LC Physics

ggmad

I struggle with physics and I just scrapped a D3 in the mocks. To get a C1/B3 what parts of the course could I leave out? cheers

Daniel S

ggmad wrote: »

I struggle with physics and I just scrapped a D3 in the mocks. To get a C1/B3 what parts of the course could I leave out? cheers

None of it.

From now on in, just do exam papers and prepare essays for all your subjects. The amount of papers you do is proportional to you Leaving cert results. I'm sorta in the same boat as you though at the minute, only i'm lazy. I should be doing German right now lol!

"Do as I say not as I do" applies here then

ggmad

mtb_kng wrote: »

None of it.

From now on in, just do exam papers and prepare essays for all your subjects. The amount of papers you do is proportional to you Leaving cert results. I'm sorta in the same boat as you though at the minute, only i'm lazy. I should be doing German right now lol!

"Do as I say not as I do" applies here then

Do you do physics yourself or are you just saying this in general for all subjects?

Daniel S

ggmad wrote: »

Do you do physics yourself or are you just saying this in general for all subjects?

Both. Just do exam papers and learn off essays for the other subjects that aren't maths/science.

skorn500

ggmad wrote: »

I struggle with physics and I just scrapped a D3 in the mocks. To get a C1/B3 what parts of the course could I leave out? cheers

your best bet would be to questions 5 and 11 for every year doesnt matter what level your in, to get the overall feel for the various topics and its main aspects, also take certain topics like optics, heat, waves + wave motion and topics like that are short and do all the exam questions (one a week) note their repetitive nature, then go into specialist questions like X-rays or capacitance and charge. Also look at the analysis chart for experiments and know (not just the procedure) the ones that havnt been asked in while like momentum is due an appearance, but the thing bout the paper is that the momentum Q could come as a Q 1,6 or a 12, so just be cons conscious of that

Also this link for marking schemes on questions, gives the crucial points without all that bladder and what the marks go for

http://www.examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=en&sc=ep&formAction=subject

irish_man

ggmad wrote: »

I struggle with physics and I just scrapped a D3 in the mocks. To get a C1/B3 what parts of the course could I leave out? cheers

Well you can't really take anything out but you can narrow it down a little. Except you can leave out all the experiments from last year. Never has the same experiment come up 2 years in a row. Know your option topic really well thats a guaranteed topic. Thats 1 question in section B.

By just looking at the papers the Doppler effect seems to come up a lot but never 2 years in a row. It came up last year so you can leave that out. A sound experiment looks fairly likely. Take a look at speed of sound in air. theres a nasty maths trick in that that would catch many out. (d X .3)

X-rays came up last year so I'd prob take a look at cathode ray tubes, be able to draw one, and the maths associated with it.

A question on light in the long questions looks fairly likely. they seem to rotate from a light q in section A one year, to a long q on light the next year. In light I'd say a question on optic fibers could come up. They seem to like that as its used in every day living. That will prob be a part in the Q12 though.

Hope that helps

niamhallen

Magnetism. Definitely.

jumpguy

ggmad wrote: »

I struggle with physics and I just scrapped a D3 in the mocks. To get a C1/B3 what parts of the course could I leave out? cheers

Don't really "leave out" anything, but you could be wise and prepare on a question-per-question basis.

Q5 (short questions) come up every year. Do all the short questions that have come up through the years. Doing them will also give you a good idea at what parts of the course you're weakest at and the parts you're better at also. Q5 in generally a nice enough question to score high marks on.

Q10 (particle physics) is a gauranteed question too. Although it's very theoretical-based, if you understand it, it's a very nice question to score high marks in and worth the effort to learn it.

Q12 (do 2 out of 4 parts question...I think) is a lovely question. There's usually a pleasant-enough mechanics question and a pleasant-enough nuclear physics question.

Q6 (mechanics) is a good choice if you enjoy and are good at maths. However, if you're not great at maths, I'd advise you do your best to steer clear of it. A good knowledge of the mechanics section is really required, both theoretical (eg. Newton's Laws of motion) and mechanics. Although it's a demanding question mathematically, it is gauranteed, and if you've a good head for maths, it's worth preparing for.

There's usually another seperate atomic theory/nuclear physics question somewhere outside Q10. I usually like these questions (but mainly because I find the section interesting). With the amount of gauranteed questions given on the physics paper, a bit of work on the sections you're good at and playing to your strenghts and interests can easily land you a high grade.

Electricity and electromagnetism also show up the paper, and I think light could make an appearance as a full question this year. I don't usually like Q7's myself (any full questions on light, or waves and wave motion, tend to be horrible and harshly marked in my opinion). Nor do I like Q11 (like short questions but on a specific topic, you're given a paragraph to read). The marking scheme for Q11 can be very cruel.

