physics or geography?

smurphy11

ok so here is my situation, i`m currently in 5th year, i was wondering about moving from geography to physics? my geo teacher isn`t great and im starting to lose interest in the subject and the class has a few too many messers which i find very annoying.

so physics, firstly my fav subject is maths, ive always been naturally good at it and got an A in the jc quite easily. my maths teacher is also the physics teacher, he has a phd in physics and is very good, he wants me to move as he feels i would be more suited to physics.

does anyone have any advice? is it too late to pick up physics, btw im a very hard worker, aiming for 500 points or so and want to get a maths related course and maybe become maths teacher, etc. is it worth changing il prob get a B at least in geo as its not too bad and is it hard to do well in physics?

ive been feeling guilty about not doing physics for a while but im just wondering is it the right choice to change to physics? in the long term will it be worth it

anyone who would like to share their thoughts would be greatly appreciated thankyou

Canard

I dont do physics but I do honours maths and I think if you can do maths pretty well, you can do physics. My friends in physics say that too and they do HL maths Why not continue geography outside school? Its a very handy subject, just rote learning/general knowledge, plus a 20% project. I'd definitely advise keeping it!

tacofries

id say you can change now, just do study in fifth year for it! buy this book http://www.schoolbooks.ie/437686-1429-0-Folens+Exam+Edge%3A+Physics+-+Leaving+Cert+-+Higher+%26+Ordinary+Level+School+Book


its the holy grail. it cuts out all the crap and leaves you with only the stuff
you need to do well!

Physics is some subject by the way, so interesting and practical. i love it!

Closet Monkey

Well, you still have a lot of time. You could learn all the stuff you missed in physics on your Christmas holidays but there is a lot of stuff that need explaining. The chapters we have done are light and partly mechanics. Mechanics is quite hard because there is a lot of theory but it comes up a lot on the exam and will complement the other chapters. I would recommend you do physics rather then suffer in geography. It's a very interesting subject and more courses related to maths will be available if you choose it.

Closet Monkey

tacofries wrote: »

id say you can change now, just do study in fifth year for it! buy this book http://www.schoolbooks.ie/437686-1429-0-Folens+Exam+Edge%3A+Physics+-+Leaving+Cert+-+Higher+%26+Ordinary+Level+School+Book


its the holy grail. it cuts out all the crap and leaves you with only the stuff
you need to do well!

Physics is some subject by the way, so interesting and practical. i love it!

I have the Exam Edge one too but not everything is covered in the book. I would recommend you borrow Real World Physics or something similar from your maths teacher. The Exam Edge is more used to improve your marks while the actual book is used for a lot of the explaining.

kilianmanning

smurphy11 wrote: »

ok so here is my situation, i`m currently in 5th year, i was wondering about moving from geography to physics? my geo teacher isn`t great and im starting to lose interest in the subject and the class has a few too many messers which i find very annoying.

so physics, firstly my fav subject is maths, ive always been naturally good at it and got an A in the jc quite easily. my maths teacher is also the physics teacher, he has a phd in physics and is very good, he wants me to move as he feels i would be more suited to physics.

does anyone have any advice? is it too late to pick up physics, btw im a very hard worker, aiming for 500 points or so and want to get a maths related course and maybe become maths teacher, etc. is it worth changing il prob get a B at least in geo as its not too bad and is it hard to do well in physics?

ive been feeling guilty about not doing physics for a while but im just wondering is it the right choice to change to physics? in the long term will it be worth it

anyone who would like to share their thoughts would be greatly appreciated thankyou

If you really want to change because you think physics would be more beneficial to you then go for it. there will be some stuff in the lenses and mirrors chapters that will need to be explained however. there are 2 messers in my physics class since the beginning of fifth year. Messers from day one, sickening so they are.

