Should i do physics?

Omnomnom

Im going into 5th year and would like to do physics for the leaving cert but im not that great at maths...I did honours for 2 and a half years and then dropped to pass and got a B1 in my jc.. If i could i'd prefer to do home ec..our school is pretty small so it didn't show up in subject choice and i think it would be too much hassle to do home economics outside of school...

Would it be better to do Home Ec outside of school or to do Physics? My only other option in History..but that was my worst subject for the junior cert..I got a D and did all honours subjects except for maths..

Kersmash

I do ordinary maths as well as physics. I think it's down to the teacher. In 4th year I was pretty good at physics and the teacher reccommended I do it, got a new teacher at the start of fifth year and now I'm failing HORRIBLY.

spurious

Home Ec. out of school would be quite difficult as you have to get a teacher to sign off on your practical stuff.
If Home Ec. is available in your school and they just can't fit you in the class it would be a bit easier as you could check in with the teacher regularly.

Go for physics, although it has an unfairly hard reputation. You don't need to be great at maths for it, despite what a huge number of people say. The maths is very basic, you just need to sub figures into pre-learned formulae and rearrange to solve. Also, it has, by far, the shortest course of any of the science subjects (bar app. maths if you were to include that), which is great for revision.

Fad

Has anyone seen the new Tables books?

I just saw my sister's (Published by the government/whatever body does) one, seems to have all the formula in it :eek:

(It says approved for use in state exams)

I'll scan a few pages in a sec.

Futurism

Go for it. Lots of my friends were in your position and took it, only to do really well.

I didn't do it and am thinking of taking it in college :pac:

Fad

Here we go, sorry about the sizes of the pics.

almostnever

They even have the fecking economics elasticity formulae in there! Craziness.

OP,do physics. Best subject ever,so interesting and engaging and honestly,the maths isn't that bad.

jambolian

im not goin to lie but physics was the biggest mistake i made goin into 2nd year, no offence to anyone who enjoys it, i will admit its pretty damn interesting, but there is no point, it was the hardest subjest, too much work! i had to drop honours maths to keep up, got an A1 in maths and a D2 in physics, and i actually worked

meathawk

Physics in 5th year was hard but then it all came together in 6th year and i just did exam papers purely and ended up with a B1.I was happy enough but I did higher level maths and got a B2.However my friend got an A2 in leaving cert physics and did ordinary level and got a B.So really it's about keeping on top of things.I failed my first test in physics in 5th year at christmas.Then I knew I just had to put my head down and by purely reading over stuff that we did in class I jumped many grades.It is quite an easy subject once you get your head around it.

Col Man

I'd recommend against doing physics in most situations. The A1 rate is artificially high, because of the type of people who sign up to do it, just like applied maths. It's harder to say in this situation due to your options being limited. It's true that higher maths is not a requirement, but it certainly helps.

english4490

i would agree, i found physics the most difficult off all my subjects especially the maths, i got a B in JC honors and by 6th year i dropped to pass maths because i thought that'd take the pressure off and id be fine at physics..wrong!
one person once told me that the maths in physics was no more difficult to the maths in economics which is probably one of the most ridiculous statements ever, i found the maths in economics very strait forward and just subbing in numbers to the few formulae needed, to me personally physics was a whole differnet ball game, and that shows in the A1 i got in economics and the D3 i got in physics!!
i know many people find physics quite easy and it does have a relatively short course for a science subject i found it extremely difficult and tedious, but i think having a good teacher would have really helped us in that area! out of a class of 19, which is the biggest uptake in physics since our school opened 25 years ago, no more that 8 said they'd take physics again if they were to go back and pick their LC subjects again! but OP its really up to you, if you think you will enjoy it, thats half the battle and go for it!

holadivaldfe

of you're interested in physics, then do it! i rarely studied physics, i just understood it and i got an A2. granted i was expecting a B3!


i am so so so angry about those new log tables. there's no nedd to put in all those formulas! next they'll be handing out complementary marking schemes in the middle of the leaving cert. :mad:

ianmull

I did pyhsics for my leaving cert 2 years ago and didn't find it too difficult. You'll have to put in a bit of work but its more so in learning definitions and trying to understand how certain processes work. The maths is very straight forward, just slot some values into formula, and you can't go wrong after that if you know how to multiply/add etc.

Its an interesting subject to do and quite enjoyable.
Plus, if you want to do, say, engineering in college it can be very helpful!

Wow, and with these new tables you'll have to learn alot less formulas off than in previous years!

Delta Kilo

english4490 wrote: »

and that shows in the A1 i got in economics and the D3 i got in physics!!

Still, I reckon that result would have been higher than the result you got in geography after doing the whole course in 6 weeks!

Those new tables are a joke!

Ted Bundy

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Go for physics, although it has an unfairly hard reputation. You don't need to be great at maths for it, despite what a huge number of people say. The maths is very basic, you just need to sub figures into pre-learned formulae and rearrange to solve. Also, it has, by far, the shortest course of any of the science subjects (bar app. maths if you were to include that), which is great for revision.

