Questions.

TehFionnster

Hello LC forum

I'm just wondering about the course content of physics and applied maths.
Are they very difficult?
I'm reasonably good at maths and most concepts I understand without difficulty.
So basically I'm wondering, I'm basically an A student in maths but It does take work for me, I don't get A's without the study like others in my class..
So are higher level Physics and Applied Maths very difficult?
Would I have trouble with them?


BTW I'm in third year :P
We're picking our subjects xD

niamhallen

Physics is great. So much more enjoyable than Junior Cert.
You do -

• Light
• Mechanics (Which is really basic applied maths)
• Waves
• Heat & Temperature
• Electricity
• Magnetism
• Particle Physics

I personally love it. I don't think I'm missing anything there. If your fairly confident at maths its a good choice. The maths problems aren't hard. Its mostly just manipulating formula.

I do Applied Maths aswell but at the moment I'm finding it quite difficult. Its all about real life problems and how to solve them mathematically. Very tricky. But very repetitive. You need to be quite good at maths. And be confident in your maths.

Hope I helped

Also if you look at www.thephysicsteacher.ie it has both courses on it

Ian_K

Leaving cert physics is more than a subject, it's a way of life....

.... so ya do it

TehFionnster

Great
That looks like physics is sorted :P

Is applied maths like difficult problems?
Like forming equations etc?
Because problem solving would probably be my weak point.

Fad

Physics is grand, just need to do a bit of work, learn the definitions, learn the experiments, practice papers and you're set.

Applied maths is quite physics based, about stuff like motion (Taken from physics and expanded on).

JamJamJamJam

Do them both!!

Applied Maths was a bit scary for the first couple of weeks (maybe it's just because my teacher goes kind of quickly). But honestly, if you just practice the questions (which is fun in a nerdy kind of way) you can really get on top of a question and it all becomes grand. It's an interesting subject which makes it very easy to study. And hey, like 19% of people get As, as opposed to the 5% or so in most other subjects! (Those numbers might be slightly incorrect but they're about right. Still, you might want to check them up before quoting me!).

Okay, maybe it was just me, but having done applied maths made most of the mechanics section in physics seem simple. In case you don't know, mechanics basically deals with physical movement, so it's all about speeds and velocities, forces, mass and so on. It's a pretty big chunk of the physics course. Physics is super mega interesting. It's one of my favourite subjects because there are so many ways that the course content applies to the world around you. I don't think it's any more difficult than any other subject; just a matter of learning the information. You'll be able to calculate the radius of orbit of Jupiter's moons! What more could you want! :rolleyes: It's a really thought-inspiring subject. Another topic on the course deal with heat and temperature, which isn't too difficult to understand, although I don't find that amazingly exciting. Some other areas you learn about are electricity (but we've just started this so I can't tell you much about it), optics (light and what you can expect to happen when it passes through a lense or hits a mirror) and modern physics (the coolest bit, dealing with radioactivity, the electron, xrays and subatomic particles)!

I'm getting carried away with myself... The point is that (for me, at least) when a subject is as interesting as applied maths or physics, it's easy to study and to do well in

I don't mean to keep waffling on about it, but applied maths also really, really helped my maths. My trigonometry, algebra and general problem solving abilities in particular improved a huge amount. Algebra is involved in pretty much every maths topic, so when you have a lot of practice it helps piles. If you're thinking of going on to study something related to maths in the future (you probably don't know exactly what you want yet) it might require honours level, which you'll find heaps easier with applied maths

This is what I've found, and you seem to like maths so I can imagine it working out perfectly Don't worry about subjects being difficult. I was told that LC chemistry would be 'impossible'. Don't worry, you'll be okay Just don't forget that although they're awesome, they still require the same work you'd put into other subects to keep on top of them.


One downside: The applied maths leaving cert exam is on the very last day What a drag :pac:


Okay, I'm done :P

spurious

JamJamJamJam wrote: »

And hey, like 19% of people get As, as opposed to the 5% or so in most other subjects! (Those numbers might be slightly incorrect but they're about right. Still, you might want to check them up before quoting me!).

For information purposes, 2009 exams
% of candidates gaining A1 or A2 grades at HL:
Physics 20.5%
Applied Maths 23.8%
Maths 15%

Chuchoter

Take both! Applied maths is hard, I'm not going to lie to you but its a short course with a lot of choice in the exams. Practice lots of questions and you'll be grand. It really helps your maths and your physics.

In terms of physics, I find it fairly tricky but its incredibly interesting and is one of my favorite subjects. Its fairly maths-y but not madly so

JamJamJamJam

spurious wrote: »

For information purposes, 2009 exams
% of candidates gaining A1 or A2 grades at HL:
Physics 20.5%
Applied Maths 23.8%
Maths 15%

Oops, seems I'd been misinformed. Sorry about that!

rage against the leaving

Applied Maths is my favourite subject, mainly because I actually enjoy doing it. If you enjoy solving problems, you should enjoy it. Having said that I teach myself and at the start of a topic when you don't understand it, it can be very frustrating. But once you get the concept, get used to the manipulating the formula, and practice the questions, it's easy to do well in.