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Extension 2 or Physics (1 Viewer)

abc1010

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Hello!
Does anybody who studied physics and math extension2 could share some of their experiences of both subjects. I am in yr 11 rn am stuggling between choosing extension 2 in year 12 or keeping physics. I personally want to do ext 2 because I enjoy math a lot, and I feel like the physic teacher at my school cannot explain things clearly. However, I am also worried that extension 2 would be too hard. ( I've heard that I would need to know 100+ ways of integration in ext 2. ) Also should I start my extension 2 tutoring this year? ( p.s i am doing my ext 1 and adv math hsc this year).
 

yep...

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Hello!
Does anybody who studied physics and math extension2 could share some of their experiences of both subjects. I am in yr 11 rn am stuggling between choosing extension 2 in year 12 or keeping physics. I personally want to do ext 2 because I enjoy math a lot, and I feel like the physic teacher at my school cannot explain things clearly. However, I am also worried that extension 2 would be too hard. ( I've heard that I would need to know 100+ ways of integration in ext 2. ) Also should I start my extension 2 tutoring this year? ( p.s i am doing my ext 1 and adv math hsc this year).
you can keep both math ext 2 and physics -> I currently have both subjects and on 11 units. Both subjects are rewarding when it comes to your ATAR, so I would keep that in mind.

Do you have tutoring for physics? If yes, keep it.
If not and you feel like your teacher can't explain things properly, I would try to seek further clarification from the teacher. Don't drop the subject unless you feel like you don't understand a thing or if your ranks are terrible.

I would say do your ext 2 tutoring halfway through - a lot of core ideas for ext 2 come from adv and ext 1.
 

abc1010

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you can keep both math ext 2 and physics -> I currently have both subjects and on 11 units. Both subjects are rewarding when it comes to your ATAR, so I would keep that in mind.

Do you have tutoring for physics? If yes, keep it.
If not and you feel like your teacher can't explain things properly, I would try to seek further clarification from the teacher. Don't drop the subject unless you feel like you don't understand a thing or if your ranks are terrible.

I would say do your ext 2 tutoring halfway through - a lot of core ideas for ext 2 come from adv and ext 1.
Half way through, does it mean half way through learning year 12 content?
 

Aeonium

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Hello!
Does anybody who studied physics and math extension2 could share some of their experiences of both subjects. I am in yr 11 rn am stuggling between choosing extension 2 in year 12 or keeping physics. I personally want to do ext 2 because I enjoy math a lot, and I feel like the physic teacher at my school cannot explain things clearly. However, I am also worried that extension 2 would be too hard. ( I've heard that I would need to know 100+ ways of integration in ext 2. ) Also should I start my extension 2 tutoring this year? ( p.s i am doing my ext 1 and adv math hsc this year).
most places start e2 like term before y12 so around term 2 - term 3 i think
a lot of physics teachers cant teach well so u might want to consider phys tutoring if ur looking into keeping it
 

carrotsss

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You can just keep both, ext 2 isn’t too bad tbh and no you don’t need to know 100+ ways of integration or anything like that just a few basic methods and the critical thinking to apply them to different situations. The thing with ext 2 a lot of people don’t realise is you don’t actually have to do that well, as long as you get like 60%+ raw in the HSC the ATAR contributions are crazy, obviously getting high raw marks is harder than other subjects but scaling accounts for that. Bad physics teachers are pretty common but tbh you can science ready/past paper your way through it anyway
 

liamkk112

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Hello!
Does anybody who studied physics and math extension2 could share some of their experiences of both subjects. I am in yr 11 rn am stuggling between choosing extension 2 in year 12 or keeping physics. I personally want to do ext 2 because I enjoy math a lot, and I feel like the physic teacher at my school cannot explain things clearly. However, I am also worried that extension 2 would be too hard. ( I've heard that I would need to know 100+ ways of integration in ext 2. ) Also should I start my extension 2 tutoring this year? ( p.s i am doing my ext 1 and adv math hsc this year).
you can always take both to start with and then drop whatever you don't really like, but here's my experience with both:

physics:
- definetly a slow burn, it took me until about a year before everything clicked into place, and i started to really understand the subject
- you need a very good understanding of the fundamental concepts, but once you get that down, you will be successful
- usually less resources/past papers than ext2, so it can be a bit more difficult to find new questions to keep testing your knowledge
- don't forget writing component is usually 50-60% of the subject, so if you struggle with writing consider scratching up on that (it's not english type writing though, it's usually just talking about a situation and why things work or about experiments)

ext2:
- a lot of resources, so there's a lot of opportunity to do questions to keep testing your understanding
- a bit less visual than physics, sometimes you have a long algebra section that will go nowhere
- most of the topics just add another layer to ext 1 content (vectors, mechanics, integration, only new topics are complex numbers and proof)
- heavier emphasis on just math compared to physics obviously, no long response at all

both:
- can feel like hell when you don't understand things properly
- you will always get questions you have never seen before, so you need to have a greater understanding of how things work, aka you can't just rote learn everything (memorise)
- will require you to stare at a question for a long time banging your head against the wall, until something clicks (i'm sure u know this from some ext1 questions though)
- both have some pretty abstract concepts that will require your imagination to visualise (or may be impossible to properly visualise like quantum physics)

also taking both is a pretty good combo, they test pretty similar skills.

ext 2 is not thattt hard, yes it is difficult but if you are doing well in extension 1 if you put in the effort i can almost guarantee you will succeed in ext 2 (and no theres not 100+ integration methods lmaoo, theres like 5 at most). i guess you can start going to ext 2 tutoring now, but most definitely it's not a requirement to be successful (i didn't go to tutoring for math and did pretty well).

