EK Physics problems

[MaggieD]

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The questions that are asked within each lecture in the EK Physics book are kicking my arse. Each time I do a block of five, I'm only getting one or two correct. Does anyone else think these are tough?

I'm doing two lectures a day. I have heard the exams are tough too, I was just wondering if I was alone in thinking the text problems were tough also.

 

[DrLady]

Originally posted by MaggieD
The questions that are asked within each lecture in the EK Physics book are kicking my arse. Each time I do a block of five, I'm only getting one or two correct. Does anyone else think these are tough?

I'm doing two lectures a day. I have heard the exams are tough too, I was just wondering if I was alone in thinking the text problems were tough also.

Hi,
I know what you mean! They are tough..but i look at it as a good practice, and go back and review that section again! Also, if I dont understand a section, I am use PR books..i do that for bio coz I think that the chap 4 in bio, about nervous system, isn't explained quite as clearly as TPR book.

Good Luck!

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

You guys are not alone! I did my first physics lecture the other day and found myself confused at several points...good thing they have the bulletin board for help. Just when I think I get a concept Jon Orsay throws a question that bewilders me and makes me go review the concept again. Hopefully at some point this stuff is going to come together! EK is challenging but that can only be good for us. I can just imagine Mr. Orsay sitting up late at night with Salty and thinking of questions to kick our pre-med butts!! Hang in there SDNers😉

 

[DrLady]

I am having trouble with chapter 3 in Physics! Either I am not reading the questions right or I don't understand the whole chapter. Maybe its both! I hate Torques, I hate static equilibrium, I hate projectiles!! I hate the physics-I stuff, but I like all those chapters after chap. 3 in EK! Anyone having problems with chap 3? I haven't done any end of chapter exams, coz I am hearing that they are tough and I want to review those chapters really well and THEN do those passages.

I am thinking of going back and reviewing the first three chapters again and then this weekend, I will do the end of chapt exams for first 3 chapters.

 

[efex101]

If you are having problem with the questions within each lecture, you are going to die when you attempt the 30 minute exam per lecture at the back of the book. If you are consistently having problems with the 5 questions per section, I highly suggest the physics Nova book. It is the best (after EK) buy that I have done so far. It really helps to understand *concepts*, each chapter has problems that you do sans calculator of course, and it really is helping me out. I got it at amazon. Check it out!

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

I thought I understood the material too, but did poorly on the in-chapter questions. It's nice to know that others are having the same problem. Is the actual MCAT easier than these questions?

 

[Ramoray]

You guys honestly go out an invest, if you havent already kept yours, a good physics text, i tell you it is like night and day. I have went back to my text, which i have used on other mcats, and i have done really ewll on the physical sciences. It is Cutnell and Johnson PHysics book. but any text is worth the 90 bux or what not, and use it. Even knowing the concepts i find EK extremely confusing and not thorough and complete in their explanations regarding physics concepts, often leaving crucial detial out which leaves u in the dark about varoius cocnepts. My.204

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

so guys.....what should we make of all this???

 

[DrLady]

Originally posted by DoctorWannaBe
I thought I understood the material too, but did poorly on the in-chapter questions.

Yeah, i have exact problem. But I am weak in torques and Equilibrium as well. Anyhow, I am going to study from EK and then also use my TPR review books, that way I understand fully. There is nothing else I can do..and then starting mid feb, start practice passages intensely.



I was also thinking of making separate threads for each section for ex., MCAT BIO, MCAT Chem, phys, etc etc. that way, we post questions for each sec, in those threads and everything stays organized.

 

[BushBaby]

Originally posted by Ramoray
You guys honestly go out an invest, if you havent already kept yours, a good physics text, i tell you it is like night and day. I have went back to my text, which i have used on other mcats, and i have done really ewll on the physical sciences. It is Cutnell and Johnson PHysics book. but any text is worth the 90 bux or what not, and use it. Even knowing the concepts i find EK extremely confusing and not thorough and complete in their explanations regarding physics concepts, often leaving crucial detial out which leaves u in the dark about varoius cocnepts. My.204

hehehe....I also have this text. It is on sale at www.half.com please go check out my offer..

I used it a lot while studying for the last mcat. It really does help when you go back to your TEXT compared to those packaged review materials.

 

[stephenitis]

If one is not undestanding something in physics, I would recommend the use of EK's 1001 physics book, THEN if there are still problems, refer to a general physics text book. The reason why I say this is that there are many different ways to solve problems, but there is probably only one way that solves the problem the Fastest. In physics class, per test, there are like 4-5 problems to be solved in a 50 minute time block, and is usually solved via the text book method. The MCAT on the other hand, as suggested, one shouldn't spend longer than 3 minutes per problem. But this all is just my opinion.

Stephen.

