i need help with my physics
hi i am kira. physics was my fav subject 2 years ago when i was doing my gce o levels. but now that i am studying for alevels it is very very hard 
its like no matter how much i study and revise, i just cant comprehend the concept and thus am unable to apply my concepts to questions. thus i m failing my physics badly. has anyone been through the same scenario as me??? please help me. i m retaking my 1st year again and cannot afford fail again.
its like no matter how much i study and revise, i just cant comprehend the concept and thus am unable to apply my concepts to questions. thus i m failing my physics badly. has anyone been through the same scenario as me??? please help me. i m retaking my 1st year again and cannot afford fail again.
Hi Kira
If you have enthusiasm for physics, then you can definitely get better at it.
What specifically is it that's causing you trouble? Is it the maths or just the qualitative concepts in physics?
Or is it the exams? (E.g. are you fine with class assignments or such, but not so good on exams?)
Applying physics concepts to questions can feel a little unnatural - after all, you have to sort of translate every subtle term back into physics that you're familiar with. But if this is really your main difficulty then you may actually be in luck: you might be doing everything right otherwise, but merely using the wrong frame of mind to attack problems, so your difficulties should be easier to fix.
I'd like to emphasize one thing: don't be discouraged by past failure, at all. You still have the same physics mind - or better - that you had before you 'failed,' so, in real terms your next attempt has a greater than or equal chance of success. =)
If you have enthusiasm for physics, then you can definitely get better at it.
What specifically is it that's causing you trouble? Is it the maths or just the qualitative concepts in physics?
Or is it the exams? (E.g. are you fine with class assignments or such, but not so good on exams?)
Applying physics concepts to questions can feel a little unnatural - after all, you have to sort of translate every subtle term back into physics that you're familiar with. But if this is really your main difficulty then you may actually be in luck: you might be doing everything right otherwise, but merely using the wrong frame of mind to attack problems, so your difficulties should be easier to fix.
I'd like to emphasize one thing: don't be discouraged by past failure, at all. You still have the same physics mind - or better - that you had before you 'failed,' so, in real terms your next attempt has a greater than or equal chance of success. =)
(edited 10 years ago)
Hi hdivider, thank you so much. The thing is I think I know my concepts cause I hav studied it alot of times.. But my prob is I can't apply it to the questions.. N even if I do get to apply, two almost similar questions hav totally diff ways of answering n thus my ans is wrong.. So I m really confused if I really understand my concepts n application or not
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by kira ford
Hi hdivider, thank you so much. The thing is I think I know my concepts cause I hav studied it alot of times.. But my prob is I can't apply it to the questions.. N even if I do get to apply, two almost similar questions hav totally diff ways of answering n thus my ans is wrong.. So I m really confused if I really understand my concepts n application or not
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
What do you find difficult about application? The more practice you do on questions, the more you will get used to applying your knowledge and then application would get much easier. You really have to practise a lot for physics.
Who cares if you fail in some questions. You must fail to get success!
There are many levels to understanding something in physics.
The standard bit of advice is 'do more practice' - which might help, but if you're already doing that, you might want to look into changing the way you solve problems at a more fundamental level.
For instance, say you've got a wordy physics question that asks you to calculate something based on the physical set-up (e.g. a mass sliding down a plane). In most cases you'll have quantities and physics assumptions stated in the question. What can help is to mentally combine quantities and see if anything connects with what you know - e.g. if more than one length is mentioned, quickly try to see if adding, subtracting or otherwise combining them mathematically leads to anything interesting; if mass and acceleration due to gravity are mentioned, you might feel suspicious about your answer if it has nothing to do with calculating weight. Quantities are your guide posts in physics questions. Of course, combinations like this shouldn't be done randomly - but you've already got some kind of intuition as to what to focus on. This is where practice comes in.
