Applying+Past+Knowledge

Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations (8)
Often students approach each task as if it were for the very first time. Its like each experience is independent, has no relationship to what has come before or what comes after. Psychologists call this an "episodic grasp of reality". I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from past experience. - Thomas Edison

Like what Thomas Edison suggests, it is crucial for us to learn from mistakes. Each mistake would be worthwhile if we learn from it and adjust our next move/step/experiment accordingly. Those mistakes, although unsuccessful, will be the most meritorious component of the final product/result. For example, when Thomas Edison was inventing the light bulb, he went through many trials before the light glowed in the dark. It is obvious that Edison had learned from past experiences. Likewise, we should do the same.

In our experiment of investigating the rate of reaction when magnesium strips are putted into different concentration of HCl, we obtained the method learned from the previous testing experiment. The use of eudiometer and the conical flask and the way they are set up are all based on what we learned from the previous experiment.