The jump up from A-level Physics to Uni physics.

16

What's it like? Am I going to be met with lots of scarily hard physics straight away?

Just wondering so I know exactly what I'll be doing come September :smile:

Reply 1

Itchynscratchy

10

It is an enourmous jump, but that is mainly because A-level is so rubbish at preparing you than Uni stuff being impossibly hard. It is quite a transition as well going from A situation where 70% is dissapointing to where its impressive.

The stuff you do at first isn't difficult really, it is the way in which you are expected to do things which is different. You move away from just learning an equation sheet to being expected to understand the reasons behind the maths.

Oh and that's another thing, they no longer hide you from the maths. You are expected to be able to apply a mathematical analysis to physical problems, which is the hard bit in my opinion. Get used to differential equations, they are everywhere. Having said that though they do ease you into it gradually. By the time you get towards the end of your degree its second nature how to go about solving the problems they give you. In three years you will look back at your A-level syllabus and wonder how anyone could find that hard.

Reply 2

-G-a-v-

OP

16

Hmmm....more maths sounds good to be honest :smile:

- no more 'counting squares' to find the area under a graph :p:

Reply 3

MissSurfer

17

I've heard there's a lot more Maths - fine :smile:

I like Maths - would have done a degree in it but thought Maths by itself was a bit pointless, Physics is applying Maths, isn't it?

Other than that, what else is different? Anything from content to the way it is taught.

Thanks, MissSurfer

Reply 4

Jordan7

8

There's already a thread on this further down by arctic monkey.

Reply 5

F1 fanatic

16

MissSurfer

I've heard there's a lot more Maths - fine :smile:

I like Maths - would have done a degree in it but thought Maths by itself was a bit pointless, Physics is applying Maths, isn't it?

Other than that, what else is different? Anything from content to the way it is taught.

Thanks, MissSurfer

Well I think the main difference is really the maths - it is more similar to A-level maths and the mechanics modules than it is to A-level physics. There is not a question I do that doesn't involve maths somewhere, and invariably it's calculus.

Basically, degree physics is physics done properly... much more focus on where things come from, the maths behind it, really deriving and proving and working with the maths for yourself rather than memorising formulae. You quickly learn to think in a physics way, to apply maths to a problem, rather than remembering a formula. For example, you may memorize the formula I=nqv, but at degree level you think about the situation physically in terms of thinking about the electrons passing through an imaginary surface and derive it that way.

The other thing is it's much more unified... the maths brings it all together so that in the later years especially you are applying many areas of physics to one problem. For example, I may be doing nuclear physics where Im considering electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, fluid motion and particle physics all in 1 problem - you see it more from a unified perspective.

As for the style of learning, it's much more independent. You will probably need to go and read textbooks for yourself and learn from books to do problems (mainly maths type problems) and also attend lectures. In other words it will be more independent. The lecturer will talk at you for 50 minutes and you will be expected to take notes on it. You will have a chance in classes to ask about any problems you have, but it's more down to you to bring up any issues and problems you have.

Some of this may not sound entirely positive to you, but although it's hard and challenging, it's where the fun really begins! This is real physics, where you don't have to remember silly formulae and where it really means something! It's fun to be able to say "electrons occupy these energy levels because of angular momentum quantisation" and see it mathematically rather than being told it is so in A-level chemistry.

Reply 6

MissSurfer

17

Sorry, I don't know why I missed Artic Monkeys thread! Anyway, thanks F1_fanatic!

I think I'll be alright with the independence thing although it'll seem strange at first. Generally in my classes now we just get on with it (my teachers aren't in the room half the time) and we ask if we need help, or go and see them in our frees. I think it'll be odd teaching myself stuff out of a book though, but that's what I've effectively had to do for a couple of my classes anyway because the teachers are so bad. When I started 6th form I didn't even know what topic we were doing in Biology until 2 weeks in, because the teacher was rubbish and I wasn't yet in 6th form mode of finding things out for yourself.

Reply 7

F1 fanatic

16

MissSurfer

Sorry, I don't know why I missed Artic Monkeys thread! Anyway, thanks F1_fanatic!

I think I'll be alright with the independence thing although it'll seem strange at first. Generally in my classes now we just get on with it (my teachers aren't in the room half the time) and we ask if we need help, or go and see them in our frees. I think it'll be odd teaching myself stuff out of a book though, but that's what I've effectively had to do for a couple of my classes anyway because the teachers are so bad. When I started 6th form I didn't even know what topic we were doing in Biology until 2 weeks in, because the teacher was rubbish and I wasn't yet in 6th form mode of finding things out for yourself.

you'll be fine, I was like you and had to teach myself stuff from books at school because of the teaching, and it made the transition much easier. I was much better at extracting info to begin with than some people.

The jump up from A-level Physics to Uni physics.

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