Physics formulas?

[Bostonienses]

Hey all,
I need some loving here. Not only did I miss my flight home and the airline company lost my luggage, but I also have been studying non-stop for this stupid MCAT and I am going insane. I wanted to have everything in the review read by the end of February so that I can just practice problems, and it's killing me. Any other strategies that seem better than this one or that are working for you guys?
Another question: the Kaplan book gives you 364,890,000 formulas to memorise for the physics section, whereas EK gives you 3 (ok, it's not THAT exaggerated, but you get the point). Does anyone really know which formulas are given with passages, and which ones need to be memorised?
Thanks!

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[efex101]

I am just memorizing the EK ones, the practice exams at the end of the lecture are freaking hard though. Hopefully once we look at real MCAT physics it will not be as formula intense as the EK exams...

 

[Ramoray]

there is really not a whole lot to remember, even if you remember all kaplan ones, ALOT of them are the same basically with a few terms mixed and if you truly understand physics, which u need to, the 4mulas will help even if ur not using them in actual calculations rather understanding how the forumulas are relate each term to each other. I would just memorize them, they really arent that bad.

 

[solid snake]

too bad my physics wan't any good cause now i have to relearn everything over. yeah, kaplan has lots of formulas to memorize and EK gives you the ones you need to know. i'm reviewing physics right now and am on lecture 5 and rereading young's modulus. but, i think it is important that you understand the concepts behind the formula. i have done the 1st two 30 min lecture exam. they were kinda difficult but from what you all are saying, it gets harder. oh well. keep studying.

 

[loomis]

Bostonienses, I am in same situation as you are....PS studying is the area that I really need to work on. I am using EK...their physics chapters are well written but then i take the practice exam at the end of the book and get SLAPPED. i guess I have to keep studying the concepts!!

 

[Bostonienses]

Thanks, guys! I know we'll get the hang of it. We are really on top of things as it is still January and I'm sure that soon enough things will start to sink in. I was getting really frustrated, so I started doing the EK end-of-chapter exams as practice problems. I would do one question at a time, and then look at the answer. If I had the wrong answer, then I would see if it was some careless mistake or some serious "had no idea what was going on" kind of thing. If it was the latter, then I would stop doing the problems and I would review the pages the covered that again. I found out that once I started doing that, I would get the first problems wrong, but towards the end of the exam I was choosing the right options. I feel bad "wasting" the 30-min exams like that, but I have the AAMC tests I-VI, so hopefully I'll get enough "test" practice from that. Keep studying and let me know of any breakthrough study tactics (I need it...)

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Bostonienses
Keep studying and let me know of any breakthrough study tactics (I need it...)

You need materials with more passages, especially realistic passages, that teach test strategies. For physics, so much is drawing pictures, looking at units, and seeing how variables relate to one another. Find a sets of books that emphasize physics from a test-taking perspective. It's out there, but with all of the hype and sales pitches for one particular company here, many people at SDN missed the few posts by proponents of a small company that emphasizes passages and thinking, not memorizing or over-simplified text.

Good luck. Hopefully you can get the better books in time.

 

[solid snake]

Originally posted by Mudd
It's out there, but with all of the hype and sales pitches for one particular company here, many people at SDN missed the few posts by proponents of a small company that emphasizes passages and thinking, not memorizing or over-simplified text.

Good luck. Hopefully you can get the better books in time.

Mudd,
do you know what book that may be?

 

[solid snake]

Has anyone tried the EK Physics 30 minute exam for each chapter? They are hard and was wondering if any of y'all would know if it is the same difficulty as the MCAT?

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

Originally posted by solid snake
Mudd,
do you know what book that may be?

he's probably referring to Berkeley Review texts.

as far as the ek physics end of lecture exams, many other people have been saying they are tough as well....so you aren't alone

 

[efex101]

They are hard as hell and if you go to the EK website is says that if you get ten right you are doing good. They are highly conceptual in some cases and heavy in formulas in other. At first I was trying to do these in 30 minutes and would get all bent out of shape if I got a lot wrong. Now I am still doing them after each lecture but I am not even seeing what score I got, I look to see why I missed the ones that I did and understanding the concept. I am finding that the physics is highly conceptual versus plug and chug (which is the way I learned it in u-grad). So, I kind of like the conceptual better, half the time you do not need to plug in values in formulas if you understand why and how, it kind of makes sense and you know the correct answer. I love the EK way, and I am almost done with my physics and bio review (first round) and will be starting gen chem and organic soon.

 

[Persistence101]

Originally posted by Mudd
You need materials with more passages, especially realistic passages, that teach test strategies. For physics, so much is drawing pictures, looking at units, and seeing how variables relate to one another. Find a sets of books that emphasize physics from a test-taking perspective. It's out there, but with all of the hype and sales pitches for one particular company here, many people at SDN missed the few posts by proponents of a small company that emphasizes passages and thinking, not memorizing or over-simplified text.

Good luck. Hopefully you can get the better books in time.

Mudd,

I would really like to know which books you are talking about.

 

[DoubleOSeven]

I've heard that the NOVA physics book is really good

 

[SixtyNinePesos]

I wouldn't worry about the physics formulas too much because if you do enough practice problems you will memorize them. Also, unit analysis will usually work on MCAT. If a fomula can't be derived by unit analysis, chances are it will be given to you in the passage. Good luck, and don't stress too much about physics, if you put in the time you will do well.

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

Originally posted by DoubleOSeven
I've heard that the NOVA physics book is really good

I have been working through the NOVA physics book for about a month now and can tell you that its pretty good but nothing spectacular. On a previous thread somebody mentioned that NOVA's book does not even compare with EK's. I will be able to tell you my opinion on that comparison in a week or two. The author does give a lot of examples per chapter and also gives at least 20-30 (for bigger chaps about 50) practice questions per chapter. He also has written some passages for each chapter which I have decided to save and use when I am done reviewing physics. However, when I took a look at them, they seemed weird, so I'd like to ask anyone who used NOVA if those passages are similar to MCAT passages???????

 

[stephenitis]

Nova's okay,... but that's all it is, just okay. I have the book, went through most of the chapters, but I realize now that I rather spend my time doing EK's 1001 Physics... but this is just my opinion.

 

[efex101]

Nova is good to reinforce concepts, the example problems and the end of chapter problems are quite easy though but I do like the book because it makes things even clearer for me. I do not think that they resemble MCAT a lot but who knows. This Saturday I will be taking my first practice MCAT with TPR so I really have no clue if MCAT physics is harder or just like NOVA stuff.

 

[thesaint]

hello, i appreciate all your input, i have been basically reviewing my material on a timetable and also doing the PR science workbook questions

should i get the EK physics and 101 physucs to solidify my physics knowledge?

i need informed advice

thanks you

 

[Bostonienses]

Hey, EK is good when it comes to testing concepts and whether you understood the "how's and why's" of things. Most of the EK end of chapter questions are like "if this happened, how would this affect that". That in a sense is good because it makes sure that you are understanding things instead of just memorising them. I think EK does a good job of testing you (some questions are really tough, though) while Kaplan (or your college physics book, maybe) does a good job at explaining things.
Bottomline: if you just want to be tested in physics, EK is great. If you need to really learn more, add Kaplan or another review book to that. Just my $0.02.