè. This element’s “99m” isotope was discovered after bombarding molybdenum in a cyclotron.
ANSWER: technetium [or Tc; accept technetium-99m or 99mTc]
[10m] Name this most abundant enzyme on Earth. This enzyme fixes carbon dioxide to a ribulose derivative during the Calvin cycle.
ANSWER: RuBisCO (“roo-BISS-ko”) [or ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase or RuBPCase or RuBPco]
[10e] Technetium’s “99m” isotope is used as a tracer in medical imaging because it has this property, allowing it to emit detectable gamma rays. Isotopes with this property are unstable and decay with a defined half-life.
ANSWER: radioactive [accept word forms like radioactivity; accept radioactive decay; accept radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes or radioactive nuclides or radionuclides; accept radioactive tracers]
[10h] To mitigate oxygen inhibition, some plants use this pathway in which the Calvin cycle is sequestered in bundle-sheath cells. In this pathway, carbon dioxide is fixed to produce malate or aspartate in mesophyll cells.
ANSWER: C4 photosynthesis [or C4 carbon fixation or Hatch-Slack pathway; reject “C3 photosynthesis”]
[10m] Technetium dissolves in this fuming mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, whose Latin name was derived from its ability to dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum.
ANSWER: aqua regia (Aqua regia is Latin for “royal water.”)
[10e] RuBisCO is tethered by carboxysomes in photosynthetic organisms from this taxonomical domain that may have caused the Great Oxygenation Event. The three-domain system includes Archaea, Eukarya, and this domain.
ANSWER: Bacteria [accept cyanobacteria; reject “algae”]
<Edinburgh B, Chemistry>
| Editions | Heard | PPB | Easy % | Medium % | Hard % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 103 | 22.72 | 99% | 64% | 64% |
Conversion
| Team | Opponent | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Total | Parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia A | Maryland C | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 | HM |
| George Mason A | Rowan | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 | ME |
| George Mason B | George Mason C | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 | ME |
| Johns Hopkins | Columbia B | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
| Lehigh B | Vassar A | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | M |
| Maryland A | NYU B | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
| Maryland B | Penn | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
| Princeton | Stony Brook | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
| Rutgers A | NYU C | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 | ME |
| Rutgers B | Vassar B | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
| Rutgers C | NYU A | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | M |
| Rutgers D | Lehigh A | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | HME |
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Exact Match? | Heard | PPB | Easy % | Medium % | Hard % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK (North) | UK | Y | 5 | 18.00 | 100% | 20% | 60% |
| UK (South) | UK | Y | 8 | 21.25 | 100% | 50% | 63% |
| Northern California | US | Y | 4 | 30.00 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Southern California | US | Y | 7 | 22.86 | 86% | 71% | 71% |
| Eastern Canada (1) | US | Y | 4 | 22.50 | 100% | 75% | 50% |
| Florida | US | Y | 4 | 12.50 | 100% | 0% | 25% |
| Great Lakes | US | Y | 10 | 21.00 | 100% | 70% | 40% |
| Lower Mid-Atlantic | US | Y | 9 | 24.44 | 100% | 67% | 78% |
| Upper Mid-Atlantic | US | Y | 11 | 22.73 | 100% | 73% | 55% |
| Upper Mid-Atlantic | US | Y | 1 | 30.00 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Midwest | US | Y | 9 | 24.44 | 100% | 78% | 67% |
| North | US | Y | 4 | 20.00 | 100% | 50% | 50% |
| Northeast | US | Y | 2 | 20.00 | 100% | 50% | 50% |
| Pacific | US | Y | 8 | 26.25 | 100% | 88% | 75% |
| Southeast | US | Y | 12 | 23.33 | 100% | 58% | 75% |
| Upstate NY | US | Y | 5 | 24.00 | 100% | 60% | 80% |