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A-level physics hard?

I'm in year 11 right now and I'm taking A-level physics in September. I want to know how challenging it is or what topics are especially challenging? + are there any resources for me to get ahead and start learning the specification now?

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my friend takes a-level physics and he finds it challenging but he said he finds it really interesting

Reply 3

magmiles

Original post by Harry171

my friend takes a-level physics and he finds it challenging but he said he finds it really interesting

Challenging in what aspect?

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In class you will learn about the fundamentals but I find that if you really want that A* you have to put it some serious work and go beyond what you learn in class or the textbook they provide you. Its definitely not a subject for the less academically inclined. If you didnt get an A/A* in physics for GCSE's or at least a B (idk what that is in the points system) then I wouldnt bother with the subject because you WILL struggle a lot.

Reply 6

ihelpu

My classmates who did really well in Physics were the one's who really immersed themselves in Physics and spent a little time revising everything they'd done in class from Day 1 of their A-Level Physics course. They wouldn't leave something they didn't understand and did not let work stack up.

Reply 7

Marcus_:D

Physics A-Level has been a rollercoaster for me. I’m quite the modest student and really into note taking, so even though there are a lot of concepts and things to understand, it is really enjoyable. I think making sure all your questions are ironed out and accepting that you aren’t always going to get AAAAAAA... in your tests is the way forwards.

There may be sections that you may find laborious, or confusing, but always strive to understand it and not moan about the subject.

Reply 8

Kane987

I personally found it very very difficult because of the sheer volume of things we had to know. Unlike Maths where the questions were mostly repeatable with different values etc. The problem I found I had was thinking if I just knew the equations/facts that I would be able to answer the questions, but knowing how to apply your knowledge is very important (which is why I'm going to be happy with anything over a U with how much I struggled the second year, but with more practice rather than just looking at the notes I know I could've done better).

As for what's on the specification, I don't know if it will be the same, but in the first year we did:
- Quantum Phenomena (e.g. the Photoelectric Effect/Photons/Energy Levels)
- Electricity (e.g. Circuits/IV characteristics/Resistivity/EMF and internal resistance/Kirchhoff's Laws)
- Particles and Radiation (e.g. Atom constituents/Nuclei Stability/Classification of particles and antiparticles/Strong and weak nuclear force)
- Mechanics (e.g. Scalars and Vectors/Moments/Newton's laws of motion/Linear motion and non-uniform acceleration)
- Waves (e.g. Progressive and Stationary waves/Superposition/Interference, Diffraction and Refraction)

In the second year:
- Circular Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion (e.g. Resonance/Angular Speed/Centripetal Force and Acceleration)
- Gravitational Fields (e.g. Gravitational force/field strength/satellite and planet orbits)
- Electric Fields (e.g. Electrostatic force and electric potential)
- Magnetic Fields (e.g. Magnetic flux density/Magnetic flux/Electromagnetic induction/Transformers)
- Thermal Physics (e.g. Ideal Gases/Molecular Kinetic Theory model)
- Nuclear Physics (e.g. Rutherford Scattering/Nuclear mass and energy)
- Capacitance (how capacitors work/charging and discharging etc.)
- Astrophysics (though the last topic is chosen from a selection by the college so I would not look this up unless you know it's on the specification)