Final Jeopardy: 20th Century Physics (12-14-21)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (12/14/2021) in the category “20th Century Physics” was:

Puzzlingly heavy & long-lived particles discovered in the 1940s were dubbed this adjective later applied to even smaller particles

Semi-Final No. 2 of the 2021 Professors Tournament features: Alisa Hove, a botany professor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC; Marti Canipe, an elementary science education professor at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ; and Hester Blum, an English professor At Penn State University, University Park, PA.

Round 1 Categories: Alliterockers – Succulents – U.S. Counties – An Instructor – A Lecturer – An Ad Junked

Hester found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “A Lecturer” under the $600 clue on the 18th pick of the round. She was in second place with $1,200, $1,400 less than Marti in second place. She bet $800 and thought it was eugenics. That was WRONG.

Biologist T.H. Huxley was a renowned defender of this theory & in 1893 famously lectured on it “& Ethics” show

WHAT IS EVOLUTION?

Alisa finished in the lead with $3,800. Marti was second with $1,800 and Hester was last with $1,000. No clues went uncovered.

Round 2 Categories: Let’s Talk Revolution – Women Authors – 16th Century Arts – Transportation – Pop Culture Mr. or Mrs. – Differs by a Letter

Alisa found the first Daily Double in “Differs by a Letter” under the $1,200 clue on the 14th pick. She was in the lead with $9,800 now, $4,000 more Hester in second place. She bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.

Vindictive punishment for past wrongs & income generated by a government or person. show

WHAT ARE REVENGE & REVENUE?

Hester got the last Daily Double in “Let’s Talk Revolution” under the $1,200 clue, with 5 clues left after it. In second place with $7,400, she had $5,800 less than Alisa’s lead. She bet $2,600 and was trying to add Workers Revolution to the Great Proletarian part when the time ran out. That was WRONG anyhow.

The full name of this 1966-76 upheaval commences with “Great Proletarian” show

WHAT IS THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION?

Alisa finished in the lead with a runaway $13,200. Hester was next with $4,800 and Marti was in third place with $2,200. 3 clues worth $4,000 went uncovered.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS STRANGE?

I am totally “out of my element” when it comes to physics, but as best as I can figure out, the last part of this FJ! clue refers to quarks, which are among the smallest particles in the universe. There are lots of Jeopardy! clues about the “flavors” of quarks, of which strangeness is one.

I found a handy chart on the Physics section of William & Deborah Hillyard’s website called Standard Model. Under “Strange Quark”, it says: “The property of strangeness predates the quark itself. The first strange particle, the Kaon, was found in 1947, before quarks were ever suggested. The strange quark was first proposed in 1964, along with the up and down quarks, by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig. A number of particles, like the kaon, decayed much more slowly than expected, and the property giving this effect was dubbed strangeness to explain the strange long decays. It was then found that the decay was via the weak force rather than the strong force.”

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Marti went with quarks (a noun). She bet and lost her whole $2,200.

Hester wrote down nano particles. Nano- is a prefix. She lost her $1,200 bet and finished with $3,600.

Alisa had an adjective — subatomic, albeit wrong. She lost $3,000 and finished with $10,200, not that it mattered. She was already the second finalist after the second round ended.

2 triple stumpers from LET’S TALK REVOLUTION:

($800) This “splendid” adjective precedes “Revolution” in the name of the 1688 regime change that brought William & Mary to the throne

($2000) Pancho Villa was ambushed & killed in 1923; this even-later-in-the-alphabet Mexican revolutionary, in 1919

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Oscar-Winning Films”

The first words spoken in this 1970 Best Picture Oscar winner are “Ten-hut!” “Be seated” show

WHAT IS “PATTON”?

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