Is This Not Tested?

[FauxBlue]

Can someone help confirm if pendulums and harmonic motion is still being tested?? I couldn't find it in the MCAT guide, but it appeared in the NextStep FL...

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[blahblahpremeds]

I think it's still tested because springs are examples of simple harmonic motion and they've been on every practice exam and I believe they're on the AAMC outline also.

 

[lmladdno84]

Sound waves, waves on a string, waves in an open and closed pipe. All are harmonic motion and follow the same general physics as SHM. And I studied all of those.

 

[FauxBlue]

Hmm it's grouped under sound waves? Then is this not accurate?

reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/2sbkb5/brief_guide_to_addedremoved_content_on_the/

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The topics of pendulums and of SHM have not appeared in any edition of the OG, which would seem that the MR5 board removed them in 2011 and chose not to add them back in in either 2013 or 2014. Given that they did add some things back in, it would seem that details about pendulums are no longer tested. For springs, however, you need to know about the energetics (the PE equation, 1/2kx^2, is listed).

But, the topics of phase, amplitude, and frequency are included in the OG, and those can be used to describe a pendulum (as well as any SHM device). Being able to apply phase, amplitude, and frequency to periodic devices may be relevant. So a question that asks you to use an equation to determine the impact of L on the period of a pendulum is perhaps misguided, but if they ask what you would need to do to a pendulum that initially has a higher frequency than your lung to get it to be in phase with your lung, that would seem like a viable question.