So, you have to ask, what parts of the course d'you find easiest/most interesting? How often do these parts show up in the exam and are they likely this year? And then you must learn them.

The experiments are easy marks too and quite predictable (if you select 8 experiments that are likely to come up this year, it's very, very likely 3 will come up).

Ghillie2k4

here s a tip . i know it seems obvious to loo at what you are given to work out what equations to use but make sure to check out the units. they may give you something in a sly way . e,g electron VOLTS are units of energy that can be used in inetic energy formula. they can be sly like that

ShonyBoulders

Hey guys, I don't want to start a new thread to ask my question, and it's pretty relevant to the original question anyway, so I'll post it here.

I'm sitting the Physics exam in a month like most of you here, except I've only started the course since October or so, and I've been doing it as an extra subject outside of school. As such, I'm a bit limited when it comes to answering the experiment questions in Section A of the paper. What do you guys find is the best to way to learn how to answer these questions?

LilMissCiara

ShonyBoulders wrote: »

Hey guys, I don't want to start a new thread to ask my question, and it's pretty relevant to the original question anyway, so I'll post it here.

I'm sitting the Physics exam in a month like most of you here, except I've only started the course since October or so, and I've been doing it as an extra subject outside of school. As such, I'm a bit limited when it comes to answering the experiment questions in Section A of the paper. What do you guys find is the best to way to learn how to answer these questions?

For every experiment make sure you know:
-The apparatus used and how to draw it
-Know how you measure different values
-Know the graph (if applicable) and how to read it (ie. use it to get other values)
-Know sources of error and how to eliminate them
-Be able to calculate what you are looking for.

I'd really recommend knowing your Section A really well. It's an easy 30%!

ShonyBoulders

LilMissCiara wrote: »

For every experiment make sure you know:
-The apparatus used and how to draw it
-Know how you measure different values
-Know the graph (if applicable) and how to read it (ie. use it to get other values)
-Know sources of error and how to eliminate them
-Be able to calculate what you are looking for.

I'd really recommend knowing your Section A really well. It's an easy 30%!

Yeah, it's my weak point when it comes to the exam paper. I can handle Section B fine for the most part with regards to the maths and the notes.
Thanks for listing that out for me, time is short so I need to be focused and effective from now on!
When answering a question on the experiment (e.g. "Describe the steps involved in blah blah blah"), is it enough to simply draw the apparatus, then write "1. Set up the apparatus as shown" ( and continue writing the steps), or should you list each step involved in setting up the apparatus? Revise Wise Physics does it in this way, but this is really skimpy in comparison to what I see in my textbook (Real World Physics). Which is the better way?

LilMissCiara

ShonyBoulders wrote: »

Yeah, it's my weak point when it comes to the exam paper. I can handle Section B fine for the most part with regards to the maths and the notes.
Thanks for listing that out for me, time is short so I need to be focused and effective from now on!
When answering a question on the experiment (e.g. "Describe the steps involved in blah blah blah"), is it enough to simply draw the apparatus, then write "1. Set up the apparatus as shown" ( and continue writing the steps), or should you list each step involved in setting up the apparatus? Revise Wise Physics does it in this way, but this is really skimpy in comparison to what I see in my textbook (Real World Physics). Which is the better way?

No theres no need to describe how to set it up, just make sure you know what each thing does in case that's asked!

Just do all the past experiments (all, every single one...! :P ) and things should fall in to place!

ShonyBoulders

Ok thanks a million! I really appreciate your help!

clartharlear

This is the best site ever for leaving cert physics:
http://www.thephysicsteacher.ie/leavingcertphysicsrevision.html

Make the "Section A Questions and Solutions" document your bible!

orangetictac

from herehttp://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055945516

orangetictac wrote: »

I didnt do electricity or magnetism(except mandatory experiments and some commons short questions) and got an A1 if that's any good to you.

I did all 4 experiments in my LC and knowing them sets you up well!

Nearly 3 years on and I am so happy I didn't stoop to the level of studying electricity

Exam papers are important for short questions and incredibly important for experiments

hevsuit

To be fair I think electricity and magnetism gets a bit of a bad name from students in general.

I think its because its at the end of the course, and as a result teachers and students alike don't seem to take a liking to it at all. I must admit that our teacher made a dog's dinner out of teaching it to our class, and as a result no-one made any attempt on those questions in the exam.

But after a year in college I'm now amazed at how badly it was taught :pac:.

clartharlear

hevsuit wrote: »

To be fair I think electricity and magnetism gets a bit of a bad name from students in general.