if you think your physics teacher is not great, there are always youtube videos (i recommend science ready, mit opencourseware and floathead physics) and textbooks, possibly tutoring if you're really that desperate. but if i was u id just take both, and if you don't enjoy one of them then it's easy to drop them.
 

its_ace21

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you can always take both to start with and then drop whatever you don't really like, but here's my experience with both:

physics:
- definetly a slow burn, it took me until about a year before everything clicked into place, and i started to really understand the subject
- you need a very good understanding of the fundamental concepts, but once you get that down, you will be successful
- usually less resources/past papers than ext2, so it can be a bit more difficult to find new questions to keep testing your knowledge
- don't forget writing component is usually 50-60% of the subject, so if you struggle with writing consider scratching up on that (it's not english type writing though, it's usually just talking about a situation and why things work or about experiments)

ext2:
- a lot of resources, so there's a lot of opportunity to do questions to keep testing your understanding
- a bit less visual than physics, sometimes you have a long algebra section that will go nowhere
- most of the topics just add another layer to ext 1 content (vectors, mechanics, integration, only new topics are complex numbers and proof)
- heavier emphasis on just math compared to physics obviously, no long response at all

both:
- can feel like hell when you don't understand things properly
- you will always get questions you have never seen before, so you need to have a greater understanding of how things work, aka you can't just rote learn everything (memorise)
- will require you to stare at a question for a long time banging your head against the wall, until something clicks (i'm sure u know this from some ext1 questions though)
- both have some pretty abstract concepts that will require your imagination to visualise (or may be impossible to properly visualise like quantum physics)

also taking both is a pretty good combo, they test pretty similar skills.

ext 2 is not thattt hard, yes it is difficult but if you are doing well in extension 1 if you put in the effort i can almost guarantee you will succeed in ext 2 (and no theres not 100+ integration methods lmaoo, theres like 5 at most). i guess you can start going to ext 2 tutoring now, but most definitely it's not a requirement to be successful (i didn't go to tutoring for math and did pretty well).

if you think your physics teacher is not great, there are always youtube videos (i recommend science ready, mit opencourseware and floathead physics) and textbooks, possibly tutoring if you're really that desperate. but if i was u id just take both, and if you don't enjoy one of them then it's easy to drop them.
respect for being bothered to write that much
 

abc1010

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you can always take both to start with and then drop whatever you don't really like, but here's my experience with both:

physics:
- definetly a slow burn, it took me until about a year before everything clicked into place, and i started to really understand the subject
- you need a very good understanding of the fundamental concepts, but once you get that down, you will be successful
- usually less resources/past papers than ext2, so it can be a bit more difficult to find new questions to keep testing your knowledge
- don't forget writing component is usually 50-60% of the subject, so if you struggle with writing consider scratching up on that (it's not english type writing though, it's usually just talking about a situation and why things work or about experiments)

ext2:
- a lot of resources, so there's a lot of opportunity to do questions to keep testing your understanding
- a bit less visual than physics, sometimes you have a long algebra section that will go nowhere
- most of the topics just add another layer to ext 1 content (vectors, mechanics, integration, only new topics are complex numbers and proof)
- heavier emphasis on just math compared to physics obviously, no long response at all

both:
- can feel like hell when you don't understand things properly
- you will always get questions you have never seen before, so you need to have a greater understanding of how things work, aka you can't just rote learn everything (memorise)
- will require you to stare at a question for a long time banging your head against the wall, until something clicks (i'm sure u know this from some ext1 questions though)
- both have some pretty abstract concepts that will require your imagination to visualise (or may be impossible to properly visualise like quantum physics)

also taking both is a pretty good combo, they test pretty similar skills.

ext 2 is not thattt hard, yes it is difficult but if you are doing well in extension 1 if you put in the effort i can almost guarantee you will succeed in ext 2 (and no theres not 100+ integration methods lmaoo, theres like 5 at most). i guess you can start going to ext 2 tutoring now, but most definitely it's not a requirement to be successful (i didn't go to tutoring for math and did pretty well).

if you think your physics teacher is not great, there are always youtube videos (i recommend science ready, mit opencourseware and floathead physics) and textbooks, possibly tutoring if you're really that desperate. but if i was u id just take both, and if you don't enjoy one of them then it's easy to drop them.
Thankyou for all the information. :) I have a better understanding now. Thankyou
 

scaryshark09

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Hello!
Does anybody who studied physics and math extension2 could share some of their experiences of both subjects. I am in yr 11 rn am stuggling between choosing extension 2 in year 12 or keeping physics. I personally want to do ext 2 because I enjoy math a lot, and I feel like the physic teacher at my school cannot explain things clearly. However, I am also worried that extension 2 would be too hard. ( I've heard that I would need to know 100+ ways of integration in ext 2. ) Also should I start my extension 2 tutoring this year? ( p.s i am doing my ext 1 and adv math hsc this year).
100% choose mx2 over physics. i was in a similar situation as you and i kept both, only to drop physics before trials. if your physics teacher cannot explain things clearly, then physics will end up being way harder than mx2. you enjoy math so mx2 is the clear winner here. mx2 honestly isnt as hard as its made out to be (you dont need to learn 100+ ways of integration like you heard lol, literally only like 5-7 methods). also, mx2 content will be helpful for first year uni math, if you do a stem degree
in terms of tutoring, dont start mx2 tutoring until end of the year. focus on ur adv and especially mx1 hsc, as that is definitely ur priority rn.
 

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