Final Jeopardy: The Nobel Physics Prize (3-14-16)

The Final Jeopardy question (3/14/2016) in the category “Nobel Physics Prize” was:

A 2013 Laureate, this British man wrote a 1954 thesis on “Problems in the Theory of Molecular Vibrations”

New champ Gordon Moffat won $24,700 on Friday. Today he takes on these two players: Amanda Darby, from Fredericksburg, MD; and Philip Tiu, from Atlanta, GA.

Round 1 Categories: It Was 1916 – Best Drama Series Emmy Awards – World of Religion – R-D-R Har! – Dover Exposure – 1,000 Foods to Eat before You Die

Philip found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “It Was 1916” under the $1,000 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. He was the only one with anything ($200 from the first clue). He bet the $1,000 allowance and thought it was Cuba. That was WRONG.

In May U.S. Marines occupied this Caribbean nation following turmoil & popularized the game of baseball.  show

Gordon finished in the lead with $6,800. Amanda was second with $4,600 and Philip was last with $1,800.

Round 2 Categories: Movies on Submarines – Thank you, M’am – Musical Words & Phrases – 1980s Books – Gonna Take You Higher – “M” Placement

Amanda found the first Daily Double in “Musical Words & Phrases” under the $1,200 clue on the 5th pick of the round. In second place with $5,400, she had $1,400 less than Gordon’s lead. She bet $4,000 and she was RIGHT.

We can’t attest to the musical quality of this item, a synonym for the cornucopia. show

Philip found the last Daily Double in “1980s Books” under the $800 clue. He was in third place with $6,600 now, $9,400 less than Gordon’s lead. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.

He may not know who he is yet, but Jason Bourne begins his search for answers with this 1980 Robert Ludlum novel. show

Gordon finished in the lead with $16,000. Amanda was next with $11,000 and Philip was in third place with $10,600.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

In 1954, Peter Higgs “was awarded a PhD for a thesis entitled ‘Some Problems in the Theory of Molecular Vibrations’, work which signalled the start of his life-long interest in the application of the ideas of symmetry to physical systems.” He split the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with François Englert “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles….”



Philip got it right. He bet $10,598 bet and finished with $21,198.

Amanda thought it was Stephen Hawking. She lost her $5,000 bet and had $6,000 left.

Gordon also wrote down Hawking. He lost $4,000 and landed in second place with $12,000.

Final Jeopardy Results for Monday, March 14, 2016

Two triple stumpers in this game were from two different categories, but were both about books:

1980s Books ($1600) – In a memoir this sportscaster told us, “I Never Played the Game”
Gonna Take You Higher ($2000) In a book title, J.D. Salinger said to “Raise High” this 2-word supporting piece of wood.

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Bodies of Water”

More than 1/5 of all the world’s people live in countries bordering this, the world’s biggest bay. show

We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.

Share

You may also like...

10 Responses

  1. SG says:

    I liked Philip – He seemed very nervous. I am anxious to see if he relaxes a little more tonight.

  2. EricS says:

    On a relevant note, I think they had Amanda standing on a box. At the end of the show, she looked about 5 feet tall. In this FJ picture, she looks about as tall as Philip.
    Just an observation.

  3. jacob ska says:

    @VJ, you’re making me anxious to watch the game tonight. Can’t wait!

  4. jacob ska says:

    Given that Hawking hasn’t been awarded a Nobel Prize to date I find these responses more shocking than my none response in Spoiler Talk.

    • VJ says:

      Wait till you see the game, Jacob. Gordon did that avoid the DD thing again, but I’m not sure how much of a difference it made since the DD ending up not being where I anticipated.

      Anyhow, I’m a little sad that Gordon lost. I loved it when he rolled his “r” on raison d’etre

  5. William Weyser says:

    Philip would have won had everybody gotten it right. WOW! Keith Williams, please do not have a tough time with these wagers.