Leaving Cert physics: ‘Anyone hoping for a replay of past papers will be shocked'
Students in today's Leaving Cert higher level physics exam faced challenges such as 'wordy' questions and mathematical twists.
Pat Doyle, physics teacher at the Institute of Education, said the paper required students to think beyond the modes of questions from previous years and 'really bring their understanding of physics to these questions'.
'Anyone hoping to have an autopiloted replay of the previous papers will be shocked,' he said.
'Perhaps the more novel elements of this paper will be most challenging for those who struggle with the subject as they would need to take on extra interpretative work in the pressurised environment of the exam.'
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Mr Doyle said most questions on experiments in section A were traditional in their approach, question two had an 'original twist on the conservation of momentum'.
'Previous papers use the scenario of a moving object striking a stationary object while this year's exam re-contextualised to objects moved by a spring,' he said.
'This mimics the forces in a nuclear reaction in a clever way, but it will have thrown students who might have expected to autopilot through the opening pages of the exam.'
In section B, question six is traditionally very popular as it is an assortment of short questions. Yet Mr Doyle said this year's class will have found themselves moving more slowly through this question as the scale of the questions has shifted.
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'The questions were expressed in a longer manner that needed to be parsed out before they could get to the examined concepts,' he said.
'Even then, some of the concepts examined were atypical for this section, most notably the speed of a galaxy would not have been anticipated as a short question which, while a nice question, would require a great deal more work to get all the marks.
'This novelty was balanced with an array of much more conventional questions. Question seven on planets, question eight on light diffraction and question nine on photoelectric effect and x- rays all fell within expectations and examples from previous years,'Mr Doyle ' aid.
Question 10 on heat and temperature reinjected some twists back into the exam, he said, as the style of question on definition of temperature would not have been seen by students reviewing any recent papers.
'Those who ensured that they focused on the syllabus as a key guiding tool will know the material, but if you were looking for a repeat of previous exams this would have been a surprise,' he said.
For many, question eleven on electricity will already have been unpopular even before the exam started as the students are not often drawn to the topic.
'This question is unlikely to convert them or increase the popularity of the topic as it was quite tricky. What will have been appealing was question 12 on particle physics with a special appearance of Ireland's only Nobel Prize winner for physics, Ernest Walton,' he said.
ErnestWalton was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930s. Photograph: Jack McManus
Question 13 was a comprehension style question on electromagnetism. Mr Doyle said neither the topic nor the style tends to appeal to students, but for those who attempted it ill be pleased with a 'rather nice question behind the text'.
Question 14 is a popular choice as it contains some internal choice, with sections that ranged from the traditional to the obscure.
Mr Doyle said the second section involved a tricky mathematical twist that skirted the edges of the syllabus.
'The third option demanded students read it very carefully to ensure that they approached the calculations correctly. Thankfully the paper closes with something more traditional and so students will have had the chance to conclude their time with the paper on more familiar territory,' he said.
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Leaving Cert physics: ‘Anyone hoping for a replay of past papers will be shocked'
Students in today's Leaving Cert higher level physics exam faced challenges such as 'wordy' questions and mathematical twists. Pat Doyle, physics teacher at the Institute of Education, said the paper required students to think beyond the modes of questions from previous years and 'really bring their understanding of physics to these questions'. 'Anyone hoping to have an autopiloted replay of the previous papers will be shocked,' he said. 'Perhaps the more novel elements of this paper will be most challenging for those who struggle with the subject as they would need to take on extra interpretative work in the pressurised environment of the exam.' READ MORE Mr Doyle said most questions on experiments in section A were traditional in their approach, question two had an 'original twist on the conservation of momentum'. 'Previous papers use the scenario of a moving object striking a stationary object while this year's exam re-contextualised to objects moved by a spring,' he said. 'This mimics the forces in a nuclear reaction in a clever way, but it will have thrown students who might have expected to autopilot through the opening pages of the exam.' In section B, question six is traditionally very popular as it is an assortment of short questions. Yet Mr Doyle said this year's class will have found themselves moving more slowly through this question as the scale of the questions has shifted. [ Classroom to College: your essential newsletter to the Leaving Cert and study options Opens in new window ] 'The questions were expressed in a longer manner that needed to be parsed out before they could get to the examined concepts,' he said. 'Even then, some of the concepts examined were atypical for this section, most notably the speed of a galaxy would not have been anticipated as a short question which, while a nice question, would require a great deal more work to get all the marks. 'This novelty was balanced with an array of much more conventional questions. Question seven on planets, question eight on light diffraction and question nine on photoelectric effect and x- rays all fell within expectations and examples from previous years,'Mr Doyle ' aid. Question 10 on heat and temperature reinjected some twists back into the exam, he said, as the style of question on definition of temperature would not have been seen by students reviewing any recent papers. 'Those who ensured that they focused on the syllabus as a key guiding tool will know the material, but if you were looking for a repeat of previous exams this would have been a surprise,' he said. For many, question eleven on electricity will already have been unpopular even before the exam started as the students are not often drawn to the topic. 'This question is unlikely to convert them or increase the popularity of the topic as it was quite tricky. What will have been appealing was question 12 on particle physics with a special appearance of Ireland's only Nobel Prize winner for physics, Ernest Walton,' he said. ErnestWalton was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930s. Photograph: Jack McManus Question 13 was a comprehension style question on electromagnetism. Mr Doyle said neither the topic nor the style tends to appeal to students, but for those who attempted it ill be pleased with a 'rather nice question behind the text'. Question 14 is a popular choice as it contains some internal choice, with sections that ranged from the traditional to the obscure. Mr Doyle said the second section involved a tricky mathematical twist that skirted the edges of the syllabus. 'The third option demanded students read it very carefully to ensure that they approached the calculations correctly. Thankfully the paper closes with something more traditional and so students will have had the chance to conclude their time with the paper on more familiar territory,' he said.