Bears and Vodka

Its not the Maths itself in physics that's difficult, but figuring out which formulas to use and just working out why should you use this and not that. Maths as in equations themselves are JC level.
Btw, covering ALL of the Physics course is not such a great idea IMO (well it would obviously be better if you knew all of it). There is a huge choice on the paper. What we are doing is ignoring Mechanics completely, and we were even offered to ignore Electricity when we are studying if we wanted to, and just concentrate on everything else + experiments. Tis a bit of a gamble ruling out Electricity but ignoring Mechanics is a good idea imo.

smurphy11

subz3r0 wrote: »

Its not the Maths itself in physics that's difficult, but figuring out which formulas to use and just working out why should you use this and not that. Maths as in equations themselves are JC level.
Btw, covering ALL of the Physics course is not such a great idea IMO (well it would obviously be better if you knew all of it). There is a huge choice on the paper. What we are doing is ignoring Mechanics completely, and we were even offered to ignore Electricity when we are studying if we wanted to, and just concentrate on everything else + experiments. Tis a bit of a gamble ruling out Electricity but ignoring Mechanics is a good idea imo.

yeah i was studying exam papers and there is lots of choice. i was talking to my the physics teacher today and he said they have one third of the course done, he also said i can move but there will be a lot of work involved. they have the first 10 chapters done or so, so does anyone know if these chapters and important or even better still which ones i can completely ignore?

if i can leave out some of the chapters and concentrate on other questions it would be a huge help, however can i afford to do this?

he also said to me i would probably do better in my current subject (geography) in the LC but i think it would be better that i picked a subject i enjoyed and would enjoy studying for. at the end of the day it is a point scoring system but picking a subject i enjoyed would satisfy me more imo.

Bears and Vodka

smurphy11 wrote: »

yeah i was studying exam papers and there is lots of choice. i was talking to my the physics teacher today and he said they have one third of the course done, he also said i can move but there will be a lot of work involved. they have the first 10 chapters done or so, so does anyone know if these chapters and important or even better still which ones i can completely ignore?

if i can leave out some of the chapters and concentrate on other questions it would be a huge help, however can i afford to do this?

he also said to me i would probably do better in my current subject (geography) in the LC but i think it would be better that i picked a subject i enjoyed and would enjoy studying for. at the end of the day it is a point scoring system but picking a subject i enjoyed would satisfy me more imo.

Out of the first ten chapters, you really have to know lenses and mirrors and refraction etc.. Some of those will be Mechanics, I suggest don't bother with Mechanics. Or you can do Mechanics since its basically Maths and don't bother with Electricity. You can certainly afford to leave a topic out.

iLikePiano99

I'm in 5th year too and I really love physics! We have done Light, and most of Radioactivity (my teacher skipped to the back of the book...). I would definitely recommend switching IF you are prepared to put in a LOT of work over Christmas to catch up...you could have the stuff that your class has done, easily covered over the Christmas! But seriously, Physics is so interesting! Like yourself, I have always loved maths and got an A in the junior but I didn't think I'd like physics or that I'd do well in it (there seems to be a negative vibe surrounding physics as a LC subject...lots of people are afraid to pick it!) but I love it and got an A in the Christmas tests. For me so far, Radioactivity has been the most interesting, but I love mechanics too (even though I haven't covered it I do applied maths which is the same...) So if you want to switch from Geography do! Physics is a great subject and I don't think it is any harder than any other subject to do well in! Good Luck!

iLikePiano99

Also I forgot to say...there aren't really any chapters you can leave out as each chapter corresponds with a section of the course that you NEED to know. Despite what the other answerer said, do not leave out mechanics - that's like 36% of the paper on average! And you can't really leave out electricity either. Like I said, work on it over the break and you should be grand! If you need any help, let me know

EDIT: Also, mechanics is a great question! Quite easy to do well in if you are good at maths - ignoring it completely is a BAD idea. Use this website: thephysicsteacher.ie - it has some great notes! Finally, ask your maths teacher for advice - he'll know best!

I_ENJOY_BATHS

Hi lads, I didn't really want to start a new thread for this but I just have a question, how difficult and how much work is needed to get an A1 in physics?

I want to do physics in college and I got off to a great start this year, getting As in a couple of tests. I've been working my arse off for the christmas exams and I only got 64% on a test on light... I was gutted seeing as there was a couple in the class who got 100%.

I would really like to get an A1 in it as it is my favourite subject and I'm prepared to work for it, but what's the best way to go about it?

