Revising For Physics

Hi guys, I just thought Id start a thread where people can discuss and recommend methods of revising for physics. I personally find doing physics revision quite difficult so please recommend some methods.

I'll start with what I’m doing,

1) Made lots of posters full of equations in and around the house, hopefully they will slip into my subconscious :p:

2) Past papers

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Reply 1

xrayzulu

1. Learn all the definitions, formulea and experiments by heart.
2. Do all the example calculations in the text book.
3. Read through the theory quickly, without spending ages understanding every single word.
4. Attempt the past papers. Cross check with Mark Scheme
5. Do the past papers over and over, until you are familiar with every qeusion (They're bound to ask you the same questions in a different style and different figures obviously)

Reply 2

F1 fanatic

xrayzulu

Or even better do make sure you understand every word... physics is a test of understanding more than anything else. If you understand it there is little to learn.

Reply 3

Benny_b

thanks guys this is excellent :biggrin:

its really is helpful having a list of targets to meet

Reply 4

gorilla_baby

im pretty good at physics..so for IGs i didnt even study for it....but for AS...i just read each chapter ehile understanding it...then i just look at 3 or 4 past papers before the exam....the equations kind of stick in your head after the reading part....if u find physics hard...then u might need to do more past papers... :p:

Reply 5

physicsgirlie

To all the above, I would add doing questions that are just a little bit too hard for you. It makes you go look things up properly, and if you can get through the whole thing, you not only feel chuffed, but you end up with a better understanding. This works well for me especially because the physics teachers at my college are very helpful.

Reply 6

F1 fanatic

physicsgirlie

you're going to love your next 3 or 4 years then... :p:

Reply 7

teachercol

She has a great future ahead of her clearly

Reply 8

Benny_b

mm im a bit of a funny one u see, last year got a C, prob didnt work all that hard so it wasnt a disaster. This year however, I need a B, got 32 and 31/40 for my coursework so i calculated I need to average exactly 70% in the 3 papers this summer. However im doing A2 Ocr Advancing Physics, and the textbook is realy awful so reading it realy isnt an option, you have to dig through so much crap to find the actual useful stuff.
Anyone do/did the course with suggestions on how to revise for this course, how to use the textbook etc?

Reply 9

veni, vidi, vici

i get a specific revision guide for my course (AQA A-collins)
read through it, highlight and make notes on the side where necessary
exampro questions
past papers

although the synoptic paper will prevent me from ever getting an A :mad:

Reply 10

</gibberish>

My method:
Take your best text book, read through the bits you need to know thoroughly, condense all graphs and formulae onto 1-2 sides of A4(per unit). Now answer every single question across 2-3 books.
This, even without any past papers would get you an A, although slightly pedantic it really works as you will have to really understand it to answer the questions, and if you dont - look back or just figure it out.
FINALLY do some past papers for a guaranteed A :biggrin:

I like this way as you should be prepared for ANYTHING, examiners like to randomly supprise candidates after 5 years of consistency (cough OCR chem unit 1 jan/07)

Reply 11

Wangers

I prefere the old 90s textbooks - they explain things properly :tongue:

- Muncaster is particularly good.

Understand the principles - the questions are those which you'll likely to have seen before - with different numbers.

Reply 12

MathematicalMind

I've got the wall in front of my bed full of physics posters ive made...they've got equations, definitions and diagrams on them and i think this is the best way for me. i've also got the revision guide specific to my course. i need 77% in the june exam to get an overall B...i think this will be pretty hard for me 2 do (look at my jan result) but im still not rulin it out!

Reply 13

sng

I agree with F1 Fanatic, in A Level physics, particularly unit 6, they can ask question which you cannot answer unless you understand the topic, no test book or revision guide will have the answer. However, I do agree that the Muncaster physics book is excellent.

Reply 14

Robob

physicsgirlie

Haha, but when those questions are your exam questions it makes you feel bad :p:

Reply 15

-G-a-v-

physicsgirlie

To all the above, I would add doing questions that are just a little bit too hard for you.

Besides AEA papers, any ideas about good places to look for harder questions?

Reply 16

Mohit_C

I'd prefer a Unit 6 Synoptic anytime to a Unit 5 Practical!

Reply 17

physicsgirlie

_-Arctic-Monkey-_

Besides AEA papers, any ideas about good places to look for harder questions?

If you can get hold of them, physics textbooks from the 80s/90s - they usually have more difficult questions in them, and tend to be more mathematical. I don't use AEA questions for my normal physics revision though, too depressing :p: