Higher number of straight A+ scorers in SPM 2011

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 559 (0.12%) of 468,808 students scored straight A+ in last year's Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations, compared with 403 (0.08%) straight A+ scorers in 2010.

Education director-general Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafar Mahmud said overall student achievement in the examinations has continually improved in the past four years.

He said 506 of the straight A+ candidates were from national secondary schools and 53 from other schools, compared with 363 and 40 respectively in 2010.

"The overall SPM achievement for 2011 improved from the year before, with the National Average Grade at 5.04 compared with 5.19 in 2010," he added.

"The overall achievement of schools also improved, as the number of schools in the 'excellent' and 'good' categories increased by 13 and 60 schools respectively," he said when announcing the SPM 2011 results analysis at the Education Ministry here Wednesday.

Abdul Ghafar said schools were gauged using the School Average Grade and categorised as "excellent", "good", "satisfactory", and "potential".

Physics Form 5: Chapter 1 - Application of Reflection of Sound

Echoes are caused by the reflection of sound. A sound wave will continue to bounce around or reverberate until it has lost all its energy. A wave has some of its energy absorbed by the objects it hits. The rest lost as heat energy.

The phenomenon of the reflection of sound is used to determine the distance between the two objects, for example depth of seabed, depth of cave or width of a valley. The type of sound used must be ultrasound.

Sonar (Sound Navigation and Ranging). Sonar is used to detect underwater objects (corals / fishes) or to determine the depth of the water by means of an echo. Sonar equipment emits a high frequency sound signal which is reflected by the object in the water. The reflected sound wave is received by the sonar receiver. The time taken for the echo to return is used to determine the distance of the object below the water surface. 

Sonar waves of high frequency is used because it possesses more energy, high penetration power and can travel further through water.

Click on the diagram below to play!

Physics Form 4: Chapter 5 - Ray Diagrams of Convex Lens

Ray Diagram Rules for Convex Lens

1. Any incident ray travelling parallel to the principal axis of a convex lens will refract through the lens and travel through the focal point on the opposite side of the lens.
2. Any incident ray travelling through the focal point on the way to the lens will refract through the lens and travel parallel to the principal axis.
3. Any incident ray passes through the center of the lens will in affect continue in the same direction that it had when it entered the lens.

Examples of ray diagram with different object distance

Penang Tops STPM Result

PENANG schools have performed better in the STPM examinations last year with the passing rate for students scoring between one principal and five principals at 97.02% compared to the national average of 93.96%.

State Education Department deputy director Dr Sharifah Bee Aboo Bakar said the joint effort of the teachers had contributed to the academic achievements of the students last year.

She said that in 2010, a total of 2,494 students sat for the exams where 96.67% of them scored between one principal and five principals and it was 2,409 students in 2009 with 96.75% obtaining between one and five principals.

“A total of 3,062 students sat for the exam last year and 2,523 students were from the government schools with another 345 from private schools and 194 were private candidates,’’ she said at a press conference held at SMJK Jit Sin in Sungai Rambai near Bukit Mertajam yesterday.

Chemistry Form 4: Chapter 2 - Bohr's Atomic Model

Neils Bohr was born on October 7, 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1922 he won the Nobel  prize for physics. Bohr was a professor at the unoversity of Copenhagen. Neils Bohr produced a theory about the structure of an atom based on Rutheford's Plum Pudding model. Bohr discovered that the electrons travel in orbits. Outer orbits could hold more electrons than the inner orbits. He suggested that when an electron jumps from an outer orbit to an inner orbit it emits light which called photon.

This model was created by Neils Bohr in 1915. In the center is the nucleus which is composed of protons and neutrons. It is orbited by electrons. The nucleus is about 100,000 times smaller than the radius of the atom.

STPM Result Next Wednesday

KUALA LUMPUR: The result of last year's Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examination will be announced on Wednesday, the Malaysian Examinations Council said.

In a statement, it said candidates would be able to obtain their results at their respective schools from 12 noon while private candidates would obtain theirs through the post.

Candidates can also check the result via the text message by sending STPM ResultIC number to 15888 or at the council's website at http://www.mpm.edu.my from noon on that day.

A total 50,602 candidates sat for the examination last year comprising 46,817 candidates from government schools, 1,266 from private schools and 2,519 private candidates. - Bernama