This.

Anthem

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Go for physics, although it has an unfairly hard reputation. You don't need to be great at maths for it, despite what a huge number of people say. The maths is very basic, you just need to sub figures into pre-learned formulae and rearrange to solve. Also, it has, by far, the shortest course of any of the science subjects (bar app. maths if you were to include that), which is great for revision.

+1

Physics is a really nice subject, not too much rote learning and yet specific enough too. The calculations are generally predictable and just involve subbing figures into formulae, and anyone with a basic understanding of addition and multiplication and maybe a JC standard of trig should be fine.

Fad

english4490 wrote: »

one person once told me that the maths in physics was no more difficult to the maths in economics which is probably one of the most ridiculous statements ever, i found the maths in economics very strait forward and just subbing in numbers to the few formulae needed, to me personally physics was a whole differnet ball game, and that shows in the A1 i got in economics and the D3 i got in physics!!

The Maths in Physics is just that though!

Sub in the correct values in to the formula, you might have think about what your doing a bit more, but honestly there's nothing more to it!

Now if these new tables are the right ones (Which I suspect they are) no one has any excuse!

Mallox

i would agree with english4490 the maths in economics is soo much more straight forward and also you always know which formula to use , for physics there may be several formula to use and you have to use them the right way and in the right order .. I also found this very very tricky

personally i would recommend anyone only to do physics if its a college requirement for your course
otherwise stick to subjects like geography biology ag science economics and so on. they are far easier to do well in than the technical and mathematical subjects
I regret taking up physics but you learn from your mistakes i guess

Ps if you find it difficult in 5th year remember you can always change to a different subject even at the end of 5th year but dont leave it till after the pre to decide your doing a different subject :L:L isn that right english4490

JW91

english4490 wrote: »

i would agree, i found physics the most difficult off all my subjects especially the maths, i got a B in JC honors and by 6th year i dropped to pass maths because i thought that'd take the pressure off and id be fine at physics..wrong!
one person once told me that the maths in physics was no more difficult to the maths in economics which is probably one of the most ridiculous statements ever, i found the maths in economics very strait forward and just subbing in numbers to the few formulae needed, to me personally physics was a whole differnet ball game, and that shows in the A1 i got in economics and the D3 i got in physics!!
i know many people find physics quite easy and it does have a relatively short course for a science subject i found it extremely difficult and tedious, but i think having a good teacher would have really helped us in that area! out of a class of 19, which is the biggest uptake in physics since our school opened 25 years ago, no more that 8 said they'd take physics again if they were to go back and pick their LC subjects again! but OP its really up to you, if you think you will enjoy it, thats half the battle and go for it!

I wouldn't agree with you at all. The maths in physics is very straight forward once you keep your wits about you. Every single Maths question in physics can be solved via a formula. You just have to recall the formula that is required and then manipulate it to suit the information you have been given. It's genuinely very straight forward.

I'd recommend physics to anyone. It's fairly handy I thought. You just need to understand the experiments really. There's no need to be learing them off by heart. And then you just need to remember and understand the formulae and know a fairly small amount of definititions and it's a fairly handy A to be honest.

almostover

If you have any interest in how things work (electricity, magnetism etc) Physics is for you. Its not an especially difficult subject and does not require massive amounts of rote learning like Biology. My advice would be to take Physics but ensure that you play close attention in class and ask lots of questions. Physics is really interesting if you put in a little effort into understanding the basics.

fearanpost

I reckon ya avoid physics, its a lot of learnin if your guna do higher... and in my opinion ther is no point doin ANY pass subects, the points ya get for a high pass are disgraceful, so try do all honours because its easier to honour a higher subject than get an A in a pass subject... i dropped physics in 6th year and picked up music, i done construction engineerin music and DCG and i wud recomend them subjects 2 ya because ya cud have 50 per cent in the bag before june with help from your teacher and theres no reason ya couldn do higher in all of these subjects.. they are soooo easy!! thats my advice anyways, i got 455 without a tap of studyin done and thats why, because practical subjects ARE THE BEST FOR POINTS.....EVER!!!

celtic723

It's a fantastic subject. I done all 3 science subjects for the L.C and although it was my least favourite it was a good choice. If you're willing to go home every night and get used to the formulae by answering exam q's and also revising what you covered in class that day you'll really enjoy it.

ya-ba-da-ba-doo

Do physics. I wish i did it. Its a really great subject to have. At least do phys-chem. You'll have to do it outside school - look for a centre near you that does it. Its pass chem and pass phys combined. My cousin took it up last october and got an a1.

shbwap

You should take into consideration how good/bad your teacher is...when I went into 5th year, i was really interested in Science and Maths and had got A's at HL in the JC. My teacher for physics was absolutely useless, completely turned me off science in general.I tried really hard in 5th year but I was so sick of it that I stopped.By this stage I hated the subject with a passion. I didn't realise at the time that I could change to another subject.