As for problems with applying concepts to questions in the first place, the key is to reduce everything down to basics and noticing patterns. We'd really have to discuss a bunch of examples to unpack this, but to start with, try to almost religiously associate specific physics concepts with everything in the question. For instance, if an A-level question only so much as mentions the word 'motion,' I'd immediately think of equations of motion (e.g. the constant acceleration formulae, v= u + at, etc.). If a wave of any kind appears in the question, my mind flashes to phenomena like diffraction, refraction, etc., along with all the usual wave concepts (frequency, amplitude, their relationships).
Study worked examples (or exercises with full solutions) carefully. Often they start with a sentence of explanation (e.g. "The acceleration is constant, so therefore...") and then they follow up with an equation - don't just try to understand the calculation in isolation, but try to focus on the first few steps. That's when the question is often recognized as a problem that can be solved by using something from the syllabus.
Can you give a quick example? =)
Next time you encounter such a pair of questions, try to laser-focus on why those questions are 'almost' similar. That is, find out exactly what makes those questions different, before you look at the solutions. A single word can change the meaning of (and correct answer to) the entire question.
The standard bit of advice is 'do more practice' - which might help, but if you're already doing that, you might want to look into changing the way you solve problems at a more fundamental level.
For instance, say you've got a wordy physics question that asks you to calculate something based on the physical set-up (e.g. a mass sliding down a plane). In most cases you'll have quantities and physics assumptions stated in the question. What can help is to mentally combine quantities and see if anything connects with what you know - e.g. if more than one length is mentioned, quickly try to see if adding, subtracting or otherwise combining them mathematically leads to anything interesting; if mass and acceleration due to gravity are mentioned, you might feel suspicious about your answer if it has nothing to do with calculating weight. Quantities are your guide posts in physics questions. Of course, combinations like this shouldn't be done randomly - but you've already got some kind of intuition as to what to focus on. This is where practice comes in.
As for problems with applying concepts to questions in the first place, the key is to reduce everything down to basics and noticing patterns. We'd really have to discuss a bunch of examples to unpack this, but to start with, try to almost religiously associate specific physics concepts with everything in the question. For instance, if an A-level question only so much as mentions the word 'motion,' I'd immediately think of equations of motion (e.g. the constant acceleration formulae, v= u + at, etc.). If a wave of any kind appears in the question, my mind flashes to phenomena like diffraction, refraction, etc., along with all the usual wave concepts (frequency, amplitude, their relationships).
Study worked examples (or exercises with full solutions) carefully. Often they start with a sentence of explanation (e.g. "The acceleration is constant, so therefore...") and then they follow up with an equation - don't just try to understand the calculation in isolation, but try to focus on the first few steps. That's when the question is often recognized as a problem that can be solved by using something from the syllabus.
two almost similar questions hav totally diff ways of answering n thus my ans is wrong
Can you give a quick example? =)
Next time you encounter such a pair of questions, try to laser-focus on why those questions are 'almost' similar. That is, find out exactly what makes those questions different, before you look at the solutions. A single word can change the meaning of (and correct answer to) the entire question.
(edited 10 years ago)
Do problems, lots of problems(particularly conceptual ones, leave the ones which focus only on learning formulas) and be sure to do derivations too.
NEVER EVER memorize anything. And if possible leave this forum and social networking temporarily. Stay away from internet(at least till the work is not finished).
Physics like repairing car comes only through training.
NEVER EVER memorize anything. And if possible leave this forum and social networking temporarily. Stay away from internet(at least till the work is not finished).
Physics like repairing car comes only through training.
Original post by kira ford
Hi hdivider, thank you so much. The thing is I think I know my concepts cause I hav studied it alot of times.. But my prob is I can't apply it to the questions.. N even if I do get to apply, two almost similar questions hav totally diff ways of answering n thus my ans is wrong.. So I m really confused if I really understand my concepts n application or not
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
What exam board are you entered for? Try and do lots of practice questions, and if you get them wrong, work out where you mucked up. Try and use the answer to see how you should answer that kind of question. You often need to ask yourself, 'What is the question asking for?'. I'm a little confused with the 'Two almost similar questions have totally different ways of answering' part. Can you give me an example of what kind of questions these would be?
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