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Salters and horners physics?

I'm taking physics AS level and probably A2. My college do the Salters Horners Physics course. Could anyone tell me what the course consists of, what coursework requirements are, if it's easy etc. Any advice?

*Thank you*

Reply 1

dark_dragonzzz

i think salter horners has got to be one of the hardest topic to revise on! there like no revision guide u can buy for it so u best be good at writiin ur notes nice and neat! 3 cw pieces to do 33% of ur exam are based on them, the course is very closely related to the real world, tryin to portray physics in general day life. not a bad course but it gonna be hard esp a2¬_¬

Reply 2

habosh

13

Unit 1:Mechanics and radioactivity
This unit covers rectilinear motion,forces and moments,Newton's first and third laws,dynamics,momentum,newton's second law,mechanical energy,radioactive decay and the nuclear atom

Unit2:
This unit includes electirc current,and potenial difference,electrical circuits,heating matter,specific heat capacity,specific latent heat,tempertature,kinetic model of matter,conservation of energy,the first law of thermodynamic effeciency

Unit 3:topics
astrophysics
sold materials
nuclear partivles physics
medical physics
you have to chose one

Unit4:waves and our universe
this unit includes circular motion and oscillations,simple harmonic motion,waves,superposition of waves,quantum phenomena and the expanding universe

unit 5:Fields and forces
First part covers gravitational field,electirc field, capacitance,magnetic fields,and electormagnetic induction

there is alos unit 6:which is synthesis

Reply 3

Nylex

10

habosh

Unit 1:Mechanics and radioactivity
This unit covers rectilinear motion,forces and moments,Newton's first and third laws,dynamics,momentum,newton's second law,mechanical energy,radioactive decay and the nuclear atom

Unit2:
This unit includes electirc current,and potenial difference,electrical circuits,heating matter,specific heat capacity,specific latent heat,tempertature,kinetic model of matter,conservation of energy,the first law of thermodynamic effeciency

Unit 3:topics
astrophysics
sold materials
nuclear partivles physics
medical physics
you have to chose one

Unit4:waves and our universe
this unit includes circular motion and oscillations,simple harmonic motion,waves,superposition of waves,quantum phenomena and the expanding universe

unit 5:Fields and forces
First part covers gravitational field,electirc field, capacitance,magnetic fields,and electormagnetic induction

there is alos unit 6:which is synthesis

No, that's the normal Edexcel syllabus. The Salters Horners syllabus is different. There is info about it here. You can download the specification and specimen papers/mark schemes there.

Reply 4

Chubb

2

I can tell you its an interesting course but also a difficult one; I would definetly take it again. :smile:

There are 2 pieces of coursework - the second year coursework is a project which you must design and execute by yourself (you have to investigate something). You learn about forces, radiation, space, fundamental particles, etc - pritty much everything. :rolleyes:

Reply 5

clairezay

OP

Thank you

Reply 6

-G-a-v-

16

Im doing Salters Horners AS this year...it looks cool...actually get to see the practice behind the theory and all that....yay....

Reply 7

RobbieC

15

It isn't a very nice course. Can I suggest learning all the words in bold type in the book, and making a glossary for them? Also, be able to use all equations competently and learn them off by heart, in the context of a topic or diagram, for instance the photoelectric effect.

Get a general idea as you go along and do the questions in the textbook, but be intensive with ur revision at the end, and perhaps cover one chapter a day in the run up to the exams.

Make notes, lots and lots of notes, and do past papers before exams.

The coursework, is fine. However, it requires you to work hard for a good mark...

I did surprisingly well on horners course, considering I see myself as retarded in the subject. I hope you have success.

-Rob

PS: If you ever need a hand with anything, just ask through PM or something... I will do my best :smile:

Reply 8

habosh

13

Nylex

No, that's the normal Edexcel syllabus. The Salters Horners syllabus is different. There is info about it here. You can download the specification and specimen papers/mark schemes there.

I just read physics and assumed it was edexcel physics,anyway just wanted to help :biggrin:

Reply 9

female_engineer

1

RobbieC

It isn't a very nice course. Can I suggest learning all the words in bold type in the book, and making a glossary for them? Also, be able to use all equations competently and learn them off by heart, in the context of a topic or diagram, for instance the photoelectric effect.

Get a general idea as you go along and do the questions in the textbook, but be intensive with ur revision at the end, and perhaps cover one chapter a day in the run up to the exams.

Make notes, lots and lots of notes, and do past papers before exams.

The coursework, is fine. However, it requires you to work hard for a good mark...

I did surprisingly well on horners course, considering I see myself as retarded in the subject. I hope you have success.

-Rob

PS: If you ever need a hand with anything, just ask through PM or something... I will do my best :smile:

I second that - especially the PM for any help, I really enjoyed the course.

