What maths should I be taking with physics? (1 Viewer)

[nains]

Hey, at the moment I'm a yr 10 student in 5.3 maths.
I chose my subjects a while ago and I still have no clue what maths I should be taking with physics. I've been told by previous science teachers that I'm capable of doing physics and they recommend doing maths adv to everyone. I ended up choosing maths std, because 1. I have a lot of content-heavy subjects (eng adv, bio, legal & sor2) and 2. I don't believe I'm the greatest at maths and feel more confident in standard (IDK how I like physics). I did talk to a yr12 student at my school, who was doing physics, they said that standard would be fine however, they dropped from advanced in yr 11 (to standard in yr12) and I'm wondering if that knowledge made it easier for them. Anyways, pls bless me with your wisdom and tell me what I should do.

 

[Drdusk]

Hey, at the moment I'm a yr 10 student in 5.3 maths.
I chose my subjects a while ago and I still have no clue what maths I should be taking with physics. I've been told by previous science teachers that I'm capable of doing physics and they recommend doing maths adv to everyone. I ended up choosing maths std, because 1. I have a lot of content-heavy subjects (eng adv, bio, legal & sor2) and 2. I don't believe I'm the greatest at maths and feel more confident in standard (IDK how I like physics). I did talk to a yr12 student at my school, who was doing physics, they said that standard would be fine however, they dropped from advanced in yr 11 (to standard in yr12) and I'm wondering if that knowledge made it easier for them. Anyways, pls bless me with your wisdom and tell me what I should do.

Yes doing standard is fine with high school Physics. HSC Physics is designed in such a way so that you do not need any higher levels of maths. Taking higher courses will make some specific content easier to understand, but this is in no way a requirement and you can understand it just as well with standard.

 

[jimmysmith560]

While it may be helpful, you don't necessarily need to take a particular level of maths to ensure favourable results in Physics. It's not like maths is some sort of co-requisite that must be taken if you wish to perform well in Physics. I believe your decision to take Mathematics Standard is valid.

As far as I'm aware, Mathematics Standard does not cover any concepts that could be beneficial to your studies of Physics. Mathematics Advanced is where I believe some concepts taught may be related (and may therefore be beneficial) to your studies of Physics. Because Mathematics Advanced is the starting point in terms of where calculus is taught (no calculus is taught in Mathematics Standard), it may feature potentially beneficial concepts, knowledge of which may assist you with Physics. The focus on Physics within maths courses increases with Mathematics Extension 1 and, in particular, Mathematics Extension 2.

Mathematics Standard and Physics are 2 separate subjects, meaning that you must not rely on your knowledge in one in an attempt to perform well in the other. Instead, you must ensure you allocate adequate study time for both subjects, allowing you to effectively understand and learn the respective topics/modules/concepts of those subjects.

Alternatively, if you feel that you may be missing out by taking Mathematics Standard, you can always take Mathematics Advanced to experience the course, allowing you to make a more informed decision regarding whether to drop or to keep this subject by the end of year 11.

I hope this helps!

 

[Drongoski]

At least Maths Advanced; preferably Maths Ext 1. It is not as if you are not capable of handling Advanced, like the many who choose Standard.

Although the maths required to understand HSC Physics is not very difficult, a background in calculus would help you greatly. You need to be sufficiently strong in your maths to interpret the many simple graphs in Physics (in order to understand the various associated concepts). Besides having Advanced at least will open doors to more courses; you may not know now what course you would eventually enroll in.

The present Standard course has more meat than its predecessor, General Maths. But still not adequate for your Physics, if you want to do well in it.

 

[ExtremelyBoredUser]

From a hypothetical standpoint, the only maths really needed is covered in standard maths but you are limiting yourself by a lot since you can learn way more physics through understanding calculus (e.g understanding acceleration as second derivative) and you can implement that knowledge in MX1 + MX2. I've found its been quite helpful for MX2 and MX1, even though its niche, since the "physics" you would already know from dynamics - it seems quite negligible but I've seen my other peers in ext classes who did not take prelim physics struggle quite a bit with certain questions such as pulleys or banked tracks way more.

If you do aim to do good in physics, then you would have a quite a large workload and would dedicate extreme effort to mastering the subject so its like a no brainer to do maths adv+ courses since that work ethic is rewarded the most in math subjects where grinding alone equates to high marks (coming from a guy who got confused flipping fractions in yr 10). If you don't care about that, well there's another reason.