Stalin and rugby

Anyone who says physics is easy is either a fool or showing off. There is a reason why nerds are associated with this subject. It's much harder than any subject on the LC even Applied maths. People doing physics, who find it "easy" don't actually understand it - they learn it off. That's all good but it won't get you an A1 - For that you really need to both understand and learn your stuff.

Meh who knows maybe everyone here is just a genius. Could be

Wesc.

Stalin and rugby wrote: »

Anyone who says physics is easy is either a fool or showing off. There is a reason why nerds are associated with this subject. It's much harder than any subject on the LC even Applied maths. People doing physics, who find it "easy" don't actually understand it - they learn it off. That's all good but it won't get you an A1 - For that you really need to both understand and learn your stuff.

Meh who knows maybe everyone here is just a genius. Could be

1) Im not a nerd by any means.

2)I do both physics and applied maths and IMO neither of them are hard for me at all, it all depends on the person. I gave up business and DCG because i found them to be difficult and they just didn't suit me.

3)I consistently get A1s in physics. I find it easy and understand all of it. If there's something I don't understand I'll just read over it in the book or ask my teacher a question...which in the OP's case is great because he has a very good teacher.

4) In relation to the OP's question, I say go for it! I know it might be a bit much, but would you consider taking up applied maths too? I've only started at summer and I'll have the course fully done by christmas and if you're any way mathematically minded, you could easily get an A!

iLikePiano99

Wesc. wrote: »

1) Im not a nerd by any means.

2)I do both physics and applied maths and IMO neither of them are hard for me at all, it all depends on the person. I gave up business and DCG because i found them to be difficult and they just didn't suit me.

3)I consistently get A1s in physics. I find it easy and understand all of it. If there's something I don't understand I'll just read over it in the book or ask my teacher a question...which in the OP's case is great because he has a very good teacher.

4) In relation to the OP's question, I say go for it! I know it might be a bit much, but would you consider taking up applied maths too? I've only started at summer and I'll have the course fully done by christmas and if you're any way mathematically minded, you could easily get an A!

I agree with this too. If you do applied maths, the mechanics section of physics is basically covered. Think about it. Obviously you don't want to over pressure yourself and I amn't saying that applied maths isn't a lot of work but if you like maths, you'll enjoy it and do well in it.

As for Stalin and Rugby. You are so wrong. Physics isn't harder than any other subject on the leaving cert, people just think it is. Have you actually done physics? How would you know if you haven't tried it? And also, it all depends on the person. I think the OP is probably better of listening to people who are actually studying physics in school.

smurphy11

ok i will move to physics, but i was also thinking possibly taking up applied maths also. anyone out there do it whats it like? is it easier than maths or physics and would it be too late to take it up now.

if i do take it up i am also seriously thinking of repeating 5th year. im not sure whether or not i will take it up as a 8th subject or as a 7th subject. its not offered at my school but i could study it while the other students are doing another optional.

so any advice? should i take app maths up?

iLikePiano99

smurphy11 wrote: »

ok i will move to physics, but i was also thinking possibly taking up applied maths also. anyone out there do it whats it like? is it easier than maths or physics and would it be too late to take it up now.

if i do take it up i am also seriously thinking of repeating 5th year. im not sure whether or not i will take it up as a 8th subject or as a 7th subject. its not offered at my school but i could study it while the other students are doing another optional.

so any advice? should i take app maths up?

I like applied maths. But I amn't going to lie - it is tough! you really have to work at it! I am doing it as an 8th subject, taking Saturday classes in the institute of education. I wouldn't advise you teaching yourself it though! I know a few people who did that and they said it was pointless. In the institute, we just started the higher level course so if you wanted to try it, now would be a good time to join the classes as we are doing lots of revision.
Any more help, don't hesitate to PM me

NSNO

The Physics course is pretty difficult compared to various Arts subjects but its difficulty is pretty comparable to the other Science subjects on the Leaving Cert.

Physics does have the advantage of the exam being particularly easy to 'game'. There is a ridiculous amount of choice on the paper and if you're genuinely interested in the material then you'll do very well indeed.

Physics is also one of the most useful subjects you can do for the Leaving. It will give you a very good grounding in many topics that are crucial to fields like Science, Engineering & Computer Science if you go down those routes.

