Physics concerns with studying mcat

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WhiteCoatSyndrome

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My physics professor for some reason feels it is better to teach his course with algebra based physics instead of calculus based physics. Does this matter in regard to the mcat? If there is one subject that I could see myself struggling with on the mcat it would be physics passages. Feel free to offer opinions.
 
My physics professor for some reason feels it is better to teach his course with algebra based physics instead of calculus based physics. Does this matter in regard to the mcat? If there is one subject that I could see myself struggling with on the mcat it would be physics passages. Feel free to offer opinions.

well there are two types of physics class, you must of registered for the algebra based one.

there is a physics course that is calculus based but you have to register for.

I personally took the algebra-based one
 
The physics you will be tested on for the MCAT is algebra-based. You do not need the calculus. 🙂
 
The physics you will be tested on for the MCAT is algebra-based. You do not need the calculus. 🙂

Yep. The only math you'll have to do will consist of the following: +, - , /, x and possibly some square roots, squaring, or cubing. People that asked me about the math were very surprised at how basic the calculations were.
 
HA! Imagine calc based physics on MCAT, I'd shat my pants 😀
 
As others mentioned, the physics on the MCAT is not all that complex. It's just basic physics. Take the algebra one!
 
I'm taking calculus based physics. We haven't used a lot of physics in solving problems. It mainly comes up during derivations, and I don't think you'll be doing much deriving on the MCAT.
 
The physics on the MCAT is conceptual, and until those concepts include wave-mechanical tunneling algebra is probably the best way to understand the material.
 
I took calculus based physics since I'm an engineer. I felt as though it gave me a much deeper understanding of physics. If you struggle with physics, it might be advantageous to learn calculus based, if you are already familiar with calculus.
 
The MCAT physics do not test your math skills except PEMDAS. They test basic physics skills. Your real challenge is comprehending passages and answering questions at a rate of 1.3 min/question. Only MCAT practice will help with this.
 
Quick question: How much trig does MCAT physics test? I mean obviously they can't do too much since you don't have a calculator, but is it necessary to understand/memorize sin/cos/tan of 0/30/45/60/90 degrees?
 
Quick question: How much trig does MCAT physics test? I mean obviously they can't do too much since you don't have a calculator, but is it necessary to understand/memorize sin/cos/tan of 0/30/45/60/90 degrees?

I would definitely commit those to memory and chart them out quickly during the opening minutes of your test time before you actually start on questions.
 
If you sit down and work at it, you can memorize those values in under 5 minutes! Do it.
 
Quick question: How much trig does MCAT physics test? I mean obviously they can't do too much since you don't have a calculator, but is it necessary to understand/memorize sin/cos/tan of 0/30/45/60/90 degrees?

Yeah, I don't recall specifically how I used it on my MCAT, but I do recall something. There's a couple easy ways to chart it that sorta make sense and are easy to remember. Try googling it and I'm sure you'll find one that works for your type of learning.
 
If you sit down and work at it, you can memorize those values in under 5 minutes! Do it.
Yeah, you really only need to remember one set of numbers, and then just reverse it.

Example:
sin(90) = 1 = cos(0)
sin(60) = sqrt(3)/2 = cos(30)
sin(45) = sqrt(2)/2 = cos(45)
sin(30) = .5 = cos(60)
sin(0) = 0 = cos(90)
 
Yeah, you really only need to remember one set of numbers, and then just reverse it.

Example:
sin(90) = 1 = cos(0)
sin(60) = sqrt(3)/2 = cos(30)
sin(45) = sqrt(2)/2 = cos(45)
sin(30) = .5 = cos(60)
sin(0) = 0 = cos(90)

Right. And the MCAT is all about approximations...

0.71 and 0.87 are your friends.
 
Why memorize when you can draw those triangles and get the values right away? And MCAT guy's right - 0.87 makes more sense for MCAT than sqrt(3)/2. 🙂
 
Right, approximations are what you want for the MCAT. Might even be better off rounding those two to .9 and .75. Old habits just die hard I guess. Although in some cases if you're doing math (probably not on the MCAT) the fractions can be more handy.
 
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