 

[loomis]

If you feel the material in the book is just WAY over your head (like i felt when I fiirst looked at the EK text).....I would advise you slow things down a bit....go back to a textbook (Cutnell/Johnson, Giancoli, etc) and get your foundations from the textbook on that specific topic. Then, once you have this down, go back to EK and get ready to build some more! I have been doing this for my studying. For stuff that I was ok with, like forces, the EK souped up my test taking....but for stuff I am real lousy at (Electromagnetic stufff), I found EK's stuff too dense....simple to read but when I did their questions I realized I didn't know what the hell was up. For cases like this, I went back to the textbooks, then tackled the EK stuff again. I found this helped a lot. 🙂

 

[DrLady]

Originally posted by loomis
If you feel the material in the book is just WAY over your head (like i felt when I fiirst looked at the EK text).....I would advise you slow things down a bit....go back to a textbook (Cutnell/Johnson, Giancoli, etc) and get your foundations from the textbook on that specific topic. Then, once you have this down, go back to EK and get ready to build some more! I have been doing this for my studying. For stuff that I was ok with, like forces, the EK souped up my test taking....but for stuff I am real lousy at (Electromagnetic stufff), I found EK's stuff too dense....simple to read but when I did their questions I realized I didn't know what the hell was up. For cases like this, I went back to the textbooks, then tackled the EK stuff again. I found this helped a lot. 🙂

That sounds like a great idea. I am waiting for my physics 1001 book to come in. How is orgo 1001?

 

[loomis]

Dr.Lady
physics 1001 seems to be well worth the cash. I've been using it and the questions are very challenging...like the questions you see in the middle of the chapters in the EK book. I would NOT recommend the orgo 1001 (as well as the chem 1001 for that matter). They seemed more rote memory questions and aren't written by the EK folks. Don't know about the Verbal or Bio EK 101 books (don't have them).

I guess I got carried away with the EK stuff....I thought their EK lesson books, AO, and Phys 1001 were great and just bought the other 1001 books without looking at reviews....should of done my homework! Hope that helps 🙂

 

[DrLady]

Originally posted by loomis
Dr.Lady
physics 1001 seems to be well worth the cash. I've been using it and the questions are very challenging...like the questions you see in the middle of the chapters in the EK book. I would NOT recommend the orgo 1001 (as well as the chem 1001 for that matter). They seemed more rote memory questions and aren't written by the EK folks. Don't know about the Verbal or Bio EK 101 books (don't have them).

I guess I got carried away with the EK stuff....I thought their EK lesson books, AO, and Phys 1001 were great and just bought the other 1001 books without looking at reviews....should of done my homework! Hope that helps 🙂

haha! Actually, I have the whole study package as well and have AO CDs. I have ek 101 and it is a must buy, but I am leaving those till mid feb to start. As I have TPR verbal material as well. Oh..and I dont think Ek has bio 1001.

How do u suggest studying for orgo? My textbooks ( Maitland Jones) are really horrible, but I have McMurry's orgo book, so I will be using that text. The main reason I am having problem with orgo is my prof used to use power point to teach orgo and he used to focus more on the product rather than the intermediates and we hardly used textbook. His way of teaching was far more different than other profs and didn't really focus much on details. TPR orgo is just ok, not really amazing material.

 

[Ramoray]

DL i cant reiterate enough to just bite the bullet and go spend some money on texts. The Wade Organgic chem book is the best around, and if u wanna learn ochem that is the way.. review books, none of them do it cause if u have never learned it properly there is no way a review will do cause they assume u have learned it once so its not gonna work.
For physics as well, id say just take the hit on some money and get a text again.. it is much more clear and conceptual understanding is key.. there is hardly any actual math so if u dont understnad physics its not gonna work.. text is a must.. my.04 good luck Dl 🙂

 

[MaggieD]

I'm still plugging away with the EK physics book. The mid-chapter questions are indeed tough, but I find that in some sections I do better in than others. Radioactive decay was a breeze for me, but torque and momentum kills me. They seem to be really sneaky about some questions too, but that's the name of the game when it comes to the MCAT, I guess.

I have begun to review my old notes from physics 1 and re-read the chapter in the text to see if that helps. The physics text I'm using is Giancoli's, it's not that bad, does the trick for me.

I never thought Physics would give me this much trouble. I got an A in both semesters, but on my practice exams, its the section I do the worst on.

 

[DrLady]

Bump!

 

[Bostonienses]

Thanks for bumping, DrLady! I need a little "pick-me-up" since I am feeling like the stupidest person on earth with these EK physics questions. Guys, a little something that helps: try to answer Kaplan, TPR or AAMC questions using the techniques that EK gives you. I found that EK asks really tough questions that REALLY make you think (and sometimes they even say "this is probably a harder question that you wouldn't find frequently on the MCAT). So if you are feeling like crap (which in my case happens frequently when I am doing EK), grab a couple of questions from another book and see what you get... I find that the EK "method" helps me more when I do the AAMC stuff than Kaplan.... for physics at least.

 

[deleted515990]

You guys are not alone! I did my first physics lecture the other day and found myself confused at several points...good thing they have the bulletin board for help. Just when I think I get a concept Jon Orsay throws a question that bewilders me and makes me go review the concept again. Hopefully at some point this stuff is going to come together! EK is challenging but that can only be good for us. I can just imagine Mr. Orsay sitting up late at night with Salty and thinking of questions to kick our pre-med butts!! Hang in there SDNers😉

Where is this bulletin board for help?

 

[deleted515990]

Does anybody here know where I can get a better or more thorough explanation of EK answers?!
I'm having more or less the same problem, but if the answers were better explained, I think I'd get them.