The text book is a bit strange, some of it you don't need to know but is essential in introducing the units and makes it all relevant (applying to real word kind of thing) so take the time to read it. When it comes to revising make sure you know all the bullet points at the end of each unit - this is what they will question you on, and it's worth looking at the bits you 'don't need to know' - to me it was all relevant in a weird sort of way. Make sure you really understand all the material, and don't make the mistake I did and think after the first year 'ah good that's out the way now on to A2' - you will have a synoptic paper at the end of yr 13 which can test you on anything over the two years...keep refreshing your memory.

I would also strongly advise you to read up on the topics in other Physics books - sometimes the book explains a concept strangely and you may think you have understood but haven't quite, it's amazing how another book can phrase something in such a way that it suddenly just clicks . Not only does reading around help you to understand stuff presented in the text book but it broadens your knowledge - they may mention something that the text book doesn't for example.

Answer all the questions in each unit, especially the ones with no answers at the end of the chapter (your teacher will have the answers) - the questions (especially at the end of each unit) are harder than the exam questions so it's good practice.

Also something to take note of - the end of unit tests are very hard...don't let this knock your confidence though because once again they are harder than most questions you are likely to get asked in the exams and makes the exams seem not so bad after all.

The key to success is keep on top of it, write notes on everything, answer the questions in the book, work really hard on the coursework, and don't forget practice makes perfect - you can never do too many past exam papers, it's amazing how helpful it can be.

Reply 10

female_engineer

1

So...how are you finding it so far?

Reply 11

-G-a-v-

16

I started Salters Horners this week, we're just doing lots of practicals to investigate the value of g. It's not even remotely fun or interesting - it's just depressing, only upside is we get to see it all in action when we go on a trip to Alton Towers next month (If I decide I'm going to last that long with the course! :tongue:

), I've got to give it another week though, cos the college I'm at doesn't allow course changes for the first year until after the 2nd week. The third week is more or less the only time you can change courses....so I'm hoping that Physics will improve or I'm changing it, probably to Biology.....it doesn't really matter too much which one I do though, cos I'm probably going to go for Chemistry at Uni....Chem is great! :biggrin:

Reply 12

acidbubble

stick with it man, exams are piss easy compared to all the info you learn on the course.

:P i found it interesting tho :smile:

Reply 13

lucykins

7

i liked it....i did SH chem and OCR chem (changed school) much prefered SH as it was MUCH more useful when going to uni..it made sense and helped me chose a career as you see the practicalities of doing stuff rather than just doing the experiments. i also did OCR physics (SO SO SO BORING) and SH physics...SH much better but physics still sucked...

Reply 14

female_engineer

1

distortedgav

I started Salters Horners this week, we're just doing lots of practicals to investigate the value of g. It's not even remotely fun or interesting - it's just depressing, only upside is we get to see it all in action when we go on a trip to Alton Towers next month (If I decide I'm going to last that long with the course! :tongue:

), I've got to give it another week though, cos the college I'm at doesn't allow course changes for the first year until after the 2nd week. The third week is more or less the only time you can change courses....so I'm hoping that Physics will improve or I'm changing it, probably to Biology.....it doesn't really matter too much which one I do though, cos I'm probably going to go for Chemistry at Uni....Chem is great! :biggrin:

Yeh stick with it, it will get better if you do have an enjoyment for Physics - most course do seem dull at first but with time they should get better. It all does depend though on whether you truly enjoy physics..if you don't then it is unlikely you will start to find it more interesting.

Reply 15

-G-a-v-

16

I enjoy most areas of Physics, particularly Astronomy and Mechanics (did Astronomy at GCSE and absolutely loved it!) - but we're finally moving away from calculating g now after doing it in four different ways!! lol - I've gotta give it another week though, so...I'm expecting it to get better....might go and get an AS-level Biology book from the library tomorrow to see if Ithink I'm going to enjoy it if I do change to Biology.....I think with Physics at the minute, it's a case of doing more practicals than I'm used to....but, we'll see....

Reply 16

female_engineer

1

distortedgav

I enjoy most areas of Physics, particularly Astronomy and Mechanics (did Astronomy at GCSE and absolutely loved it!) - but we're finally moving away from calculating g now after doing it in four different ways!! lol - I've gotta give it another week though, so...I'm expecting it to get better....might go and get an AS-level Biology book from the library tomorrow to see if Ithink I'm going to enjoy it if I do change to Biology.....I think with Physics at the minute, it's a case of doing more practicals than I'm used to....but, we'll see....

I know it's a long way off but there is a HUGE section in A2 called 'reach for the stars'...full of space related stuff.

Salters and horners physics?

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