• Question: if i was doing the junior cert, what experiment would you advise me on doing?

    Asked by sarah2013xxx to Colm, Eoin, Joseph, Lauren, Stephen on 11 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Eoin O Colgain

      Eoin O Colgain answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Hi Sarah,

      As a theoretical physicist, I have an allergy to experiments (nasty rash 🙂 ), but if pushed and if “plot the magnetic field of a bar magnet” still exists, this sounds pretty manageable, even for me.

      Interestingly, once one learns some advanced mathematics one can describe magnetism and electricity in the same language.

    • Photo: colm bracken

      colm bracken answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Science for sure! And then be sure to do physics for leaving cert. Physics is the most fundamental subject of study. It is about asking the BIG questions: ‘What is time, and can it flow backwards’, or ‘How do stars work’, or ‘Will the universe ever end’. These are some of the huge questions we seek to answer as physicists. All of the sciences are important in their own way but physics is the most fundamental.

    • Photo: Joseph Roche

      Joseph Roche answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      I would advise you to do as many experiments as possible. Sometimes it’s difficult to do experiments in school all the time but it can be fun to do experiments at home. You don’t always need a laboratory for experiments. Mixing Diet Coke and Mentos is a good one to start with 🙂

    • Photo: Lauren Mc Keown

      Lauren Mc Keown answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      I think the JC and LC take away from how interesting science can really be! I would encourage you to do whatever experiments are given to you, but maybe get on the internet and research the material the experiments teach you about. You never know, that “boring one you have to do” might just have a really cool real – world application. I have to second what Colm said – definitely consider physics for the leaving cert. It’s by far the easiest exam if you just learn the concepts behind a few equations…and without being biased, it’s definitely the most interesting one. Who wants to learn off every bone in the human body eh?

    • Photo: Stephen Scully

      Stephen Scully answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      If you have a passion for something, that is probably what I would do.

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