Physics is difficult by itself with all its theory, the last thing you want to do is not be burdened by the math, my classmates who do physics and maths std fall very behind due to trying to understand the math since it is more "complex" than in standard for e.g projectile motion and they tend to memorise all versions of the formula rather than knowing how to rearrange variables. There's no real incentive in standard (I presume) to fine tune your algebra since it is not as demanding if you are decent at maths, you can get away with barely studying whereas you're constantly pushed in higher courses.

not to say you can't do physics without standard, there's def people who have done it, but it just seems way more optimal to do something like advanced or extension.

 

[CM_Tutor]

It is certainly possible to do Physics with only Standard II Maths.

It is certainly easier to do Physics with at least Advanced Maths as calculus is highly relevant to a significant amount of Physics concept, and Extension 1's handling of vectors is much more rigorous that the approach taken in Physics.

 

[tito981]

Hey, at the moment I'm a yr 10 student in 5.3 maths.
I chose my subjects a while ago and I still have no clue what maths I should be taking with physics. I've been told by previous science teachers that I'm capable of doing physics and they recommend doing maths adv to everyone. I ended up choosing maths std, because 1. I have a lot of content-heavy subjects (eng adv, bio, legal & sor2) and 2. I don't believe I'm the greatest at maths and feel more confident in standard (IDK how I like physics). I did talk to a yr12 student at my school, who was doing physics, they said that standard would be fine however, they dropped from advanced in yr 11 (to standard in yr12) and I'm wondering if that knowledge made it easier for them. Anyways, pls bless me with your wisdom and tell me what I should do.

if you are worried about the workload that advanced math brings I guarantee you that that extra workload is negligible in comparison to the work load needed to do well in physics alone.

 

[5uckerberg]

I feel that there is a heavy push here to do maths Advanced or above. Yes I think that another problem these days is that people are always playing the scaling game where they think oh yes lets do the easiest subjects so that we can get the highest marks and game the ATAR. Oh nononono you will be crying mathematical tears when you get to uni if you decide to do standard maths because one you have the bridging course that you have to do where the maths that you are taught comes in the form of a tidal wave that you will find very difficult to survive and also as said you will find the concepts you learn in Physics and Chemistry difficult to grasp if you decide to do Standard maths. Think of it like this if you decide to do Advanced maths you are actually shooting two or three birds with one stone, that is doing maths advanced+ makes the transition into Maths concepts, Physics and Chemistry more easier.

Also if you do Standard maths when you get to the HSC you will see that there are questions that Standard and Advanced students have in common and as such you are at a disadvantage at the end of the ride as well because you have not covered the content in as much detail as the Advanced students. So therefore this is another reason to do Mathematics Advanced or more.

 

[Jojofelyx]

Hey, at the moment I'm a yr 10 student in 5.3 maths.
I chose my subjects a while ago and I still have no clue what maths I should be taking with physics. I've been told by previous science teachers that I'm capable of doing physics and they recommend doing maths adv to everyone. I ended up choosing maths std, because 1. I have a lot of content-heavy subjects (eng adv, bio, legal & sor2) and 2. I don't believe I'm the greatest at maths and feel more confident in standard (IDK how I like physics). I did talk to a yr12 student at my school, who was doing physics, they said that standard would be fine however, they dropped from advanced in yr 11 (to standard in yr12) and I'm wondering if that knowledge made it easier for them. Anyways, pls bless me with your wisdom and tell me what I should do.

Wonderful thing here is that you're in year 10. I personally would say take extension 1 and try your best to keep on top of things. Study 45-1.5 hrs of maths a day and see how youre coping with x1. If it becomes too much after say a term / 2 terms then just drop down to adv maths. By this stage hopefully if you've tried to keep on top, advanced should become 'relatively' easier. But still, if you are finding it difficult then you can drop down into standard. Main benefits for x1 and phys is not so much the sheer volume of the content being the same (except maybe for projectile motion), but it does help in some conceptual forms of understanding. Just as CM_Tutor mentioned above, i'd just add that vectors/proj motion in x1 really solidifies and deepens your understanding of some related phys concepts.

X1/adv maths also made me just become more familiar with manipulation of formulae and recognising patterns, which i really cant stress enough, is a big big big help in physics. If you can improve the way you think about problems, im sure its gonna translate into pretty much all of your subjects.

Main takeaway, try x1, if it doesnt work out drop down to adv, and if worse comes worst go to standard, imho. Good luck !!

 

[nains]

While it may be helpful, you don't necessarily need to take a particular level of maths to ensure favourable results in Physics. It's not like maths is some sort of co-requisite that must be taken if you wish to perform well in Physics. I believe your decision to take Mathematics Standard is valid.

