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6 Responses to “Gosh–I never even took chemistry!”
Congratulations. The world needs as many scientifically literate people as possible.
Don’t think this lets you off Chemistry though.
a) only one of those questions (single element / He) was vaguely chemistry
b) here in the Great White North, Chemistry isn’t taught as a separate subject until past Grade VIII, so you don’t really need explicit chemistry to pass Gr VIII science.
Question 6 is incorrect: “what is the electrical charge of a neuron?”. From the answers, it’s obvious they meant “neuTron”, an electrically neutral atomic particle. A neuron is a nerve cell, which doesn’t have a set electrical charge, being a macroscopic body.
I got 8/8 too, but then, being a chemist (by day, panda by night) one would hope I’d manage the test. I also managed 9/10 on the US Citizenship test (the error was either the first C-i-C or the year the constitution was written). I’m NOT up to triple citizenship, though.
Congratulations again on your scientific accomplishment.
I knew that question 6 was incorrect. I suppose I should get extra credit for that.
Sorry about the chemistry; I took physics and barely passed it; I took biology and couldn’t face pithing the frog. Thus, I figured chemistry was just too much for my delicate constitution and never took it. I took one day of calculus and found that the review was unintelligible. I thus went to the very sour Assistant Headmaster and successfully argued that as I was going to major in Latin and Greek at university and go on to the seminary, I didn’t need calculus. He bought it and I withdrew.
oh but you see chemistry is the ideal middle road. Neither boring and “why does anyone care” like physics, nor the ickyness of bio — I must allow, I have far too much squeam to do biological sciences.
We had to watch someone pith the frog (university first year bio), but didn’t have to do it ourselves. We did have to dissect the fetal pig, and that was as far as I could go. [we did that in groups of three, and my group made the fatal mistake of naming him. dissecting Fred was traumatic.]
I did microbiology – now that is not bad, quite like chemistry actually. When you’re finished with a culture, you drop it in the morgue (actually a big roasting pan half-full of strong antiseptic that kills all the wee beasties off). They don’t scream, they don’t bleed, they don’t have big- sad- puppy- dog- eyes nor look fuzzy’n’cute.
I managed as much calculus as I had to. I can differentiate (er, no, let’s be accurate here: I *could* differentiate. This skill is untested in the last 20y), but show me an integral sign and the brains turn to mashed potato. My standard university calculus mark was 53.
Well, of course, I don’t have any idea whether chemistry is either boring or inconsequential–I never took it. And now it’s really too late. I’ve already got too many appetites I can’t satify (as the hillbilly said when confronted with his first banana).
Your last paragraph could be written in Syro-Phoenician, for all I know.
Congratulations. The world needs as many scientifically literate people as possible.
Don’t think this lets you off Chemistry though.
a) only one of those questions (single element / He) was vaguely chemistry
b) here in the Great White North, Chemistry isn’t taught as a separate subject until past Grade VIII, so you don’t really need explicit chemistry to pass Gr VIII science.
Question 6 is incorrect: “what is the electrical charge of a neuron?”. From the answers, it’s obvious they meant “neuTron”, an electrically neutral atomic particle. A neuron is a nerve cell, which doesn’t have a set electrical charge, being a macroscopic body.
I got 8/8 too, but then, being a chemist (by day, panda by night) one would hope I’d manage the test. I also managed 9/10 on the US Citizenship test (the error was either the first C-i-C or the year the constitution was written). I’m NOT up to triple citizenship, though.
Congratulations again on your scientific accomplishment.
Ditto on 8/8. I took chemistry, but I skipped physics.
I knew that question 6 was incorrect. I suppose I should get extra credit for that.
Sorry about the chemistry; I took physics and barely passed it; I took biology and couldn’t face pithing the frog. Thus, I figured chemistry was just too much for my delicate constitution and never took it. I took one day of calculus and found that the review was unintelligible. I thus went to the very sour Assistant Headmaster and successfully argued that as I was going to major in Latin and Greek at university and go on to the seminary, I didn’t need calculus. He bought it and I withdrew.
Heh. I noted the “neuron” thing as well.
Got 8/8 as well.
Yay me.
oh but you see chemistry is the ideal middle road. Neither boring and “why does anyone care” like physics, nor the ickyness of bio — I must allow, I have far too much squeam to do biological sciences.
We had to watch someone pith the frog (university first year bio), but didn’t have to do it ourselves. We did have to dissect the fetal pig, and that was as far as I could go. [we did that in groups of three, and my group made the fatal mistake of naming him. dissecting Fred was traumatic.]
I did microbiology – now that is not bad, quite like chemistry actually. When you’re finished with a culture, you drop it in the morgue (actually a big roasting pan half-full of strong antiseptic that kills all the wee beasties off). They don’t scream, they don’t bleed, they don’t have big- sad- puppy- dog- eyes nor look fuzzy’n’cute.
I managed as much calculus as I had to. I can differentiate (er, no, let’s be accurate here: I *could* differentiate. This skill is untested in the last 20y), but show me an integral sign and the brains turn to mashed potato. My standard university calculus mark was 53.
Well, of course, I don’t have any idea whether chemistry is either boring or inconsequential–I never took it. And now it’s really too late. I’ve already got too many appetites I can’t satify (as the hillbilly said when confronted with his first banana).
Your last paragraph could be written in Syro-Phoenician, for all I know.
Sad, but true.