Physics and Chemistry combined

Rosie_McRose

Is anyone here doing this subject?
How does it compared to doing Chemistry or Physics alone? How do the papers compare with regards level of difficulty?
I'm already doing Chemistry and wondering if this is an easier option than taking up Physics?
Is there a textbook for the subject or is it a matter of studying the Physics textbook and Chemistry textbook and extracting the relevant curriculum?

mconigol

I took the combined phys/chem subject when I did my leaving 6 years ago (god that made me feel old!). I didn't do either Physics or Chemistry as stand alone subjects so I can't really make a comparison there I'm afraid.

I thought it was a decent subject and a nice way to learn the basics of both physics and chemistry. There used to be a textbook but it was discontinued a few years before I took the subject. There happened to be some copies still in the school so we managed to get out hands on them even though they were in pretty bad shape!

From what I remember all the main areas in physics and chemistry were covered but just not in the same level of detail as the stand alone subjects were.

I went on to study physics in college and never had a problem and having a basic knowledge of chemistry was definitely an advantage. Having knowledge of polymers etc...also helped me a lot with my engineering theory exam in the leaving too.

I would say that it probably is easier than doing "pure" physics and you always have the option of falling back on the chemistry questions in the exams if you needed to. A lot depends on the teacher too. We had two chemistry teachers giving the subject so we spent quite a bit more time on the chemistry side of things.

Science is very interdisciplinary these days of if you're interested in a science/engineering career after school then having knowledge of other areas of science helps. Also in college for example chemistry students take physics modules so it would help here too.

Rosie_McRose

Thanks for that!
Just one thing maybe someone can clear up. Am I allowed sit Chemistry and PhysChem? I knew you couldn't sit all 3 exams but after rereading the rules I'm now reading it as you can only do PhysChem alone and not with either of the other two subjects?

mconigol

I was just wondering that myself. I didn't think you could but thinking back there were definitely some people who did biology and phys/chem but I'm fairly sure there wouldn't be any problems with that. Best to talk to the teacher or a careers adviser

jumpguy

Rosie_McRose wrote: »

Thanks for that!
Just one thing maybe someone can clear up. Am I allowed sit Chemistry and PhysChem? I knew you couldn't sit all 3 exams but after rereading the rules I'm now reading it as you can only do PhysChem alone and not with either of the other two subjects?

No, you can't sit sit Phys/chem and chemistry or physics.

rainbowtrout

jumpguy wrote: »

No, you can't sit sit Phys/chem and chemistry or physics.

Well technically you probably could, but you can't count phys/chem with either physics or chemistry for points, so really there would be no point doing it with either.

I did phys/chem for LC way back when ('96). I teach chemistry now and really there's no comparison. I'd liken it to doing OL physics and OL chemistry combined as a HL subject. There's a few bits and pieces thrown in on top of that but overall that would be my general feeling. There's a good choice on the paper - 6 physics questions to do 3 and 6 chemistry questions to do 3 if i remember rightly. They are all categorised fairly neatly. Eg in physics there will be a question on each of light, mechanics, electricity, etc and in chemistry organic chemistry, acids and bases, atomic theory etc. So you can leave out stuff if you find it particularly difficult. It's worth getting a set of papers and working from them consistently if you are seriously thinking of taking it up as a subject. True, it doesn't go into the same depth as the single subjects but it does give you a grounding in most of the main topics of physics and chemistry so if you do a science degree in college, you will have touched on most subjects in first year. I took phys/chem with biology and it was a great help when I was in first year.

Rosie_McRose

Thanks guys - that's been really helpful.
I have to have HL Chemistry for the course i want so I won't be able to do PhysChem but it sounds like a good subject.
Still got one more LC subject to pick and I'm a bit stumped.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Did P-C last year and got the A1. Easy compared to most. Did physics for two months before "dropping down". Best decision I made. Very predictable paper with a short course. Already have next year's paper sussed out (repeating:-(). Basically, its like pass physics and pass chemistry. I'd defo advise anyone to do it.

hawthorn101

Just saw an old thread there with people wondering about this course. Textbook seems to be a problem. I got one this year for my daughter who was doing this course and she found it very good. I think it has been around for a while but not stocked in all the bookshops. I got it from
Top Publications, Cloonfush, Tuam, Co. Galway. I'm not sure if he has an email.