Curiosity and Reading Ahead
Hello,
I've been faced with quite a lot of conflicting viewpoints on this and I'm just looking for another point of view. I'm really enthusiastic about Physics and I find it really really interesting: I'm taking the iGCSE but recently I've been doing a lot of extra research just to satisfy my curiosity and because I want to know more. However, I'm quite apprehensive to ask my teacher about it because I'm worried they'll say, "you don't need to know that" or "stop confusing yourself" or "focus on your GCSE". I'm in year 10 and I'm very aware of my priorities. I know exactly what to focus on and I just do the research because I love it. However is there something detrimental with extra research that I'm not noticing? What would be the best thing to do, in your view? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
I've been faced with quite a lot of conflicting viewpoints on this and I'm just looking for another point of view. I'm really enthusiastic about Physics and I find it really really interesting: I'm taking the iGCSE but recently I've been doing a lot of extra research just to satisfy my curiosity and because I want to know more. However, I'm quite apprehensive to ask my teacher about it because I'm worried they'll say, "you don't need to know that" or "stop confusing yourself" or "focus on your GCSE". I'm in year 10 and I'm very aware of my priorities. I know exactly what to focus on and I just do the research because I love it. However is there something detrimental with extra research that I'm not noticing? What would be the best thing to do, in your view? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
Original post by fissionchips
Hello,
I've been faced with quite a lot of conflicting viewpoints on this and I'm just looking for another point of view. I'm really enthusiastic about Physics and I find it really really interesting: I'm taking the iGCSE but recently I've been doing a lot of extra research just to satisfy my curiosity and because I want to know more. However, I'm quite apprehensive to ask my teacher about it because I'm worried they'll say, "you don't need to know that" or "stop confusing yourself" or "focus on your GCSE". I'm in year 10 and I'm very aware of my priorities. I know exactly what to focus on and I just do the research because I love it. However is there something detrimental with extra research that I'm not noticing? What would be the best thing to do, in your view? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
I've been faced with quite a lot of conflicting viewpoints on this and I'm just looking for another point of view. I'm really enthusiastic about Physics and I find it really really interesting: I'm taking the iGCSE but recently I've been doing a lot of extra research just to satisfy my curiosity and because I want to know more. However, I'm quite apprehensive to ask my teacher about it because I'm worried they'll say, "you don't need to know that" or "stop confusing yourself" or "focus on your GCSE". I'm in year 10 and I'm very aware of my priorities. I know exactly what to focus on and I just do the research because I love it. However is there something detrimental with extra research that I'm not noticing? What would be the best thing to do, in your view? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!
It's no more detrimental than reading for pleasure something related to mice or cheese (or both?)
My advice would be to make sure you don't confuse knowledge with skills. You could have the knowledge to talk about string theory to perfection, but lack the skills to gain marks on an exam paper. So make sure you satisfy the latter as a priority
Secondly, yes ask questions for interest, but don't bog your teacher down with Schrödinger and Dirac while they're trying to make sure the class can describe red shift and Olber's paradox.
There are some fantastic ways to find out more about further physics, try Physics World magazines, Khan Academy study videos, EdX and Coursera for courses beyond your level (for fun of course
)I highly recommend reading physics for pleasure!
I see that this thread is a little old, but I thought I'd chip in.
I'm 16, and I'm currently writing a paper with a friend on the effects of antimass particles (as we've called them) and their effects on spacetime. Long story short, we're doing research on the Casimir effect, and how regions of pseudonegative pressure density have the potential to create particles with a negative mass, and we're exploring the implications of these particles on spacetime. We've actually created a lot of the equations so far, working from purely algebraic data to determine the plausibility of making a setup to actually induce this effect and hold the particles apart. And we've managed to calculate the attraction energy between the particles.
But I digress, my point is that I've just finished GCSE physics, and I do a lot of further research. But as the above poster said, it's probably not going to help you in an exam. Although, come to think of it, I did go into quarks and preons on the chemistry paper, maybe a bad idea, we'll find out. But on the upside, A-Level physics should now be a walk in the park. I hear there's a lot about logic gates at A-Level, luckily I've been programming since around the age of 12, so I have a lot of experience with them. Just another example of how independent study can help you in school.
@phy6, you're totally right about not bogging the teachers down. But I quite like sitting in the class and knowing that everyone else is struggling to grasp a basic concept of physics, so I find it more fun to just sit there and smile.
I'm 16, and I'm currently writing a paper with a friend on the effects of antimass particles (as we've called them) and their effects on spacetime. Long story short, we're doing research on the Casimir effect, and how regions of pseudonegative pressure density have the potential to create particles with a negative mass, and we're exploring the implications of these particles on spacetime. We've actually created a lot of the equations so far, working from purely algebraic data to determine the plausibility of making a setup to actually induce this effect and hold the particles apart. And we've managed to calculate the attraction energy between the particles.
But I digress, my point is that I've just finished GCSE physics, and I do a lot of further research. But as the above poster said, it's probably not going to help you in an exam. Although, come to think of it, I did go into quarks and preons on the chemistry paper, maybe a bad idea, we'll find out. But on the upside, A-Level physics should now be a walk in the park. I hear there's a lot about logic gates at A-Level, luckily I've been programming since around the age of 12, so I have a lot of experience with them. Just another example of how independent study can help you in school.
@phy6, you're totally right about not bogging the teachers down. But I quite like sitting in the class and knowing that everyone else is struggling to grasp a basic concept of physics, so I find it more fun to just sit there and smile.
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