[ManUtdGirl]

Hey everyone,

Ok so i'm really struggling with the mechanics part of maths. (M1)
I know May seems a while away, but i'm already dreading the mech paper. The thing is, honestly i'm good at maths. It has always been my favourite subject, so being bad at mechanics is really making me feel down.
I'm fine at pure maths, and i'm really hoping to have got a high A in the C1 paper as well as an A in C2. I want an A overall, but i'm really scared mechanics is going to bring my maths grade down.

So are they any tips for revision or a good revision guide which will help me understand mechanics? I do physics, and i'm fine with SUVAT equations in both mechanics and physics. Resolving forces really confuses me, some vector questions are ok, but others are not. I just got a test back which we did last week today, and i did terrible and i'm really kinda freaking out now..

Any advice is appreciated...

[jboy184]

Mechanics might take a while to 'click', I recommend you spend some time over this half term looking over the methods in the book. It is a completely new style of maths and requires a different way of thinking to that of the Core Modules (which aren't really pure maths, but we won't go into that now) so my advice to you would be to take a new approach to learning it [enthusiasm helps!] and to really sit down and try and understand the methods. Once you properly understand how the methods actually work then you will have a lot better of an idea at how to tackle problems.

[Moronic Acid]

Being in the right mindset helps a lot with mechanics - you have to be able to apply what you've learnt to any potential model/situation (sometimes in weird and obscure ways)

As the guy above me said, it can take a while to click - but if you keep at it (do lots of questions out of the text book) eventually the whole module will fall into place

good luck

[Swayum]

Since you're asking for help on how to improve in maths, I've moved your thread to the maths forum, which is for academic help.

[1721]

mechanics is easy.
but i was worried like you i gto a few 20%ers on past papers then when i did the exam i got nearly 90%.
just do some revision and it will all fall into place.

[jaz_jaz]

i ******* hate mechanics with a passion.
nothing clicks, its just gonna bring my overall grade down

[Blobbyy]

Mechanics may seem hard, what i did was practice practice practice practice.
I did all the past papers dated back to 2002? or something, do the papers under exam conditions, so only mark them when ur done with the whole paper... keep doing it and then u will be fully prepared for the exam...
i got 96% in M1, i do physics too and im also strong at physics i guess, so u can do it too...

[rach1234]

i like mechanics, but i had a similar problem with statistics 2, which i hated, and i got a c in the module, but my other modules where good/ok and i still got an a overall, so you should be alright if you can do the core parts.
with mechanics, if you do as many past papers as possible that helped me, because you learn to recognise questions and how to answer them, especially if you look at the markschemes. hope that helps!
i have several friends who do physics but can't do mechanics, so don't worry you're not alone!

[ManUtdGirl]

Thank you all for the replys.

jboy184
Yeah, i will spend some time over half term going through the things weve done. It's just at the begining of the year the exam seemed ages away, and i was like ok i'm finding it a little difficult now but it'll get easier. Then I got my test result today, and i did terrible. It was like, it's going to be hear before i know it and i can't do this bad.

Moronic Acid
Right, i'll spend some time next week going through everything weve done for mechanics so far. Hopefully it'll make a little bit more sense. Ah hopefully more practice will help with it. I just want an A in maths, and im really scared my mechanics grade will bring it down.

Swayum
Sorry for posting it in the wrong place.

1721
Well that's a little bit more comferting. Atleast i'm not the only person who was doing bad in it. Lol, well done on the grade you ended up with.

jaz_jaz
Yeah i know how you feel... Still just take the advice that everyones given on this thread?

Blobbyy
Wow, a lot of people who weren't that good at it come out with really good results at the end of it. (I hope i'm one of them!!). Yeah i will do past papers, school give out loads to everyone anyways..

rach1234
Ok thank you. I will do past papers, and try to go over the stuff weve already done. I guess practice will hopefully make it a lot better. My half term is going to be speant doing mechanics lol. Hoping that the next mech lesson i'm more comfertable with things we have done.

[Hodge]

I like mechanics, I prefer pure maths, but it's one that once you understand it, it's really easy.

All I can say is just practice, do plenty of questions on it, make up your own, try to understand why you're doing what you do, eventually it'll just click and you'll see all the questions are identical, just with different numbers.

[Moronic Acid]

Originally Posted by Hodge

I like mechanics, I prefer pure maths, but it's one that once you understand it, it's really easy.

All I can say is just practice, do plenty of questions on it, make up your own, try to understand why you're doing what you do, eventually it'll just click and you'll see all the questions are identical, just with different numbers.

So true - especially in M1

[2^1/2]

Originally Posted by Swayum

Since you're asking for help on how to improve in maths, I've moved your thread to the maths forum, which is for academic help.

when did you become a mod?

well done though

[Swayum]

Originally Posted by 2^1/2

when did you become a mod?

well done though

Thanks

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