I think its because its at the end of the course, and as a result teachers and students alike don't seem to take a liking to it at all. I must admit that our teacher made a dog's dinner out of teaching it to our class, and as a result no-one made any attempt on those questions in the exam.

But after a year in college I'm now amazed at how badly it was taught :pac:.

I'm a physics teacher who loves electricity and magnetism and I hope that shows to the students!
In what way do you think it was badly taught? I'd love to hear from anyone with an opinion on it. Maybe I should start my own thread for that...

Maybe_Memories

clartharlear wrote: »

I'm a physics teacher who loves electricity and magnetism and I hope that shows to the students!
In what way do you think it was badly taught? I'd love to hear from anyone with an opinion on it. Maybe I should start my own thread for that...

Hey, first year college student here.
Well, I found my teacher explained potential difference very badly. Even now, I know what it is, but still don't understand it.

ShonyBoulders

Maybe_Memories wrote: »

Hey, first year college student here.
Well, I found my teacher explained potential difference very badly. Even now, I know what it is, but still don't understand it.

I know exactly what you mean, potential difference is one of the things that caused me the greatest difficulty when I started out on the Electricty question. I think it's probably one of the main reasons why students have difficulty with Electricty and thus Electromagnetism. It's something of an abstract concept but at the same time a real fundamental part of Electricity.

hevsuit

clartharlear wrote: »

I'm a physics teacher who loves electricity and magnetism and I hope that shows to the students!
In what way do you think it was badly taught? I'd love to hear from anyone with an opinion on it. Maybe I should start my own thread for that...

I'm really glad to hear that your interested!

For me anyway, I had to learn physics intuitively. The teachers I had were great when it came to teaching the mechanics, sound, optics, light and to a lesser extent nuclear physics (You can't experiment with this in the lab ). They were able to make us see how and why stuff worked, and make us appreciate these areas in physics due to the intuitive understanding that they gave us.

But when it came to electromagnetism, plug'n'chug fever set in. I can back up what MaybeMemories said, because its actually ridiculous how many L.C. physics students don't get what Voltage/Potential Difference actually is. By all means they can learn the definition off, but finding a student who actually understands it intuitively is rare thing (just my opinion).

I think its also the names given to quantities that 'scare' people into thinking that electromagnetism is some sort of untamed incomprehensible beast at the end of the course. When I first heard of teslas, flux, flux density I was lyk :eek:. This plus the fact that it was never explained in an intuitive manner meant that I was LOST.


This is just from my experience, but I'm sure many others have had the same ordeal. Maybe a fresh thread on this topic would be a good idea so a new way of approaching this area of physics can be discussed?

repeatLC

with physics if u look at the past papers which u can pretty much have a fair idea to whats going to come up. For example, you can leave out last years expierment Qs, the main topics of the questions in sec B most likley won't be asked again aswel.
At this stage in the year you should be studying mostly through past papers, and time yourself doing the qs-i found that really helps! (as a general guide if u allow 15min for each q on the paper, 20min fr sec B if u need it, u should have time left over to go over the paper/attempt another Q)
The first time i did my LC i completly left out particle physics and electomagnetism and modern physics and came out with an A2. When i repeated i covered them then got my A1, but i can honestly say i just did basic study and studied what i found intersting.
As a tip I would avoid answering Q11, the qs can be very vague, and so it may be more difficult to pick up marks.
Def to Q5 and Q12- alot of choice in these Qs- v easy to score an easy 50+ marks in each.
Q10 the option can be tricky, but is only on a small area of the course so if u study this and get lucky with the Q it should be easy marks.
Q6 mechanics- can pick up easy marks with definitions/proofs, but can be caught out with tricky qs.
Q7/8/9- light/sound/elec/mod phys- u have a bit of choice here. Study what u find intersting, makes it easier.

hope this helps, any Qs feel free to ask

Maybe_Memories

hevsuit wrote: »

But when it came to electromagnetism, plug'n'chug fever set in. I can back up what MaybeMemories said, because its actually ridiculous how many L.C. physics students don't get what Voltage/Potential Difference actually is. By all means they can learn the definition off, but finding a student who actually understands it intuitively is rare thing (just my opinion).

This.

Seriously, myself and another guy were the best in our physics and maths classes. I'm doing maths in TCD, he's doing engineering in UCD. Like we understood the material inside out, without have to do much work because it came naturally to us, but when it came to potential difference, we weren't much better than the rest of the class.

Anything I was ever asked to explain in physics, maths, or applied maths, I could do it no problem, but with PD I have to spend a long time figuring out what I'll say..