Edexcel AS Physics: Self-study
Physics and electronics discussion, revision, exam and homework help.
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Edexcel AS Physics: Self-study
I was going to buy this book as I've heard that it is good:
Edexcel AS Physics Revision Guide , Tim Tuggey, Richard Laird, Pauline Anning, Keith Bridgemann
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...&me=&seller=#_
But then I found this book:
Edexcel AS Physics Student Book Miles Hudson, Patrick Fullick
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-Phys...ef=pd_cp_b_1#_
And I'm wondering which would be better for self-study? Thank you
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Re: Edexcel AS Physics: Self-study
The revision guide is very concise while the student book tends to waffle.
This edexcel physics course is not particularly good but if you are taking it I'd advise using both books.
Are you taking this as a private candidate? I ask because otherwise your school might supply the second one. -
Re: Edexcel AS Physics: Self-study
Buy both, the Student Book will be your main companion, whilst the revision guide really isn't even that good a revision guide, it really is bare bones but will serve as a good way to keep track of topics. I didn't really use the student book that much as I sort of just went straight to the revision guides due to time, but it is the best one you could buy for the course
I'd also recommend two other books:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AS-Level-Phy...1244290&sr=8-6
I didn't use it for AS, but for A2 I used pretty much just the A2 version of this revision guide when revising for my exams. Whilst a revision guide, it will give you enough depth to go into an exam with most/all things covered.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Physics-A-le...1244168&sr=1-3
This one helped when a load of topics made no sense. It's not a revision guide for edexcel, but it does have a contents for edexcel physics and I'd recommend it as a fair few topics are explained briefly but in an understandable manner. If you're not too keen on spending too much, I'd recommend you borrow this from a library, I decided to purchase it for A2 as I liked it above most other physics books.
Be warned though, I found physics bloody tough to do and that was with lessons. I did miss a fair chunk of them throughout both years and did do a lot of reading up on my own, but it's hard to understand a concept purely from reading it from a single book, and physics is all about understanding the concepts to a certain degree over memorising facts. In my AS year when I was a little bit more enthusiastic for the course, I had to go to the library and look at a good 3-4 books to understand some concepts, I remember doing so for the voltage etc stuff as it was a tad confusing. The good side though is that if you do do this, it makes things a lot easier to understand as you can cross check your understanding of topics on all the books. And it always helps to truly dive into way somethings work the way they do, as a lot of the subject in schools can just tell us how things work, the relationship between x and y, but not have enough time/teacher knowledge to give us a truly thorough overview of how everything works. By going through and reading a few different books (I'd recommend on a topic-by-topic basis as needs permit), it'll make so much more sense, and unlike most of the other topics for me in physics, it'll be something that you'll remember a lot easier once you're done too.
Feel free to pm me if you need anything, I went down the self study route once and it was bloody nightmare, so if you do get stuck or just need some thoughts, let me know.