blackmage_nuke
01-21-2009, 03:36 AM
What are some of the most ambiguous questions you've gotten in exams/assignments?
I once got one that asks why two objects of different sizes and mass fall at different speeds. The answer was "wind resistance" because due to the mass of the earth being so large that the difference in speed due to mass would be negligible.
However as they didn't actually say it was on earth I assumed it was two objects of different masses falling towards an object of higher but not a lot higher mass. So I said that the acceleration due to gravity is determined by the difference between the mass of the objects which are falling towards each other. I didn't get the mark because I wasnt meant to 'think that far'. It was complete bs! There was nothing wrong with my answer and I lost marks for thinking outside the box!
There was another assignment question where I was asked to write up an experiment and it stated "you may include a table of results" I MAY include a table! That means I bloody well don't have to to get the full marks!!
I once got one that asks why two objects of different sizes and mass fall at different speeds. The answer was "wind resistance" because due to the mass of the earth being so large that the difference in speed due to mass would be negligible.
However as they didn't actually say it was on earth I assumed it was two objects of different masses falling towards an object of higher but not a lot higher mass. So I said that the acceleration due to gravity is determined by the difference between the mass of the objects which are falling towards each other. I didn't get the mark because I wasnt meant to 'think that far'. It was complete bs! There was nothing wrong with my answer and I lost marks for thinking outside the box!
There was another assignment question where I was asked to write up an experiment and it stated "you may include a table of results" I MAY include a table! That means I bloody well don't have to to get the full marks!!