Half of Brits think Vibranium is a real metal! Can you answer these GCSE Science questions?

Wakan-duhh: Half of Brits think Vibranium is a real metal

Britain is rattled when it comes to metals in the periodic table, according to new research.

People were challenged to match metals to their corresponding symbols on the periodic table and the results show that more than a quarter (28%) couldn’t guess any correctly.

Only 3% of Brits got every question right, while more than half (53%) think Vibranium is a real metal – when it is actually a fictional material featured in Marvel’s Black Panther movie.

The survey, conducted by metals specialist metals4U, found that two in five think the periodic symbols for Carbonadium and Ominium are Ca (46%) and On (41%), when in fact these are also fakes from the Marvel Universe, appearing in the X-Men and Deadpool movies.

41% think Americium is a fake metal, but it is in fact very common, used as a vital component in smoke detectors..

Overall the wrong answer was selected almost half (49%) of the time on average.

One in 11 (9%) of 25-34 year olds got every question wrong, faring worse than older participants, despite their school years being a more distant memory.

Women were 4% worse than men at guessing the real metals and their correct symbols, contradicting GCSE results, where girls outperform boys by 6% overall and by 2% in Chemistry.

Paul McFadyen, managing director of metals4U, said:

“The results are surprising as the periodic table is taught so thoroughly in schools and remains a core part of the GCSE science syllabus.

“It’s interesting to see how many people confuse fictional materials from comic books and superhero films as being real, and suggests that we hear a lot more about them than the genuine elements.”

How well do you know the periodic table? Take metals4U GCSE quiz to test your mettle!