I am awful at maths

I am awful at maths, but I wish to pursue a career in physics.
My problem that I don't understand, is the fact that my maths in physics is almost faultless, but my actual mathematics is, rather flawed.
I have only just started GCSE but my primary sixth form choice requires at least an A in maths.
God almighty, it annoys me.

I am awful at maths, but I wish to pursue a career in physics.
My problem that I don't understand, is the fact that my maths in physics is almost faultless, but my actual mathematics is, rather flawed.
I have only just started GCSE but my primary sixth form choice requires at least an A in maths.
God almighty, it annoys me.

I am awful at maths, but I wish to pursue a career in physics.
My problem that I don't understand, is the fact that my maths in physics is almost faultless, but my actual mathematics is, rather flawed.
I have only just started GCSE but my primary sixth form choice requires at least an A in maths.
God almighty, it annoys me.

I am awful at maths, but I wish to pursue a career in physics.
My problem that I don't understand, is the fact that my maths in physics is almost faultless, but my actual mathematics is, rather flawed.
I have only just started GCSE but my primary sixth form choice requires at least an A in maths.
God almighty, it annoys me.

I am awful at maths, but I wish to pursue a career in physics.
My problem that I don't understand, is the fact that my maths in physics is almost faultless, but my actual mathematics is, rather flawed.
I have only just started GCSE but my primary sixth form choice requires at least an A in maths.
God almighty, it annoys me.

An awful lot of physics-maths can be done with the posh-sounding technique of dimensional analysis (known to us mere mortals as "juggling the units"). Basically you can work out all the formulae just by matching up the units - for example, given that G has units N m^2 / kg^2, you can instantly construct the formula $\frac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2} = F$ where $m_i$ are masses and r is a distance, since the thing on top of the fraction has units N m^2, the thing on the bottom has units m^2, so the whole thing has units N, which is the unit of force. (This formula is bound to be right up to a function of a unitless thing, so it might differ by a multiple of $\frac{m_1}{m_2}$ from the actual formula, or by a constant - in this case it turns out not to.) Without even knowing what the formula means, you can shove an idea of a formula together, and if you know what it means (the gravitational force between two objects) then you can verify that it's correct (for instance, that r^2 is really r^2 and not $r_1 r_2$, because there's only one distance between two objects).
If you just make sure you write units next to *everything*, even silly units like "5 bananas", then you can work things out. Simple example: A person eats five bananas every second, and eats for ten seconds; how many bananas has she eaten? Don't be tempted to write your answer as a number, because that tells you nothing. You're looking for an answer in bananas; you have the inputs "5 bananas/second"; "10 second", how can I combine them to make "bananas"? It's clear from looking at the units that you have to multiply them (since "banana/second * second = banana"). So the answer is 50 bananas.
It's surprising just how far this technique gets you (at A-level and beyond!)

I'm sure he understood every single word of that...

I even put in a nice easy example at the end it was meant to be taken with some background stuff on dimensional analysis, perhaps with a question to a physics teacher.

The guy's a kid in school, c'mon.

An awful lot of physics-maths can be done with the posh-sounding technique of dimensional analysis (known to us mere mortals as "juggling the units"). Basically you can work out all the formulae just by matching up the units - for example, given that G has units N m^2 / kg^2, you can instantly construct the formula $\frac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2} = F$ where $m_i$ are masses and r is a distance, since the thing on top of the fraction has units N m^2, the thing on the bottom has units m^2, so the whole thing has units N, which is the unit of force. (This formula is bound to be right up to a function of a unitless thing, so it might differ by a multiple of $\frac{m_1}{m_2}$ from the actual formula, or by a constant - in this case it turns out not to.) Without even knowing what the formula means, you can shove an idea of a formula together, and if you know what it means (the gravitational force between two objects) then you can verify that it's correct (for instance, that r^2 is really r^2 and not $r_1 r_2$, because there's only one distance between two objects).
If you just make sure you write units next to *everything*, even silly units like "5 bananas", then you can work things out. Simple example: A person eats five bananas every second, and eats for ten seconds; how many bananas has she eaten? Don't be tempted to write your answer as a number, because that tells you nothing. You're looking for an answer in bananas; you have the inputs "5 bananas/second"; "10 second", how can I combine them to make "bananas"? It's clear from looking at the units that you have to multiply them (since "banana/second * second = banana"). So the answer is 50 bananas.
It's surprising just how far this technique gets you (at A-level and beyond!)