What Are the Funniest Misconceptions in Maths and Physics Tests?

[Viru.universe]

Hey everyone, I'm searching for some really funny answers by students in maths/physics test, i googled it but getting the same old images, can anyone give some useful links or share any funny answers you ever saw

 

[Aimless]

This was for a lab, not a test, but an amusing answer an astronomy student of mine once gave was that the radius of Jupiter was something* along the lines of 9.2711545903e57 m. At the time, I wasn't sure what I was more impressed by: the exponent, or the precision of the measurement.

The point of the lab was to use a measurement of angular size taken from a telescope plus the orbital configuration of the planets taken from their lab software and use it to compute the radius. Needless to say, at some point in this calculation the student made a small error. (To this day, I've never been able to figure out the source of the error. It might have had something to do with the fact that the conversions from both AU and LY to m were listed as part of the lab text, but even if he had multiplied by both factors that still doesn't come close to the number he listed.)

* I don't actually remember the string of digits he gave, but it was obvious he had just listed every digit spat out by his calculator. I do remember the exponent, though; it's the only time I've ever had a student tell me Jupiter was larger than the universe.

 

[Bacle2]

I'm just remembering the case of a Calc 1 student who was given a problem about Superman jumping from a building with a given Vo , to rescue someone who had fallen. The student did not answer anything about the problem, but gave an extremely detailed drawing of Superman, with cape letters, a drawing of the building with details on windows, etc. I thought it was kind of funny.

 

[lisab]

Not all these are family-friendly, but most are pretty funny:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/test-answers-that-are-too-clever-for-their-own-good

 

[QuantumCurt]

Not all these are family-friendly, but most are pretty funny:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/test-answers-that-are-too-clever-for-their-own-good

Oh my god...some of those were awesome. I lost it when I saw the last one...lol

 

[George Jones]

I was going to post an actual image, but, because I use my real name, and because the handwriting might be recognizable, I have decided to post a transcription instead.

A good student made a wrong turn partway through a solution. He realized this and wrote the following on a final exam in a course that I recently taught.

$$\left( \frac{2gL\sin\theta}{v^2} -1 \right) = 0$$
This then becomes

$$I = \left( \frac{2gL\sin\theta}{v^2} - 1 \right) MR^2$$
through dark magic rituals.

(I have no idea). You win.

It was a derivation question for which the final result was given.

 

[flatmaster]

In a projectile motion lab, there was a point where students use a plumb bob to find the point on the ground directly below their launcher. A student didn't know what a plum bob was, so they called it a "downometer". A downometer is a tool for measuring where "down" is pointing. I still like to call this tool a downometer when ever I get the chance.

 

[flatmaster]

There is always some creative and incredibly wrong answers to some simple questions.

Q: "how do steel ships float?"
A: " steel is less dense than water because it floats".

 

[mathsciguy]

That circular reasoning almost gave me cancer.

 

[lisab]

In a projectile motion lab, there was a point where students use a plumb bob to find the point on the ground directly below their launcher. A student didn't know what a plum bob was, so they called it a "downometer". A downometer is a tool for measuring where "down" is pointing. I still like to call this tool a downometer when ever I get the chance.

:!) I love that!

 

[tiny-tim]

A downometer is a tool for measuring where "down" is pointing. I still like to call this tool a downometer when ever I get the chance.

technically, it doesn't measure an amount of downness (like fathoms), only its direction …

so i think the correct term is downotrope ​

That circular reasoning almost gave me cancer.

and it's the sort of cancer that gives you circular reasoning!

(it doesn't kill you, it forces you live long enough to construct a perpetual motion machine )

 

[qspeechc]

Not all these are family-friendly, but most are pretty funny:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/test-answers-that-are-too-clever-for-their-own-good

I can't believe the paper in no. 23 actually got 37%, I would have given it 0%, and if I had the power, suspended the student.
And whoever marked it has hand-writing like a child.

No. 31 is my favourite, must be a very bright person.

 

[flatmaster]

technically, it doesn't measure an amount of downness (like fathoms), only its direction …

so i think the correct term is downotrope ​

Actually, a downometer can give you a measure of the amount of down. Swingyness can be used to measure the amount of downness via the equation T=Sqrt[2piL/g]. Swingyness is actually an intrinsic property independent of the mass so the more accurate term is swingosity. Thus...


A downotrope is a convinient tool for finding the direction of down. If the magnitude of downness is needed, the downotrope can be used as a downometer by simply measuring it's swingosity.

 

[flatmaster]

The OP was asking for silly answers and that's the silliest way I can think of to describe a plum bob.

 

[Borek]

No. 31 is my favourite, must be a very bright person.

IMHO it is a fake, looks like a collection of witty answers found on teenager forum, combined on one page to pretend it was a test.

 

[qspeechc]

IMHO it is a fake, looks like a collection of witty answers found on teenager forum, combined on one page to pretend it was a test.

It hadn't crossed my mind anyone could bother doing something so pathetic.

 

[Viru.universe]

Thanks a lot everyone, thanks for the link

 

[AlfieD]

Someone was asked 'What are the four seasons?' in a test. Their answer was 'Salt, pepper, papricka, and mustard'. It was in a physics astronomy mock test! I still can't believe he put that!

AlfieD

 

[flatmaster]

Someone was asked 'What are the four seasons?' in a test. Their answer was 'Salt, pepper, papricka, and mustard'. It was in a physics astronomy mock test! I still can't believe he put that!

AlfieD

Q: What causes Salt, pepper, papricka, and mustard?

A: Many believe they are caused by the changing distance between the Earth and the sun, but it is actually caused by the tilt of Earth's axis with respect to the eliptic.