Physics

P.H.Y.S.I.C.S
I struggled a lot when i was studying for physics. It wasnt like Chemistry or Biology, whereby memorising information from the textbook can get you good grades. For physics, I memorised definifitions, formulas, keywords and studied for my tests but still my results only came back with a pass. How demoralising right?

Over the year, I slowly started figuring out that physics was about the application of your knowledge. You understand the theory behind the topic, then you apply it to the questions you are tested on. It is almost like math,  just that in math all you need to know is formulas, you dont really need to understand how the formula is being derived. Whereas in physics, you must understand the concept of the topic, only then you can apply it in different scenerios.

Prelim questions can get really super difficult. But only schools would torture you till that extent. Like in paper 1, they can mix topics in a calculation question, and make you do a half a page long working. In the end, after all that hardwork, what you are doing is only worth 1 pathetic mark, how miserable. In olevels however, maybe only one of such questions would come out. In many cases, o level physics is actually do-able.

Tips on Studying for Physics
1. If your physics grades are low, it is a sign that you do not understand the concept of the topic. Do not be disheartened, it takes time to master this subject.
2.(i) Please do not memorise all the definitions to every single key word in the textbook. Yes, I know that they do test definition questions, but there are hundreds of it in total, are you seriously going to squeeze all that in your head when the definition question (which usually only comes out once in the paper) is only WORTH 1 MARK.
(ii) However, if you're studying for a test on a particular topic, go ahead and memorise the definition. It might be easier to recall during the exam period if you do so. Or at least you might have an idea of what to write in exams.
3. Instead of memorising definitions words, I suggest memorising the laws of the topic. Like what are Newton's Laws, what is the definition of Principle of Moments, what are the laws of reflection? These are worth at least 2 marks, and it would help in your understanding of concepts.
4. I personally advise against using guide books for physics. I find that some parts of the guide books are out of the syllabus and hardworking students who realise they are not doing well will memorise the information wholesale.
5. WRTITE YOUR NOTES. When you are writing, refer to the workbook answers your teacher provides. During lesson time, take down how your teacher explains the concept, if you're unsure of how to do the question, refer back. There are keywords in the answer key your teacher provides, make sure you have them in your notes too.
6. Some people might find that it is "wrong" to study this way, because it is not understanding if you do it wrong, but I found it useful for me. As I am doing the papers, I realised that similar questions would be asked, and the answer to the questions are quite standardised. Instead of losing marks for not writing keywords (our school does that), I would actually study using the answer key the school provides. Point to note: This will only work if you have a full understanding of the topic. By doing this, you are perfecting your answer, and not regurgitating answers because you see the same question.
7. I find doing assessment papers for physics unnecessary. The school usually has their own worksheets and will make you do the workbook, this is enough practice already. The more you do, the more you have to revise during a major exam, and trust me, there wont be enough time
8. SI UNITS!!! Must take note of the SI unit, whether it is in joules, or kilowatt per hour or metres per second. Formulas are written in terms of SI unit. There are questions that gives velocity as cm/s, so do remember to change it to m/s before applying the formula.

Tips during O Level period 
1. Do the yearly TYS. It turned out impossible for me to finish all the paper 2, so I did from 2008-2012 only. Try to finish all the paper 1, most of the time there would be one or two repeated question each year.
2. When it is really close to olevels already, stop doing prelim papers. You will just scare yourself more because you dont know how to do some or most of the questions. It is normal for physics especially, prelims can really be extremely tough.
3. Go through all the school worksheets, workbook and test papers. It will help you spot where your mistake usually occurs.
4. By this stage, you must already perfect your own notes. Every school has their own style of answering questions, so please just follow what your school tells you. Every teacher would want their students to do well. So if your teacher answers the question a certain way, just do it the same in olevels.
5. If you have troubles with the tys questions or get your answer wrong and you have no idea why it is wrong, do not hesitate to find for your teacher for consultation. You never know that might be the question that will get repeated in your year.

My experience in O levels
Paper 1, there was this charging of car battery question which came out in the tys. I didn't know how to attempt it because I had problems understanding the question. So, when we were doing a consultation with my teacher, I brought up this question. He explained and I understood. So happen that in our o level paper, the exact same question came out. And so, 1 mark secured just like that^^ (look at point 5 above)

Paper 2. I didnt know the exact definition of what is an electric field. So I just gave what I remembered, which happened to be wrong. But it was worth 1/2 marks, I felt okay with it.
Math is my forte, and so when i was revising, i didnt really bother looking at the electricity calculation questions. During the olevels, I forgot to take note of the SI unit when calculating my electricity bill. My answer turned out to be the poor guy has to pay over a hundred dollars to watch TV and use his computer for two weeks. I knew something went wrong somewhere, but I didnt have the time to correct it. Thankfully for science, there is ECF (error carry forward), so the next part of the question will not be affected by this wrong answer. If not, that is 5 marks gone. Moral of the story: study everything, dont be over confident.


That's all I have for Physics~ On a side note, I do have my own physics notes in softcopy. If you're interested, do send me an email : anonymousandmyjourney@gmail.com
These are the notes which i compiled from my school notes/worksheets/workbook so I hope that you understand that not all schools have the same way of answering a particular question. Also, there might be some spelling errors and stuff like that, so bear with me, typing it on computer isnt easy.
The notes includes all topics from Sec 3- 4. Comes with pictures too^^ these are the notes i used to study for olevels!
Valid till 5 February 2014 only. By then, JC would have started and so I will not be checking my email anymore. If you have any questions regarding the notes or regarding this subject, you can email me or comment below!

Cheers and till then~ byee!