And the Modern Physics section of the course will instill a lifelong interest in that area and will probably see you wasting much of your time in college lectures browsing various science related reddits

smurphy11

so im moving to physics but my teacher has also said i should repeat 5th year. I have no problem with this as im only 15 and still very young seeing as most people in my year are from ty or at least 16 at this stage.

atm im finding 5th year very easy, theres not much homework and i seem to be going ahead in the course for a few subjects just to occupy myself. dont get me wrong im not dossing my way through the year, im revising everything we have done so far and leave nothing to chance.
my question is if i repeat the year will it become very boring or on the flip side a great chance to start preparing for the lc while all my classmates are learning new material.

also im thinking of taking up applied maths kind of to occupy myself but also because im seriously interested in the subject and make the year worthwhile aslo.

so what do you`s think should i repeat?

Canard

God no dont repeat 5th year, why would you do that? Go ahead into 6th year, and repeat that if you need to. :eek:

I'm in 6th year now and didnt do TY, I'm only 16, it doesnt make all that much difference tbh.

lostatsea

Does anyone know if there are any good books with all the Physics experiments in it, especially with details of the errors and precautions? Thanks.

Glee_GG

I do the three sciences and applied maths and honestly physics would be my least favourite of the three. I find bit of it interesting but other parts I just find boring to be honest. I think applied maths is grand, but I'd say that you'd definitely need the help of a teacher. You'd want to be great at maths and be very dedicated to do it yourself.

Chuchoter

Fellow three sciences person! I personally love physics to pieces, it and maths are like the highlight of my day. Its nowhere near as confusing as chemistry (logic? sure who needs that in a subject:rolleyes:) and way more interesting than biology. Its so applicable to real life and you really get to think and apply your knowledge to the world around you. I know you've already chosen it, but good decision!

However, I'm shocked at people skipping mechanics or electricity, I mean they're a huge section of the course. Thats an idiotic decision.

In terms of repeating 5th year, purely on the basis of age I would. 16 nearly 17 is so young to be going into college and the first two years will be crap for you because you'll always be stuck looking for id. As well as that I'd be really worried you would make a bad decision course wise. I'll be turning 19 at the end of this year and I am so glad I had TY in some ways because if I hadn't, I'd be picking a totally different course and knowing who I am now I would hate it. I mean at 15, in fact until I was 17 I was dead set on medicine. Now I'd sooner run a mile and I'm hoping for law and french. I don't think at so young an age you can possibly make a good decision.

Stalin and rugby

iLikePiano99 wrote: »

As for Stalin and Rugby. You are so wrong. Physics isn't harder than any other subject on the leaving cert, people just think it is. Have you actually done physics? How would you know if you haven't tried it? And also, it all depends on the person. I think the OP is probably better of listening to people who are actually studying physics in school.

Hmm assumptions my good man Yes I do Physics, why would I give advice to somebody regarding a subject I don't do? No matter how optimistic people sound I'm still convinced it's hard. Like all other subjects the examinations commision only wants a certain limited amount of A1s A2s etc... Getting that A is pretty hard. You really have to understand the subject pretty deeply, I'll give you an example

Taken from the 2011 mock exam Q6 :

"The force of gravity inside the international space station is 8.7m meters per second squared yet the astronauts still experience weightlessness. Explain how this can be."

(Ps if anyone could actually tell me the answer to that question that'd great,thanks)

lorcan122

Applied maths is quite hard, and you would have to be quite strong at maths, to make sure you get an A, good luck with physics, but I would have chosen geography, it is much easier to learn.

Scartbeg

Stalin and rugby wrote: »

"The force of gravity on the international space station is 8.7m meters per second squared yet the astronauts still experience weightlessness. Explain how this can be."

