Phys/Chem.?

IfUSeekAmy

So, in fifth year at the moment, want to take up Phys/Chem.. (Physics&Chemistry, combined course)

Doing honours Maths.
Got a 'B' in HigherScience for the JC,
'A' in higher maths.

Definitely reckon I'm capable of taking it up, willing to put the work in. Just there seems to be a total lack of resources available.?

If any of y'all are doing the subject, what textbook do you use.? What are your opinions of the course, thanks,.

rainbowtrout

I did phys/chem for my leaving cert way back when, it's a nice course and with those grades you will have no problem with it. However only about 500 people sit it every year, hence the lack of resources.

There is a book probably called Physics with Chemistry and it looks like a workbook that has been photocopied and bound but it covers everything you need to know on the course.


I don't know who publishes it but 'The Print Shop' in Ballaghaderreen (094) 9860358 sells it as a few schools in this area offer it. Give them a ring and they should be able to give you more information.


Failing that just get a LC physics book and a chemistry book and study the parts you need. You'll need to get a set of exam papers too as really that will be your only practice at doing questions.

felic

Id say the course combination is nice and you would avoid going too deep into either subject so in that sense it would be a good option.
But you have to be careful here and make sure you ask questions and do your research. Depending on what your outlook is in terms of what course you wish to take at third level, a lot of the courses require either Chemistry or Physics on their own as a single subject. And wont accept the physics and chemistry combo. Also, be aware that if you take this combo course, you can take physics and chemistry also but in your final points summation, I think the three cannot be taken as three separate courses. Ie, if you get and A1 in physicsandchemistry, they will exclude whatever you got in those subjects on their own and you would need to have another 2 subjects to compensate.

I really dont know why they brought in these combined courses because theres so much stipulation in terms of third level course entry and most require those subjects as an individual.

Id ask your careers guide for answers here. They should be able to advise you.

IfUSeekAmy

Thanks for the help guys!

So anyway, found a textbook, 'Physics And Chemistry' The Combined Course, by Daithí Quinn.

Awful looking thing, looks like scraps of a workbook thrown together. But the actual content seems to be okay. :S

And a bit steep at 30euro, (I know this is normal, but seriously.?)

Published in 1993, and not revised since. :S

Wish me luck lads/lassies.!

rainbowtrout

IfUSeekAmy wrote: »

Thanks for the help guys!

So anyway, found a textbook, 'Physics And Chemistry' The Combined Course, by Daithí Quinn.

Awful looking thing, looks like scraps of a workbook thrown together. But the actual content seems to be okay. :S

And a bit steep at 30euro, (I know this is normal, but seriously.?)

Published in 1993, and not revised since. :S

Wish me luck lads/lassies.!

That's the one, it doesn't look pretty, but it's fairly straightforward, I'd recommend doing a section at a time alternating between phys and chem and do the exam papers as your 'homework' and you'll be flying

IfUSeekAmy

Thanks again. And one more thing only,

I've seen on the examinations.ie website that the syllabus changed in 2002...

The book I have was printed in '93...

Any idea as to what was changed / the extent of the changes.?

Thanks.!

pathway33

I presume this is the latest syllabus http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/lc_phy_chemistry_sy.pdf?language=EN

but you never know

rainbowtrout

IfUSeekAmy wrote: »

Thanks again. And one more thing only,

I've seen on the examinations.ie website that the syllabus changed in 2002...

The book I have was printed in '93...

Any idea as to what was changed / the extent of the changes.?

Thanks.!

Oh I can see how that looks on the website. No, it hasn't changed in donkey's years. The separate Physics and Chemistry courses both changed in 2002, that's what the syllabus change list refers to. No changes to Phys/Chem.

felic

If they didnt ring out a new text book to accompany the course, then any changes they're on about would be in relation to the exam structure and marking schemes. Id say its a good one to do and not too demanding to do well in.. but just be aware of what I said earlier about third level course entry requirements.

Making It Bad

Just took a look at the papers there and I can't see why you would do this. The questions which were in the chemistry section were nearly on par with the questions on the actual chemistry LC.

felic

well if thats the case, that just points to a problem with the chemistry and physics papers because they really shouldn't be on par. They should be like a combined effort where the subjects overlap. There you may expect difficulty but there should not be difficulty in questions where either subject is being tested on their own. defeats the purpose of the course.

Making It Bad

felic wrote: »

well if thats the case, that just points to a problem with the chemistry and physics papers because they really shouldn't be on par. They should be like a combined effort where the subjects overlap. There you may expect difficulty but there should not be difficulty in questions where either subject is being tested on their own. defeats the purpose of the course.

Why would they combine them in the first place? They're completely different topics with minor overlaps as with all sciences.

rainbowtrout

Making It Bad wrote: »

Just took a look at the papers there and I can't see why you would do this. The questions which were in the chemistry section were nearly on par with the questions on the actual chemistry LC.

Huge sections of both the separate physics and chemistry courses are not on the combined course. Couldn't tell you about the physics off the top of my head, but the likes of chemical equilibrium, water chemistry, rates of reaction are not on the combined course for chemistry.

pathway33

How many experiments do you have to do for the phys/chem course?

