PHYSICS I
“Marks are better than no marks.”
- What the upper years handing out physics cookies told us before our first midterm (best people ever)
OVERVIEW
Physics is SO COOL (can you tell it was one of my favourite classes haha). While I found much of the course was high school review (lots of review of the five equations), there was also a lot of new content, like rotational kinematics.
In my opinion, the course was not impossibly difficult. I noticed students who had done IB/AP in the past seemed to have an easier time with the content, but as someone who hadn’t done these programs, succeeding in the course was very achievable. That being said, I find it’s acknowledged as one of the more challenging courses of first semester, so buckle up and pay attention because we’re going to review some study tips and resources.
Do the Qlickers guys, and to do the Qlickers, you have to attend class. DO NOT skip class. Missing the content covered in class is a one-way ticket to increased stress. You’d be surprised how the extra points help you in the long run.
PRO TIPS FROM LAST YEAR
DO THE QLICKERS
ASK THE TEACHING TEAM ADVICE FOR THE MIDTERMS/FINALS
What I love about this class is the teaching team: they are direct and are not trying to trick you. If you ask your professors for advice on how to succeed on the midterms and finals, they will generally provide excellent guidance. Let me be clear though: by guidance, I don’t mean “they will give you the exact answers and questions.” Rather, they’ll help you utilize class resources and review specific example problems that highlight the course concepts
MASTER THEM. In my opinion, the multiple choice questions are where people mess up THE MOST. Do not underestimate how much of an impact the MC questions will have on your grade. When you practice for tests, make sure to review your Qlickers questions and any other previous MC exam questions you can find; it’ll really make a difference.
MASTER THE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
PRACTICE PREVIOUS EXAMS AS THOUGH THEY’RE REAL
For me, the previous midterms/finals were the best way to prepare for the final exam; the difficulty level of questions, the time constraint, and the multiple choice questions were the best piece of course material that compared to what the final was like. Practice as many previous midterms/finals as you can, and treat each one like it’s real.
STUDYING FOR THE FINALS
While some may find this study plan a lil’ bit excessive, it’s better to be over-prepared rather than under-prepared:
1 MONTH BEFORE THE EXAM
Practice multiple choice questions three times a week and identify which concepts you struggle with the most. For me, these concepts were rotational kinematics and statics.
Finals are in sight, but you’re not quite there yet. At this time, I think you should practice the most difficult questions you’ve run into throughout the semester. Practice them and when you run into issues, use this time to ask the professors/TAs questions after class.
3 weeks BEFORE THE EXAM
Write your first previous final and take note of your score. It doesn’t matter if you feel completely unprepared; even if you fail your first practice exam, you need to identify your biggest weaknesses so you can organize your study schedule. You should be spending the most time on targeting your weakest points of course knowledge.
2 weeks BEFORE THE EXAM
Re-evaluate what your weaknesses are and continue writing the previous finals. Additionally, I would recommend looking at every previous tutorial problem you’ve done, since the tutorial problems tend to be similar to the exam content.
1 WEEK BEFORE THE EXAM
1 DAY BEFORE THE EXAM
Chill out; you are (and should be at this point) prepared. I like to review the most difficult questions and multiple choice questions that review broad topics. Always remember: marks are better than no marks.
PRO TIP: PERFECT those free body diagrams, they’re like free points and help you understand the problem wayyyyy better.
Seriously though, (in my opinion) it’s way harder to visualize a new problem without a diagram.
VIDEO RESOURCES
PHYSICS DEMO VIDEOS
Visualizing the concepts you’re learning is one of the BEST things you can do in a physics class. I would recommend watching some demo videos (in addition to the ones they do in class), and I’ve added some links below for you to check out:
Sometimes, I find it takes a few tries to understand a new concept. Listening to videos before/after learning about the material in class can be helpful. Here are some of my favourite concept videos to learn from:
Concept videos
Pulley Problems
Torsion
Momentum
Rotational Kinematics
Area Moment of Inertia
Static Friction / Maximum Angle
FAVOURITE YOUTUBE CHANNELS
While YouTube videos are great for learning new concepts, it’s also important to stick to course content and not stray too far from the material that will be evaluated (you don’t want to over-learn for no reason). Sometimes, I found that the teaching team will release videos for this course, but if those videos are unavailable, check out these channels:
PHYSICS NINJA
While this channel covers a very broad view of topics, when you focus on the concepts explored in the course, it can be very helpful for learning how to solve long-form problems.
I’m pretty sure this guy known everything about everything, but his channel is very reliable and tends to cover the base concepts very well. Good for reviewing calculations and solving different types of problems.
THE ORGANIC CHEMISTRY TUTOR
I appreciate this professor’s style of teaching, and it feels easy to learn course concepts from his videos. Stick to course concepts, and it can be pretty helpful with practice problems.