hello, heard mechanics is probs one of the hardest topics especially if u dont do physics (me). how to best prepare myself for the topic? what type of physics related concepts in mechanics should i endeavour to understand? id like to watch some yt videos in advance just to get to know some basic concepts if possible. ty
Understand how Newton's 2nd Law works, perhaps watch some videos to get a basic understanding. (Ig learn all newton's laws if u want, they're elementary)
You should know the basics of projectile motion from 3u, you might get air resistance but that's just resisted motion.
In resisted motion, just understand the characteristics of forces. Force of gravity is always downwards, resistive force isn't necessarily downwards (just opposite of the motion of the object.. as implied in the name).
Understand centripetal force (For object to move in a circular motion, the net force must be directed radially inwards)
You don't really need any "new" physics concepts for this, you should know that velocity is derivative of position etc. (stuff you've already learnt).
Honestly if you just go through the textbook it should give you the understanding you need to set up the equations like
@cossine said . The rest is just manipulating equations. old 3u syllabus has SHM stuff which should help you as stated above ^^
You don't really need a full blown understanding of physics, just as long as you can identify the forces to set up the equations you should be fine. Most of the questions will becomes repetitive after a while since there's not much they can test u in terms of the math but its more of the context that trips people up .
Edit:
Those pulley questions will def be a pain in the ass if u don't understand how forces work, watch out for them but they're not as common as ur standard mechanics Qs like finding terminal velocity of a ball dropped etc.