I got grinds in 6th year from a teacher in another school and he showed me that Physics could be interesting in the hands of a competent teacher.

I got a B2 in HL in the LC, so it wouldn't be the worst subject to take. The experiment section is a great place to get marks. So on balance, if you have a fairly good teacher and an interest in the subject, go for it and if its not working, you can always change.

timeforheroes01

yup id recommend it to you anyways! the maths is not that difficult its mainly seeing how to solve a problem more than anything.. and if your willing to learn the definitions experiments and formulae then thats about 40 percent or so in the bag

KnifeWRENCH

It's a very interesting subject and I'd recommend it for anyone with any interest in science. The Maths isn't that difficult: you just need to know how to recall formulas, manipulate them and sub in values. The experiments are handy enough to learn and there is plenty of choice on the apper.

I will say that you would need a fairly good teacher though to get a good mark.

xxmeabhxx

What Jammiedodger said is completely true. Our physics teacher said you can do honours physics if you're doing ordinary maths and you'll be fine. I'm going into sixth year and I'm doing Hons physics and maths and the maths you use in physics is really just subbing in and manipulating formulae whereas some of the hons maths is very difficult. The only tricky bit is remembering all the formula but they seem to be in the new version of the tables so yeah go for physics over a subject you'ld have to do outside school. Physics has an unfair reputation for being very difficult, lots of people just see it as a hard subject and don't know what the course is like. Also there is very little to revise compared to other subjects.

english4490

yes the actual maths may not be hugely difficult, but the sheer number of formulae needed alone takes a lot of learning off, and as has been said, for most problems its not a case off subbing in figures to a certain formula, you have to figure out which formula to use and in many cases there is more than 1 formula that can be used which only further complicates matters. I got and A in JC science and a B in JC maths, both higher and enjoyed both subjects, yet physics became the bane of mine and many others lives!
also someone else here said it and i would too agree, the high levels of high grades is artifically high, out of the 3 schools around me i know that the calibre of students studying physics is generally quiet high, and more often the not the best students in a school will do physics, for example the 7 highest LC results this year in my school did physics!:rolleyes:

Col Man

The teacher is almost too relevant in physics. Make sure the teacher in your school is a good one. I know, it won't be all that easy to find out, but you can try.

I did all 3 sciences, applied maths and maths, and got A1s in all 5. I thought physics was the hardest of the 5, although I can see why other people might find maths and applied maths more difficult. But I can't exactly see how anyone could find chemistry and biology that hard. The amount required to learn in biology is (as I learned...) completely overrated. If you had this same forum debating chemistry, you'd probably have everyone telling you it was the best subject there is (actually it was pretty good...). The reason the A1 rate is higher in physics is due to the type of people who sign up for it. Comparing the average number of points earned in my year by people who took physics and people who took biology is a joke. So that statistic is no real defence. There appears to be a lot more in biology, but so much information in the textbooks is very unnecessary, superfluous. Hands down bio is the easiest subject I took for the LC (those 5 plus German, English, Music, Irish). Yeah I know I'm not just talking about physics here, but obviously a comparison is necessary.

The relevance of your maths skills and such is about timing really. You are required to do like 8 questions on the exam out of 12 (I'm not going to go into the full details of the questions). The people who were worst at maths in my year got about 8 or so done, while the people who were more solid at maths did at the very least 9, a few getting 10 out. It's not all that easy to tell how you're going to find a question until you actually do it, so having at least one spare is handy. I managed 11 out of 12. To compare this, I finished every question on the chemistry exam and the biology exam with over 30 mins to spare in both. One result is that people make many more silly errors in physics. Straight after the exam almost everyone in my year realised they made multiple errors after re-reading questions.

Just comparing it with the sciences, the experiments questions are much harder in physics than biology, by miles and miles. And that's after factoring in the relative percentages given to the sections in each exam. While on first glance they would also appear easier than chemistry, they are unfortunately more unpredictable. If you work, and you can consistently score 40/50 in a chem experiment, you'll almost certainly get that much in the real thing. However in physics, you can drop to 25/40 and basically get hardly anything wrong in the question.

What's the worst part about physics? It's the marking scheme. On first glance of the exams, the difference in difficultly levels wouldn't appear as apparent. But if you look at the marking schemes for all 3 sciences (which I did, at least 6 for each science, the full scheme), you get a much clearer picture. Biology gives you every option under the sun for marks, chemistry is very fair, while physics might only give 4 options for an answer when you had to give 3 examples. In contrast, bio sometimes gives up to 30 for when you have to give like 2.

Whatever, maybe I just had a crap teacher.

english4490

Finally someone who makes sense!! ^^^^^^^^

Also i had a particularly..... unorganised teacher who went off on tangents at every opportunity! That teacher also went on leave in february and came back less than 2 weeks before the exam!

Perhaps my dislike for physics and my bad experiences of the maths in it come down to having a bad teacher??! who knows, but i think a good teacher would have certainly helped!