Leaving cert physics..I'm boggled!?!

jager-bomber

Okay I got 23 percent in the pre..I haven't opened the book since..I will not do pass as I need to get 55% C3 can someone please help me..What topics..parts of questions...experiments are going to com...and I'm leaving out electricity(2 questions) ha I'm screwed!!! And any tips for irish poets or storys?? Or biology exp's or chemistry? ty HELPPPP need close to 400 points how hard!!!!:eek:

Cokehead Mother

jager-bomber wrote: »

Okay I got 23 percent in the pre

I haven't opened the book since..

I will not do pass as

I need to get 55% C3

jager-bomber wrote: »

can someone please help me

You don't need predictions. You need to take some responsibility for yourself. You've screwed yourself over. There's still time but not opening a book after doing awful in the pre and then coming on here and expecting us to make everything better is not the way to get the results you want. Turn off the computer and do some work.

PurpleFistMixer

Since you're leaving out electricity you're most likely not going to have any option as regards the mandatory experiment, so you'd want to know them pretty well. Check over the exam papers to try and guess what's going to come up, if you want. Things like the calibration of a thermometer, and measuring velocity/acceleration are probably too simple to ever come up.
It's handy to notice stuff like, finding the focal length of the lens/mirror is almost exactly the same experiment. The fundamental frequency of a stretched string regarding length and tension is also very similar, just remember the graphs are different.
If you're smart about it you can vastly cut down the work required.

However, I must say, if you find physics so difficult, why are you applying for a course that requires a C3 in it?

jager-bomber

However, I must say, if you find physics so difficult, why are you applying for a course that requires a C3 in it?[/quote]
Its not very difficult.. but I just don't know where to begin..I loved science in the junior cert..aced it and thought I could follow up..but now I bamboozled... What are the main topics on this course..regarding mechanics..light/sound/waves/heat is that the type of stuff> and particle physics?? wHOA THATS A HANDFULL!

Cokehead Mother

jager-bomber wrote: »

Its not very difficult.. but I just don't know where to begin..

Opening the book! :eek:

Just start anywhere and learn the definitions, formulae as well as errors, methods and calculations for mandatory experiment. There's your C3. There are no "main" topics per se... just get the syllabus off education.ie and try and squeeze as much of it into your head as possible.

What course is it btw?

PurpleFistMixer

If you wish to know what the physics course consists of, I highly recommend going to a nearby physics book, and opening it to the index page. Therein you will find a list of chapters, which can be broken down into topics.

The topics are basically:
Mechanics
Waves (with a subset of optics)
Heat and Temperature (2 chapters, barely a topic, well according to my book)
Electricity & Magnetism (and applied electricity if you're doing it)
Modern Physics (ie atomic physics, and particle physics if you're doing it)

Since you're not doing electricity, you've only to deal with the rest. If you do applied maths mechanics is simple (though I'm guessing you're not). It has the most formulae associated with it (I condensed all the physics formulae to fit on one page the other day, mechanics takes up about 1/3 of the page), and it's definitely something you want to be able to do. If you know the formulae a lot of questions come down to simple maths, then knowing some definitions etc.

To me, Waves is one of the harder topics (it has two horrible experiments: measuring the wavelength of monochromatic light, and measuring the speed of sound in air).
Heat and Temperature, being 2 chapters is quite handy, I'd recommend knowing it. There's very few formulae to learn, too. The experiments aren't the simplest in the world, but this is higher level physics we're talking about.
Modern Physics... as far as I remember, requires a lot of wordy learning stuff (I'm a mathsy type, give me a mechanics question any day), about x-rays and all, but it's quite interesting, I think. There are no mandatory experiments in it, because they're not going to be having LC students across the country generating x-rays and playing with radioactive sources.

failsafe

There's a pretty thorough list of all the topics here. Not all of them have notes yet, but it's a good (if slightly overwhelming!) overview of the course.

Bowden

I'm sorta in the same boat KINDA, but I wouldn't advise you to drop down you have well over a month till you have your physics exam on Monday the 16th so loads of time.
I'm saying don't drop down because the ordinary level is just as hard only difference is they give you the formula and some of the maths is easier thats IT.
What I would really advise you to do is get out your exam papers and do them, I was told this the other day and I've been doing it and I'm actually understanding the stuff now, and it wasn't down to the teacher being terrible rather than ME not listening.
Make sure you know your option inside out whether that is further particle physics or applied electricity, I would advise you to do particle physics it ties in with other parts of the course and is the smallest chapter in the book unless you are doing engineering in school and applied electricity and it comes up on that.
So basically do the exam papers and keep doing them and make sure you know your option inside out as thats a guaranteed question and relax you have a good bit of time.

Delphi91

Knowing that you need a C3 at HL and stating that you haven't opened a book after getting 23 in the pre isn't a clever way of getting the C3!! So now its a case of damage limitation.

To be honest, and speaking as a physics teacher, if I was in your shoes at this moment, I'd open up a set of exam papers and start doing every question I could lay my hands on.

Given the amount of time left, I wouldn't advise opening a book and revising. What you need now is practice, practice, practice. Doing exam papers will let you see what is asked and if you compare them to the answers (available on www.examinations.ie) you'll get an idea of the depth and level for each answer. Sure you'll probably need to look at a book for the first few questions, but gradually you'll notice that the same stuff gets asked on each topic pretty much all the time so you'll get used to the questions quickly. Also make sure that you do each question in the amnount of time alloted for it.

Bowden

Delphi91 wrote: »

Knowing that you need a C3 at HL and stating that you haven't opened a book after getting 23 in the pre isn't a clever way of getting the C3!! So now its a case of damage limitation.

To be honest, and speaking as a physics teacher, if I was in your shoes at this moment, I'd open up a set of exam papers and start doing every question I could lay my hands on.

Given the amount of time left, I wouldn't advise opening a book and revising. What you need now is practice, practice, practice. Doing exam papers will let you see what is asked and if you compare them to the answers (available on www.examinations.ie) you'll get an idea of the depth and level for each answer. Sure you'll probably need to look at a book for the first few questions, but gradually you'll notice that the same stuff gets asked on each topic pretty much all the time so you'll get used to the questions quickly. Also make sure that you do each question in the amnount of time alloted for it.

I agree with everything here, your bound to be asked something that has come up before in every question. A C3 is achievable I could say you could do better than a C3 If you put your mind to it, a person in my school last year got 10% in Higher Physics and 15% in Higher Maths in the Pres. The teachers where so worried that he would fail his LC that they got the Department of Education but he ignored them and went on to get A1's in both with alot of hard work, he studied 2 weeks before his LC at home from 9am-1pm then 2pm to 9pm and then revised what he did for another hour, I know he didn't study till then because I was out with him playing football or rugby. So if your willing to put the work in YOU CAN DO IT. Its not that long I'm even starting to do those hours! GL

RedXIV

Delphi has the right idea, keep doing exam papers, they are devil's for repeating themselves.

And just for reassurance OP, i completely flunked physics in my mocks (12%) and ended up with a B1 in higher. And i'm doing a course with physics on it. It can be done!!!

Bowden

Also ask your physics teacher for some pre exams for the past few years and he/she will also usually have the answer written out this is a great way for testing yourself and look RedXIV did it nothing stoping you geting a result like that!