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How do you revise for physics

I go to a high standard school so in most subjects we are ahead however we have a pretty bad physics department. I wanted to know what textbooks you used up to GCSEs for Physics and how you understood it as I do not understand the way it is taught in my school at all and have been getting 50 to 60 percents in all of my tests.

Reply 1

Dan_N_2002

Original post by Masterchief 117

The textbook that you use will depend on the exam board you use. For AQA, I found the best one to be the Oxford book, link to it at the end. They are generally better than just using revision guides because they go into a lot more detail so you'll understand it better. Apart from that, if you're unclear about what you need to know, using specifications should clear that up for you, you can find them on exam board's websites.

I think one of the most important aspects of understanding physics is thinking of it in a mathematical sense, so for example, if you know that potential difference is equal to the work done / the charge, you know that 1 volt is equal to 1 Coloumb having 1J of energy transferred to it across a component, which might make more sense than just remembering that potential difference is work done per unit charge. Admittedly, some of the GCSE content can't really be applied like that, such as the energy resources, but a lot can.

Another very important thing you need to do to get those higher grades is practice. As someone studying A Level Physics, I find it to be the most important thing to do, and the same can obviously be applied to GCSE level. Since all the exam boards have recently moved over to new specifications, there aren't currently very many resources available for you to use, apart from the June 2018 papers. But by the time you come to doing your exams, if you're in Year 9 now there should be another 2 year's worth of resources. I find Physics and Maths Tutor a good website to use for practicing, because there are questions by topic, which'll be useful for you now because you won't have covered enough content to do the full papers yet.

Hopefully this helps, and good luck.

AQA Oxford Student Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/AQA-GCSE-Physics-Student-Book/dp/019835939X/ref=asc_df_019835939X/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310865071345&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6390638711525679594&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046513&hvtargid=pla-541963810703&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Physics and Maths Tutor (Physics Section) - https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/physics-revision/

Reply 2

Masterchief 117

Thank you and good luck with your A levels too

Reply 3

Dan_N_2002

Original post by Masterchief 117

Thank you and good luck with your A levels too

No problem, if you have any specific concepts you're struggling with I could have a go at explaining them as well. Sometimes just getting someone else to explain something might make it easier to understand if you haven't understood how one person has explained it.