ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Physics => Topic started by: FarAwaySS2 on February 16, 2014, 10:50:06 am
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I've started physics and have had a few lessons so far. I actually love this subject a lot however my affection for it is not reflective in my test. I actually had a test just a few days ago and I did horrible in it. I was wondering if there was anything else I could do apart from reading the textbook and doing questions from there. Are there any resources better than my textbook (Heinemann Physics). I'd really like to do well in this subject because it's one oft favourite subjects!
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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For Physics a lot of it is understanding how everything works. At my school whenever we use a new formula we prove it first to show that the formula is 'that' rather than something else.
If you're stuck on resources, Hyperphysics is a pretty good website explaining concepts in Physics and at my school, we use a different Physics textbook for Units 1&2 and although some stuff is irrelevant to 3&4, I find the examples they give pretty helpful (and the questions are pretty good too)! It's a tad expensive but you can definitely get it for a cheaper price (if you know what I mean ;))
P.S I actually did buy mine though but yeah thought I'd let you know LOL
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I've started physics and have had a few lessons so far. I actually love this subject a lot however my affection for it is not reflective in my test. I actually had a test just a few days ago and I did horrible in it. I was wondering if there was anything else I could do apart from reading the textbook and doing questions from there. Are there any resources better than my textbook (Heinemann Physics). I'd really like to do well in this subject because it's one oft favourite subjects!
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I'd recommend Fundamentals of Physics (Halliday & Resnick). I'm currently in what my school calls Physics Olympiad, so we generally cover materials way ahead of 1/2. I found that the book more than covers everything that we're learning, in great depth too!
It's a very large book and most of the stuff exceeds what you'll find in 3/4, even Uni Physics, but at the same time, it's very solid in terms of material covered. Be sure to check it out!
If you're looking for more basic material, checkpoints is a recommendation :)
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Thank you! Are there any other books that contain hard questions?
Thanks!
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University Physics with Modern Physics (13th Edition) is a great general physics textbook with many questions.
You can find it on the internet if you dig in the right places. Even solutions are available on the internet.
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Thank you! Are there any other books that contain hard questions?
Thanks!
I have heard that itute makes awesome papers in terms of difficulty, but I havent tried them yet(too early).
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Also, online lectures from MIT and Yale are very helpful. Check them out and see whether you find them useful or not.
I personally don't like the MIT lectures very much because most of the time the professor is doing practical experiments rather than explaining concepts theoretically.
Have a look at the Yale course and see if you like it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOKnWaLiL8w&list=PLFE3074A4CB751B2B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-BxowMIfg&list=PLD07B2225BB40E582
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I have heard that itute makes awesome papers in terms of difficulty, but I havent tried them yet(too early).
From memory, yes they do make some good papers. Try them soon though, it's never too early to practice doing questions in Physics!
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Thanks guys! :)