(Ps if anyone could actually tell me the answer to that question that'd great,thanks)

The astronauts and the space station are both in constant freefall - because of this the space station doesn't exert an upward force on the astronauts and they feel weightless (in this context, "weight" means the sensation we normally experience when the ground or a chair pushes up on us). In the strict definition of the term, the astronauts still have a weight, about 11% less than it would be at the earth's surface. ( F=ma , where a = 8.7 N/kg )

Stalin and rugby

Scartbeg wrote: »

The astronauts and the space station are both in constant freefall - because of this the space station doesn't exert an upward force on the astronauts and they feel weightless (in this context, "weight" means the sensation we normally experience when the ground or a chair pushes up on us). In the strict definition of the term, the astronauts still have a weight, about 11% less than it would be at the earth's surface. ( F=ma , where a = 8.7 N/kg )

Thanks for the answer, yea I was thinking that, but then isn't the earth also technically in constant free fall yet we still feel gravity? Or am I going wrong somewhere? Would appreciate if you could explain,

Cheers,

Scartbeg

Stalin and rugby wrote: »

Thanks for the answer, yea I was thinking that, but then isn't the earth also technically in constant free fall yet we still feel gravity? Or am I going wrong somewhere? Would appreciate if you could explain,

Cheers,

Well, the space station exerts a tiny gravitational pull on the astronauts, compared to the pull from the body around which they are in freefall.

In the case of someone standing on the earth, the earth exerts a pull on the person (approx 9.8 N/kg) which is much larger than the pull from the sun (approx 0.006 N/kg) , around which they are both in freefall.

So if the space station was much more massive, say around the size of the moon, then it would attract the astronaut towards it enough so that they would feel "weight".

Chuchoter

I think the point being made here is that in most subjects, the answer to that question would be a few lines you'd learnt by heart from a book, instead you need to appreciate whats going on, which is my favorite part of physics! The way physics is done is the way all subjects should be done. Maybe its a little harder, but its way more interesting.

the quick fix

smurphy11 wrote: »

ok so here is my situation, i`m currently in 5th year, i was wondering about moving from geography to physics? my geo teacher isn`t great and im starting to lose interest in the subject and the class has a few too many messers which i find very annoying.

so physics, firstly my fav subject is maths, ive always been naturally good at it and got an A in the jc quite easily. my maths teacher is also the physics teacher, he has a phd in physics and is very good, he wants me to move as he feels i would be more suited to physics.

does anyone have any advice? is it too late to pick up physics, btw im a very hard worker, aiming for 500 points or so and want to get a maths related course and maybe become maths teacher, etc. is it worth changing il prob get a B at least in geo as its not too bad and is it hard to do well in physics?

ive been feeling guilty about not doing physics for a while but im just wondering is it the right choice to change to physics? in the long term will it be worth it

anyone who would like to share their thoughts would be greatly appreciated thankyou

You should do what you feel like doing. I am doing physics and astrophysics and before I was going to try and be a pilot but realized physics is what I really wanted to do so I chose to do it and I am enjoying every last bit of it. If you have an interest in the subject you will do well in it. Maths was and still is my favourite subject and i got no where near 500 points but I am still doing physics so your more then capable of doing it.

I won't lie, its not like a degree is handed to you it takes hard work and if you have an interest you will love it. In the long term it will absolutely be worth it. If you chose to do a physics degree in first year in NUIM you would do 2 subjects chosen from mathematical physics, computer science, biology or chemistry with physics and maths mandatory. There is so many areas that you open yourself to if you do physics so all the best in your decision.

the quick fix

smurphy11 wrote: »

ok i will move to physics, but i was also thinking possibly taking up applied maths also. anyone out there do it whats it like? is it easier than maths or physics and would it be too late to take it up now.

if i do take it up i am also seriously thinking of repeating 5th year. im not sure whether or not i will take it up as a 8th subject or as a 7th subject. its not offered at my school but i could study it while the other students are doing another optional.

so any advice? should i take app maths up?

Oh I didn't see that post yes I did applied maths. Its hard work but if you studied and since your good at maths you could do really well at applied maths. I had a good teacher up till 6th year when we were going to focus on honours material but my teacher was a disaster and a last minute decision the day before to do the honours paper paid off stayed up all night targeted the exam papers and did well in it. I wouldn't advise cutting it that close but if you target the topics and the typical questions you could do really well. If you choose to do general science as a degree option and do mathematical physics as a subject it will pay off in the first year of that subject and it would pay off for physics in university but also in the physics exam in the leaving cert. The linear motion part is what you would do in applied maths.