Science - #JC2017 - Maria Hayes

Maria Hayes - Scoil RuainThe Science paper which I was faced with today was very good. Everything I had concentrated on, came up!!I began with the Biology questions, then Chemistry, then finally Physics.I was happy with the biology questions, usually they are very difficult but this time they weren't as hard. Same goes for chemistry and physics!The only problem with the Chemistry was we had to draw a molecule of oxygen. I forgot my compass to draw the molecule!!!Other than that I was very happy with the paper!#StateExams2017

Leaving Certificate Chemistry

Liam - Higher Level 

Questions that I did: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 & 10 (b) & (c).La chimie! Chemistry and I have come to the mutual understanding that it's best for both parties if the test is neither too difficult nor too 'doable', safe to say, Ceimic, you've lived up to our deal.Question 1, the titration. I was hoping the water titration would come up, just so it could ask me what EDTA stood for (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, for those not who have not yet seen how great water is). Alas it was not meant to be! The vinegar acid-base titration came up, which I was delighted about! Loads of calculations, so that was good!On to 3 afterwards, and all I can say is I spent enough time on this question to deduce that the graph is worth 4.5% of the exam. The question wasn't the hardest, I found it okay.I managed to somehow answer 8 of the necessary short questions in question 4, they were alright too. I've had worse!Questions 5, 6, 7 and 9 were all okay. They all had stuff that I knew reasonably well so I was satisfied after doing them, as you can tell I don't like to dwell on chemistry too much!10 was the option. I did the re dox balancing one, (b). Here's to hoping I did it right! And the second one was (c). If I didn't make it clear with physics, I like radioactivity, so that half question on it was nice !Overall, I'm reasonably satisfied with the paper. I mean I can never tell with chemistry how I do so all I can say is, we'll know in August. Cya Friday peeps!

Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate Chemistry

Joanna - Higher Level

I don't want to say cram, but I definitely did some intense revision this morning. It felt good, got a lot of higher level experiments refreshed and definitions that I knew but just needed to go over. I always get this good feeling going into chemistry exams and then I open the paper, realise that I can only do like 4 questions (we need to do at least 8) and then panic sets in. This afternoon, I decided not to look at the whole paper until I had the 3 experiment questions done to reduce the possible panic.Well, the experiments were predictable. Sodium thiosulfate titration, the new experiment on the course and water. Grand. I found question 4 really nice and loved question 5 which is always kinda about the history of chemistry and Bohrs atomic theory. I can't remember all the topics, but as I flicked through the rest of the paper and realised I could make a reasonable attempt at a total of 9 questions, I was chuffed.I went on, skipping the organic chemistry which I didn't like and I found the options in questions 10 and 11 really manageable, especially the atmospheric chemistry question which I was a little nervous about.Overall, I know I didn't ace this paper, but I don't need chemistry for points or as an entry requirement, so I'm looking for an alright pass in it. After today, I feel I will be happy enough with whatever comes out in August, so fingers crossed! :)

Dáire - Higher Level

I spent all morning revising, or at least attempting to revise. My concentration was broken by the thoughts of the post leaving cert celebrations. I got to revise a few key topics.The paper was rough enough. I wasn't really prepared very well for the experiments that came up, and the rest of the paper was dodgy enough to be honest. I had been anticipating an A2, but given how that exam went, I'll be lucky to scrape a B, I think.That being said, there were simple parts to every question that I enjoyed, but there were other parts that were rotten. I attempted every question out of desperation, I didn't feel comfortable doing just the bare minimum because I wasn't sure of any of them.Obviously I am delighted to be finished, but my happiness is kind of hindered by how badly the exam went. I'm looking forward to getting my results in August, and I hope that the exams went better than I feel they did, especially chemistry. As one of my 'strongest' subjects, I'm bitterly disappointed with it.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.