Archive for May, 2009
The choice of subjects after class X is a very crucial decision in a student’s life and is often met with a lot of anxiety and confusion both on the part of parents and students alike. This anxiety is not out of place since on this decision hinges the general direction that a student’s career is going to take.
It is a common practice to base this crucial decision on the marks that the student obtains in his class X examinations. So, a student who secures an 80% plus aggregate in his class X Board Exams, invariably heads towards the Science subjects and another student who secures a 60% in his Boards, assumes that Humanities or the Arts subjects is what he must be cut out for. Such generalizations often prove erroneous and students may end up disillusioned and unduly stressed….
Continue Reading May 29th, 2009
With the ICSE Board declaring the Class X and XII results today and the CBSE declaring the class XII results for Ajmer, Panchkula and Chennai regions, the countdown to the ‘Big Day’ is almost over.
The CBSE is planning to announce the class XII results for the rest of the regions on the 22nd of May (Friday). The Class X results will be declared later.
You can know your results in any of the following ways:
- View results on the CBSE website from 10 am.
- Obtain your results via e-mail by registering on any one of the following 3 websites:
- Obtain results via phone through the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) by calling at the number- 011-28127030
It is encouraging to know that students are not overly stressed this year about their results! (Source: TOI, 20th May 2009). With a multitude of career opportunities and a growing awareness about the harmful effects of unrealistic expectations, remaining free from undue stress and chalking out a realistic plan for your career based on the Board results, is indeed what the doctor has prescribed for those days after the results are out.
However for those of you who are experiencing considerable stress related to the results, the CBSE ‘Tele-Counseling Helplines are only a phone call away! Operative from 39 centres in India and 4 centres abroad, the CBSE tele-counseling service is offered by trained counselors and principals from within CBSE affiliated schools.
We extend our best wishes to all you students!
Cheers!
Meritnation. Team
May 20th, 2009
When we started our journey a few years back, it was with a singular aim - to bring you the best quality educational content. Our path was difficult but every second of this journey has been hugely satisfying.
In the last week of April, we started offering a host of new features along with premium subscription to our users. And as they say - the rest is history! We got an overwhelming response to our premium annual subscription (which is currently available at a discount of 33% for Rs 999). It has helped strengthen our resolve to be a worthy partner in your quest for learning. We are extremely thankful for your love and support.
In the words of one of our parents…..
Dear MeritNation Management team;
My son is a student of Class X (CBSE Syllabus) and is studying in Saudi Arabia. Since professional tutors are really difficult to find here, I was looking to a web based Learning site for him. I am happy to state that most of his requirements are being met with your wonderful site. My deepest gratitude to you. Best regards.
- Mr Sodhi
While you are spending time to learn through our Intelligent Learning System and Study Materials, we are busy working on new features for you. We want you to succeed in your school and we will leave no stone unturned to help you do that.
All the best,
- Meritnation Team
May 18th, 2009
Are derivations, especially in Geometry, important? I’ve frequently posed this question to students over the years and have typically got the response − “No, if they are out of syllabus!” I disagree almost completely. Years back when I was in school, almost inadvertently, I got down to doing something really boring on a boring summer afternoon. I picked up Heron’s formula:
Area =
Where, s is the semi-perimeter of the triangle i.e. 
I admired its unwieldy look and got down to deriving it. Quite obviously, I first drew a triangle with the sides given.
I realized pretty soon that there wasn’t much headway I could have made without doing some construction. I did what any student would do. I dropped a perpendicular and did away with my first roadblock.
Then I wrote the known formula for the area of a triangle (something I should have done first!)
Area of ΔABC
Now I had two right triangles. Right triangles ! obviously Pythagoras theorem. Suddenly I had these equations.
c2 = h2 + d2 … (1)
b2 = h2 + (a − d)2
I knew that the answer had to be in terms of the lengths of the sides. I looked at the equations and did the most obvious operation to eliminate ‘h’ − I subtracted one equation from the other and the result was this −
b2 − c2 = a2 − 2ad
⇒ 2ad = a2 + b2 − c2
I got the value of ‘d’ in terms of a, b and c. I knew I was getting somewhere. I substituted this value in the first equation to write ‘h’ in terms of a, b & c.
After this I did my last step and that was simply substituting the value of ‘h’ in the formula for area. This is what I got.
Area of ΔABC
Looked scary but it worked as well as Heron’s formula (which probably was a few steps away). Now if I had a,b and c, I could find the area of the triangle!
What this did was it removed my mental block towards Heron’s formula, and that is important. In Geometry, you will almost always remember the formula/theorem but when faced with a question, you will not know which theorem to call for help when. And that is what derivations do. They give you the power over theorems, and thus Geometry. So next time if you get a theorem, attempt its derivation. You might not always be successful, but you would have made a good beginning in the direction of mastery over Geometry.
- Pavan
May 7th, 2009