IfUSeekAmy

pathway33 wrote: »

How many experiments do you have to do for the phys/chem course?

Yeah...? Anybody have any clues regarding coursework..?
ie. I'm confident that it doesn't factor into my final mark.. But are there any stipulations regarding writeups.?

And also, thanks for the all the help guys, ahm, the reason I chose to do it is that it seems like a fairly brief / doable course. I seriously disliked the thought of doing honours chemistry on my own. Also the college courses I'm looking at have several physics and chemistry modules, and it's really like a basic prep for them, since I'm doing niether Physics or chemistry singularly, it's my second science subject, not necissarily required, but still benificial.

Making It Bad

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Huge sections of both the separate physics and chemistry courses are not on the combined course. Couldn't tell you about the physics off the top of my head, but the likes of chemical equilibrium, water chemistry, rates of reaction are not on the combined course for chemistry.

Those are the easiest part of the chemistry course tbh. The tougher stuff to understand is still on it. So basically it takes the most difficult parts of physics and chemistry?

rainbowtrout

Making It Bad wrote: »

Those are the easiest part of the chemistry course tbh. The tougher stuff to understand is still on it. So basically it takes the most difficult parts of physics and chemistry?

To be honest I would argue the opposite. I did phys/chem for my LC and I teach chemisty and I would say that phys/chem is like taking the OL course for each of the separate courses and joining them together to make a HL course and throwing in a few random bits and pieces. Eg: as far as I can remember the only titration on the course is an acid base titration.

FISMA

Hi,
You may wish to check this Physics book out - it's online. I have heard good things about it.
http://www.motionmountain.net/

Do you have Calc, preCalc, and or algebra?

If you have Calc, the best books are from Tipler and Halliday. Not easy reads.

If you have preCalc, the best book is Giancoli or Wilson-Buff-Lou
http://catalog.ebay.com/Physics-Douglas-C-Giancoli-1997-Hardcover-Illustrated-/46764?_fifpts=1&_pcatid=4&_refkw=giancoli&_trksid=p3286.c0.m271

Wilson's
http://catalog.ebay.com/College-Physics-Anthony-J-Buffa-Bo-Lou-Jerry-D-Wilson-2006-Package-/47967245?_fifpts=1&_npmv=3&_pcatid=4&_refkw=wilson+buffa+physics&_trksid=p3286.c0.m504

Wilson's book, overall, for secondary students is probably the best: well supported, easy read (relatively speaking), and nicely presented.

What do you plan on studying at the next level?

Doctors, lawyers, and the like do not [usually] need to take a calc based Physics course. Thus, "College" Physics books are the norm.

Engineers, Physicists, Chemists, Mathematicians, and the like will have to take a calc based course called University Physics.

Hope this helped.

Also, check out the following site for some REALLY, REALLY, nice applets. Tell you teacher about them as well
http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/

Another nice site to get a brief overview
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/HFrame.html

Slan and don't forget that
F is ma
F = ma

rainbowtrout

pathway33 wrote: »

How many experiments do you have to do for the phys/chem course?

I can only remember 5 or 6 in the chemistry section acid/base titration and maybe a few organic experiments.

Snell's Law, momentum/mechanics, electricity in physics

rainbowtrout

IfUSeekAmy wrote: »

Yeah...? Anybody have any clues regarding coursework..?
ie. I'm confident that it doesn't factor into my final mark.. But are there any stipulations regarding writeups.?

And also, thanks for the all the help guys, ahm, the reason I chose to do it is that it seems like a fairly brief / doable course. I seriously disliked the thought of doing honours chemistry on my own. Also the college courses I'm looking at have several physics and chemistry modules, and it's really like a basic prep for them, since I'm doing niether Physics or chemistry singularly, it's my second science subject, not necissarily required, but still benificial.

There's no coursework mark or copy of mandatory experiments to be completed. It is a shorter course and extremely doable. It gave me a good grounding in both physics and chemistry when I started in college, while I didn't have the same level of knowledge as a person doing both of them separately I had the foundations of each and found phys/chem modules more accessible at third level as a result.

ladybird94

Hi! Just wondering does anyone know if there is anywhere in dublin where i can buy the phys/chem book 'Physics And Chemistry' The Combined Course, by Daithí Quinn.
also is it okay to do this subject for my lc next year if im already doing chemistry? Thanks

rainbowtrout

ladybird94 wrote: »

Hi! Just wondering does anyone know if there is anywhere in dublin where i can buy the phys/chem book 'Physics And Chemistry' The Combined Course, by Daithí Quinn.
also is it okay to do this subject for my lc next year if im already doing chemistry? Thanks

You can't take Physics with Chemistry with either of the separate courses.

partyatmygaff

ladybird94 wrote: »

Hi! Just wondering does anyone know if there is anywhere in dublin where i can buy the phys/chem book 'Physics And Chemistry' The Combined Course, by Daithí Quinn.
also is it okay to do this subject for my lc next year if im already doing chemistry? Thanks

You can do the Phys/Chem exam as well as Chemistry but only one of them is counted for points.

rainbowtrout

partyatmygaff wrote: »

You can do the Phys/Chem exam as well as Chemistry but only one of them is counted for points.

..which does render taking the combined course as pointless.