MOE approved Physics textbook woes
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MOE approved Physics textbook teaches my nephew the wrong thing
A STOMPer's nephew came home crying after his GCE 'O' level Physics exam. He answered a question according to what he studied from the MOE approved textbook, only to find out later that it was wrong.
How can the MOE approved textbooks, which so many students use, carry such errors and ambiguities, questions this STOMPer.
Says this STOMPer:
"My nephew who sat for his GCE 'O' level exam came back crying and showed me his Physics Paper 1 (5058/01) in which Q19 says: What is the refractive index of a medium?A the ratio of the speed of light in air to the speed of light in the medium.
B the ratio of the speed of light in the medium to the speed of light in air.
C the ratio of the speed of light in the medium to the speed of light in vacuum.
D the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium."According to the internet, which I have checked the answer is 'D'.
"My nephew who wrote the answer as 'A' later consulted his teacher after the exam and was told that the answer is 'D'.
"According to his textbook page 231 the authors say 'It has been proven that the refractive index is a ratio between the speed of light in air or vacuum and the speed of light in a medium'.
"The cover of the school textbook titled GCE 'O' Level Physics matters by Charles Chew and Chow Siew Foong and there was a seal with the words 'Approved by Ministry of Education for use from 2007- 2011'
"This was the textbook used in many of our secondary schools and endorsed by the MOE.
"If the textbook has errors or ambiguities why does MOE recommend that schools use this particular textbook?"Click on thumbnails for larger image
____________________Me also not sure what is correct...siao -
p6 boy came home crying bcos of sweets and chocolates can still undestand
s4 boy came home crying bcos of speed of light a bit.....eerr.....
and this is crying after the meh meh escaped rite?
i think vacuum is more correct lah......... -
because the difference between the speed of light in air and in a vacuum is negligible..
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MOE is damn stupid man.
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Originally posted by the Bear:
HAHAHA +1
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funny.. text book put "........... air OR vaccum..............in the medium"
look @ MCQ A n D.... which one will u choose if u nv study carefully?
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Cry baby... cry out loud...
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D.
Vaccum.
Standard wad...
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Originally posted by tr@nsp0rt_F3V3R:
D.
Vaccum.
Standard wad...
yah.. think lots of ppl here know it's D.. but look at the bloody textbook.... "..........air OR vaccum.........." it's like telling students to choose between A n D
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that guy is just stupid and doesnt even have the ability to discern a better answer.
enuff said =.=
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1. BLOODY DAMN PPL oni read the Tb...
Cambridge test on CONCEPTS, not how well you memorize the book.
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2. when i got the question, i IMMEDIATELY deleted A and C cuz it's too rediculous to choose AIR.
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3. i believe, it's logic that MCQ is to choose the MOST suitable answer. so, the Most suitable answer is obviously, Vaccum.
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wth
MOE , fail big time -
omg i put air
plus i study textbook...i bloody?? just joking
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The textbook wrote AIR OR VACUUM because the difference between the 2 is negligible! As a physics student, he should know that there is a difference between AIR and VACUUM! We only use the 2 interchangably because as sec sch students, the difference cannot be measure using ordinary equipments at their level.
Hence, in the O level MCQ, he should know that D is the correct answer! If he assumes that air = vacuum, his concept is not even sound! He deserves to lose that 1 mark! Having said that, a sec 4 student CRYING just over that 1 MARK...tsk tsk. Grow up!
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MOE Fail
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haha wud a dumb ass textbook~
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this is to differentiate the A1s and the A2s
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The refractive index in air and the refractive index in vacuum is almost the same (the ratio of the two is something like 1.003, if I'm not mistaken).
However, when you are trying to define the refractive index of any medium, you usually use the speed of light in a vacuum as the standard by which it can be compared against.
If (D) had not been one of the choices, then (A) would have been the answer. However, since (D) is the more appropriate answer, that is the answer he should have chosen.
At the end of the day, it is all about choosing the most appropriate answer. This student got his concepts mixed up, and deservedly lost his mark.
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Originally posted by FireIce:
this is to differentiate the A1s and the A2s
I agree -
the ans is D.
for physics definition it is always in reference to vaccum.
So the textbook is WRONG and misleading, confusing for the O level kids.
Although in the lab, when we characterize rf of medium, we rarely use vacuum as a reference. It is harder to define a vacuum, because no matter which pump that we use, we rarely obtain 100% vacuum.
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Pure physic book right? Got one at home, with me for 3years liao. I guess their teacher never teach them 'Don't assume what the textbook says is always correct'. Heng my teacher teach us that.