As far as I'm aware, Mathematics Standard does not cover any concepts that could be beneficial to your studies of Physics. Mathematics Advanced is where I believe some concepts taught may be related (and may therefore be beneficial) to your studies of Physics. Because Mathematics Advanced is the starting point in terms of where calculus is taught (no calculus is taught in Mathematics Standard), it may feature potentially beneficial concepts, knowledge of which may assist you with Physics. The focus on Physics within maths courses increases with Mathematics Extension 1 and, in particular, Mathematics Extension 2.

Mathematics Standard and Physics are 2 separate subjects, meaning that you must not rely on your knowledge in one in an attempt to perform well in the other. Instead, you must ensure you allocate adequate study time for both subjects, allowing you to effectively understand and learn the respective topics/modules/concepts of those subjects.

Alternatively, if you feel that you may be missing out by taking Mathematics Standard, you can always take Mathematics Advanced to experience the course, allowing you to make a more informed decision regarding whether to drop or to keep this subject by the end of year 11.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your advice! Believe me when I say that it helped me a lot!

 

[jimmysmith560]

Thank you so much for your advice! Believe me when I say that it helped me a lot!

No worries, that's great to hear! All the best!

 

[nains]

From a hypothetical standpoint, the only maths really needed is covered in standard maths but you are limiting yourself by a lot since you can learn way more physics through understanding calculus (e.g understanding acceleration as second derivative) and you can implement that knowledge in MX1 + MX2. I've found its been quite helpful for MX2 and MX1, even though its niche, since the "physics" you would already know from dynamics - it seems quite negligible but I've seen my other peers in ext classes who did not take prelim physics struggle quite a bit with certain questions such as pulleys or banked tracks way more.

If you do aim to do good in physics, then you would have a quite a large workload and would dedicate extreme effort to mastering the subject so its like a no brainer to do maths adv+ courses since that work ethic is rewarded the most in math subjects where grinding alone equates to high marks (coming from a guy who got confused flipping fractions in yr 10). If you don't care about that, well there's another reason.

Physics is difficult by itself with all its theory, the last thing you want to do is not be burdened by the math, my classmates who do physics and maths std fall very behind due to trying to understand the math since it is more "complex" than in standard for e.g projectile motion and they tend to memorise all versions of the formula rather than knowing how to rearrange variables. There's no real incentive in standard (I presume) to fine tune your algebra since it is not as demanding if you are decent at maths, you can get away with barely studying whereas you're constantly pushed in higher courses.

not to say you can't do physics without standard, there's def people who have done it, but it just seems way more optimal to do something like advanced or extension.

Would you say that getting a physics tutor so that I can develop a deeper understanding of the topic would help? Thank you for your reply!

 

[nains]

I feel that there is a heavy push here to do maths Advanced or above. Yes I think that another problem these days is that people are always playing the scaling game where they think oh yes lets do the easiest subjects so that we can get the highest marks and game the ATAR. Oh nononono you will be crying mathematical tears when you get to uni if you decide to do standard maths because one you have the bridging course that you have to do where the maths that you are taught comes in the form of a tidal wave that you will find very difficult to survive and also as said you will find the concepts you learn in Physics and Chemistry difficult to grasp if you decide to do Standard maths. Think of it like this if you decide to do Advanced maths you are actually shooting two or three birds with one stone, that is doing maths advanced+ makes the transition into Maths concepts, Physics and Chemistry more easier.

Also if you do Standard maths when you get to the HSC you will see that there are questions that Standard and Advanced students have in common and as such you are at a disadvantage at the end of the ride as well because you have not covered the content in as much detail as the Advanced students. So therefore this is another reason to do Mathematics Advanced or more.

In regards to uni, I'm considering a degree in law but, I want to keep my options open with science. Science is something I'm passionate about, good at and who doesn't want to be a woman in stem?! Although, I get what you mean when you say that some concepts may be difficult to grasp and that the advanced and standard exams have similar questions. I'll take your advice into consideration, thank you!

 

[icycledough]

Would you say that getting a physics tutor so that I can develop a deeper understanding of the topic would help? Thank you for your reply!

I think getting a tutor going into Year 11 is a really good place to start, because performing well in Year 11 will give you the foundation to then perform well in Year 12. Most often than not, the students who get the top ATARs in a school will have started that routine of studying efficiently and putting in the hard work from Year 11 itself, as it's a process which takes time and patience. Don't feel inclined that you must have a tutor, as having a tutor doesn't automatically mean strong grades. They're only there to help and guide you, the majority of the work has to come from yourself.