It's bad enough that this subject is sometimes over my head. It's even worse when you have forgotten the easy concepts you were supposed to know. That was what happened to me yesterday. I lost 3 or 4 marks from the refraction practical question. I thought it would be easy peasy, since we have done a few similar experiments during practical classes before.

I cannot believe I completely dismissed the normal line at the angles of incidence and refraction. Thus, my refraction angle is measured to be higher than the given angle of incidence. Not surprisingly, the refractive index of the glass prism is less than 1. The wise words of my Physics teacher kept on echoing in my brain: "There is no such object in this universe with a refractive index of < 1. If you get that for your practicals, then you are wrong."

I was definitely wrong. I couldn't do anything because my time limit for that question was up, and I had to move to the next experiment. The resistance question was also done rather badly. Apparently, my Physics teacher didn't realise the multimeter wasn't connected properly to the circuit, thus the reading obtained hovers at 2.70V despite the addition of resistors. It wasn't until half an hour of frustration later when I dared to twiddle with the circuit despite being told not to do so. After connecting the loose resistor (with unknown resistace) properly with the multimeter, the potential difference finally fluctuated when resistors were introduced to the circuit.

Somehow, I think everything was messed up. I switched the voltage of the power pack to 4V in order to give a 3V reading (we were told that the voltage would be around 3V, but initially, after fixing the circuit, the voltage dropped to 2.1V). This affected my graph. I was unable to answer the last 2 questions because my graph lines which were concave couldn't be extended low enough to find out the value of a resistor when the voltage is 0.5V. The last question was way out of my league. I couldn't figure a correct way of obtaining the value.

However, I was more (and very!) disappointed with my refraction experiment because I could do it! An easy 3 - 4 marks were lost just like that! Everyone could do that except for me. Woe is me! =( Oh man, there goes my chance of obtaining a hopefully A1 in Physics... =( I think I have to pull my socks up for Papers 1 and 2. It's really stupid. I wished I had studied well in advance on the refraction topic before going in to the laboratory.

One thing's for sure. I will never, ever forget Snell's Law and refraction ever again! I must meditate on this picture day and night, and burn this image into my head so that I will always remember it forever.



Hey, that picture from Google even has the same angle of incidence as my practical paper's! Oh my gosh! So that's the approximate answer. OH MAN! =(

The Computer Studies paper wasn't as bad as I feared, considering the fact that I just skimmed through the textbook the night before. I did do some studying a fortnight before, but that was like a few 15-minute sessions a week. =| I've got the exam jitters right before the exam. Yeah, my best friend was able to spontaneously answer questions my peers bombarded him. His answers were fluent and precise, of course. I freaked out as I thought my rather fragmented knowledge of the subject was good enough but apparently, when compared to his, it wasn't good enough. And I tried in vain to speed-read my textbook and pick up as much information as I can. He thought I remained quiet because I knew all of the answers. No, it was lack of.

Anyway, not long after, we had to go in to the exam class. I was still quite shaken about the practical test just two hours ago and I didn't think I was able to handle the paper well. Thank goodness the paper was "a walk in a park". I never liked to label exam papers as easy because there is this unspoken rule that whenever one says that, one will not do as well due to carelessness. =| Anyway, yes, the questions were alright. I think I will lose quite a number of marks because I wasn't able to answer some questions that correctly. I'm praying for an A1 in that paper, although I don't believe I can do it. =( I didn't exactly approach the paper with confidence.

So much for that. I can finally declare Computer Studies history. I doubt I'll be picking up the subject again for tertiary education. After half a decade of learning such a dry subject (I wished it was more interesting and more "up-to-date" =( ), I think I had had enough. I'll do my learning on the Internet the next time. =D

Anyway, I think these papers were an advance warning to me, because honestly, I have been taking things way too easy. Revisions are sporadic, while play times are frequent. I'm slacking off really badly and at the wrong time. Warrior Princess once said if you're not trying hard, you do not want something hard enough. I guess I'm not wanting good grades badly enough, and that is why I am not trying that hard. I think in a way, it's true.

I think I seriously need to rethink my actions and think of the consequences. But it is so hard to go cold turkey without the PC. =O I really must try. My future is at stake.

P.S. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on refraction if you're interested.