If Physics was one of your stronger subjects in secondary school, the first few weeks of H2 Physics can feel a little strange. Here's why the jump from Sec 4 to JC Physics catches good students out, and what to do when you can't see how to start a question.
You're paying attention in lectures. Your notes make sense when you read them. Then you sit down with a tutorial, and the first question takes much longer than you expected. You recognise the formulas on the page, but you're not quite sure which one to start with.
It's frustrating, especially when you're used to being able to work things out on your own. You might wonder whether you've forgotten something, whether everyone else is finding it easier, or whether you should already be keeping up.
Why does H2 Physics feel so much harder than Sec 4 Physics?
There's quite a bit to get used to. H2 Physics builds on your secondary-school foundations, but the questions give you more decisions to make. Before you begin calculating, you'll need to work out:
- Which ideas apply to the situation in front of you.
- How they connect to each other.
- What assumptions you can reasonably make.
That takes practice, even when you know the individual concepts well.
Has a ball stopped at its highest point?
Think about a ball thrown forwards and upwards. At its highest point, its vertical velocity is zero. Does that mean the ball has stopped?
For a moment, it might seem so. But it's still moving forwards. Ignoring air resistance, the horizontal velocity remains constant while the vertical velocity changes.
You may understand that immediately once someone points it out. Spotting it yourself, in the middle of a longer question, is the part you're learning to do.
How do you start an H2 Physics question when you're stuck?
That's why it helps to slow down at the beginning. Before you reach for a formula:
- Draw the path. Sketch what the object actually does.
- Mark the direction of its motion. Arrows for velocity, and for any forces acting.
- Ask what is changing and what stays the same. For the ball, the horizontal velocity stays the same; the vertical velocity changes.
A few lines on a sketch can make the next step much clearer.
And if you still can't see how to begin, bring that sketch to your teacher. You don't have to wait until you have a polished question or a nearly complete solution.
"I understand this part, but I don't know what to do next" is already a useful place to start.
Why memorising formulas won't get you an A in H2 Physics
Memorising equations and plugging in numbers won't work in JC the way it might have in Sec 4. Understanding the basic equations, and knowing how to derive what you need from them, is the way to an A.
Take the ball again. You don't need a separate "maximum height" formula. You already know the vertical velocity is zero at the top, so put that into an equation you know, for the vertical motion only. Taking upwards as positive, the final velocity is 0, the initial velocity is the vertical component uy, and the acceleration is −g:
v² = u² + 2as
0 = uy² − 2gh
h = uy² / 2g
The physics came first (what's zero, and in which direction), and the formula followed. That's the habit our JC H2 Physics tuition is built around: every lesson starts with something you can picture, and you work out which concepts explain it.
If you're still in Sec 3 or 4, it's worth building the sketch-first habit now, before the jump. Our upper secondary Physics classes are a good place to start. And if you take Biology too, the same shift happens there: here's why memorising isn't enough for H2 Biology.
