Thanks, Columbus

Nothing like extended holidays in honor of people who were total jerks. MIT gives us two days off. I guess their policy is one day off every month, and two off every two. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.

This week sucked for just about everyone on campus; most classes gave tests in anticipation of the four-day weekend. For me that included 7.012, 3.091, and 8.02.

3.091: the class so far has covered some relatively basic material: stoichiometry, photoelectric effect, De Broglie hypothesis, etc. While none of this stuff is actually simple, the applications we used in class basically involved applying an equation or two. Also, two years’ worth of old tests were available online. Also, we can use a periodic table, a table of constants, and an 8.5×11 sheet of paper with whatever we want written on both sides. All of these things mean that several people did well, including me. The class average was higher than in previous years. Personally, I made a few minor mistakes and got a 96.

7.012: so far, we’ve done the biochemistry and basic genetics portions of introductory biology. It’s mostly been material I’ve seen in AP Bio, but the biochemistry is significantly more difficult. Unfortunately, the test was heavy on the biochemistry stuff, and it was harder than I had hoped. I think I did OK, although not great, but I won’t find out until Wednesday or Thursday.

8.02: electricity. Almost all of it: Coulomb’s Law, Gauss’s Law, and capacitors. No circuits yet, though. It felt like an easy test, but I got a a 74, so I’m not entirely sure what I did wrong. I’m hoping it was little things where I just didn’t pay attention, but I should find out for sure on Wednesday. Incidentally, the class average was a 70.

I’m not sure how well I can use these as indications of future performance, because all of the tests were either easy and/or covered material I’ve seen in previous years. I expect that the 6.042 test in two weeks and the next 3.091 test will give me a better sense of things, since 6.042 is basically a sophomore class and 3.091 is moving into new material.

In any case, to enjoy the four-day weekend, some friends and I are going to New York for a few days. We leave in just over an hour, so I need to go and finish getting packed.