Advice on AH Applied Mathematics

Hi,
AH Applied Maths is a course I'm strongly considering doing. It would be entirely self-taught, as the closest thing there is to a teacher able to assist me is in physics (if I was to go the mechanics route). There seem to be quite a few people on TSR who have did this.

I'm having trouble deciding whether to study the statistics units or the mechanics units. Which would you recommend? They're both interesting, hence my inability to decide!

Although stats requires a little more work for internal assessments (with the reports), there are reputable textbooks specific to the AH (and not A-level). Regardless of which I choose, there will be little overlap with any other course (i.e. A/H physics) except for AH maths.

All advice, general and specific, is much appreciated!
Thanks!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Slumpy

Mechanics is what I did.
In my school, around 3/17 passed, at least that number got As at mechanics I think.
The advantage of mechanics is, that it is in fact, just the mechanics units of higher and advanced physics, and then unit 1 of advanced maths.
So I'd definitely say mechanics if you're doing physics/did higher.

Reply 2

Oogamy

Slumpy

So I'd definitely say mechanics if you're doing physics/did higher.

17 people? Would I be correct to assume that you were taught?

Since my school can't run AH physics, I did something other than Higher for S5. I'm taking it this year, though.

How much of AH mechanics is in Higher (not AH) physics?

Thanks. :smile:

Reply 3

Slumpy

The stats class were taught.
The mechanics class were taught for a little bit, but largely not.
Due to the fact I did physics and was pretty good, I ended up doing a fair bit of the teaching people by the end.
Well, I'd say just at a guess that about one unit of mechanics is respectively, maths unit 1, higher mechanics, advanced mechanics.
You do all the equations of motion and stuff in unit of mechanics that you do in physics, but later you do rotational motion, which is advanced physics(very similar and quit eeasy though).

Reply 4

Meteorshower

I say mechanics if you're interested in physics but i'm biased, also doing mechanincs this year :smile:

Reply 5

Oogamy

Aaand mechanics takes the lead. Did you bother using any study materials? From what I've read, the notes from LTScotland coupled with one of the recommended A-level textbooks is a good combination.

Reply 6

Phlebas

I just finished self-teaching AH Mechanics. A considerable amount of the course is overlapped with Higher Physics, but simply adds vector notation. An awful lot of the problems are simple equation of motion stuff often combined with a bit of trig.

Basically for AH mechanics: unit one is Higher physics stuff; unit two is AH physics stuff and unit three is a selection of things from AH maths. Stats would involve much more work.

Edit: For materials, my school gave me a textbook called Understanding Mechanics or something similar which covered what I hadn't previously done. It's full of example questions if you are into that sort of thing. I wasn't aware of the LTScotland notes until after the exam. There are a couple of past papers you can get off the SQA site, but I'd save those for exam prep.

Reply 7

Slumpy

Certainly any mechanics units things from physics would be useful, but aside from that, in mechanics at my school we mainly used an A level text book, with occasional comparison to the sylabus.
I'm sure with the sylabus it'll be easy enough to check with people on here if you know things.
Also, past papers from the internet in the lead up to the exam.

(In answer to your question, I didn't largely use many study materials, because I just considered my physics and maths work enough to cover it.)

Reply 8

Oogamy

Thanks for the input! Specifically, which textbook(s) were used?

Reply 9

Slumpy

Sorry, can't help you there, I forget the name.
I do remember it was a big old thing, but that's about it.
As far as it goes, I think if you could get your hands on the scholar books for the units I mentioned, they're pretty comprehensive.

Reply 10

Meteorshower

Oogamy

Thanks for the input! Specifically, which textbook(s) were used?

Understanding Mechanincs is a good one.

Reply 11

Oogamy

I'll look into both the Scholar notes and Understanding Mechanics. From what I can see, they're pretty damn good.

Can you suggest anything about prelims? I honestly have no support from the school on this - they'll deliver the exam and mark NABs and nothing more. In this situation, do you think it's worth doing?

Reply 12

Phlebas

Oogamy

That's basically what I did and I would recommend you sitting it. For a prelim my school managed to get one off a nearby school that offered it and their teacher marked it and returned it with comments. I would suggest going for something similar if that is at all possible.

Reply 13

Oogamy

Phlebas

For a prelim my school managed to get one off a nearby school that offered it and their teacher marked it and returned it with comments. I would suggest going for something similar if that is at all possible.

That was suggested by a teacher, although they know of no schools that run it. Most teachers didn't even know the course existed until I asked about it. :p:

Perhaps one could be sent from another (distant) school electronically. Surely it wouldn't be necessary to have it marked externally as well?

Reply 14

Slumpy

Probably not, the marking scheme I saw was pretty good, and fairly objective, so you could try that.
I would suggest contacting my school, but they're not running mechanics this year because there's no teacher.

Reply 15

Oogamy

Would there be any real harm in using past-prelim papers? Then again taking risks with prelims probably isn't a good idea. Thanks for the would-be offer, though. :smile:

Reply 16

Phlebas

Oogamy

That was suggested by a teacher, although they know of no schools that run it. Most teachers didn't even know the course existed until I asked about it. :p:

Perhaps one could be sent from another (distant) school electronically. Surely it wouldn't be necessary to have it marked externally as well?

My school weren't that informed about the entire thing, but I sort of needed it for uni so that made things move through much more smoothly. I don't think it is necessary to have it marked externally, but it made more sense to have it marked by someone who had been teaching it for a number of years, rather than being aware of its existence for months. Also, the teacher at the other end was quite keen to mark it, it had been their suggestion as far as I am aware, so other schools might be less accomodating.

Reply 17

Slumpy

I'd imagine there wouldn't be any real harm, but the SQA might be hesitant in using them as appeal material so easily.
Anyways, I'm off, if you have anything else you need help with feel free to PM, though I'm sure someone around here will know most of everything :biggrin:

Reply 18

Oogamy

Right-o. Once again, thanks.

Reply 19

Oogamy

Phlebas

Also, the teacher at the other end was quite keen to mark it, it had been their suggestion as far as I am aware, so other schools might be less accomodating.