27 Feb - Reflections of Term 1 Performance

            It has come to the end of Term 1 and it is time to reflect on my performance for this first term. I shall be reflecting on 3 components: my term test, my performance for the various topics and what I plan to do for term 2. 
 

            For my term test, I must admit that I have done quite well for my term test and scored 37.5 out of 40 marks. That is 93.75%. However, I believe that I could have done better if I had been more careful and had interpreted the question more accurately. I shall be reviewing through the mistakes which I have made in the test, excluding the careless ones. There is one. This question shows a diagram of the full electronic configuration of sodium ion (labeled Particle J) and fluorine ion (labeled Particle Z). I am supposed to right down the formula for both ions. I wrote: J⁺, Z₂. I got the first one correct but the second one wrong. Apparently, I had confused between an atom and an ion. Fluorine atoms would form covalent molecules but not fluorine ions. Other, than this mistake – which cost me 1 mark – the rest was careless mistakes. Carelessness has cost me 3.75% of the total marks. I should be more careful.

            Now, I shall move on to reflect on the various topics taught in Term 1. They were: Periodic Table, Atomic Structure, Chemical Bonding and Equations Writing. For periodic table, I believe that I am quite clear with how to use a periodic table. For, Atomic Structure, I tend to get confuse between the nucleon number and the number of neutrons, especially for the element symbols such as ₁₁²³Na . I might assume that 23 in the number of nucleus. For Chemical Bonding, I think that I am quite steady and comprehensive on how various elements form compounds. Lastly, for Equation Writing, I believe that I am quite good at it since I read widely about Chemistry. However, I tend to forget that certain elements exist in molecule and not individual atoms, such as H₂, O₂, Cl₂ etc.

            Finally, I come to the most important part: what can I do to become better? I believe to do well in Chemistry, it is important that I understand the various common chemicals, such as NH₃, HNO₃, CO₂, CaCO₃ and so on. I believe memorizing their formulas and names is insufficient; one also needs to know their chemical properties too. Thus, I over the March holidays, I plan to do a little reading up about the various elements, simple compounds such as ammonia, and about acids and bases. While such knowledge may not be useful now, I believe that if one really wants to excel in any subject, he needs to learn beyond the textbook.