Physics II before Physcs I -- is this fine?

[fcshot]

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I couldn't get into Gen. Physics I for the summer-- only Physics II appears to be open. I've heard that it's pretty common for students to take them out of order, but I wanted to make sure it'd be fine. My brother is also a Physics minor so worst case scenario I have someone to help me if the material is too unfamiliar. I have taken all prereqs aside from Physics so in terms of problem-solving I hope to be fine, the thing is, it is an accelerated month-long course. Will I be fine? Thanks in advance.

 

[circulus vitios]

I couldn't get into Gen. Physics I for the summer-- only Physics II appears to be open. I've heard that it's pretty common for students to take them out of order, but I wanted to make sure it'd be fine. My brother is also a Physics minor so worst case scenario I have someone to help me if the material is too unfamiliar. I have taken all prereqs aside from Physics so in terms of problem-solving I hope to be fine, the thing is, it is an accelerated month-long course. Will I be fine? Thanks in advance.

The second semester of physics (intro E&M, optics, circuits, sound, periodic motion) is typically heavier in trig and calculus than the first semester. So unless you're really comfortable with math, it's going to be bad times.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I would definitely advice against doing this, especially if you've never taken physics 1. You could theoretically survive in the class, but there is material in physics 1 that really prepares you for the second class.

I have to disagree with the above post about being more math intensive. I felt both were equally math intensive, but the concepts in physics 2 are less intuitive.

 

[fcshot]

I was reviewing the course description and I don't think it's Calculus-based -- it states that just a working knowledge of Trig./Algebra is required. Will this still provide the necessary knowledge needed for the MCAT, then?

 

[circulus vitios]

I would definitely advice against doing this, especially if you've never taken physics 1. You could theoretically survive in the class, but there is material in physics 1 that really prepares you for the second class.

I have to disagree with the above post about being more math intensive. I felt both were equally math intensive, but the concepts in physics 2 are less intuitive.

It depends on if it's calc-based. There is a lot more calculus in the second semester (especially integrals.)

 

[JESSFALLING]

I am of the opinion that it's a bad idea. However, if you insist, I recommend working through the khanacademy.org physics series (all of it!) before you start the course. That will give you some footing in the basics and will help ensure success in the accelerated course.

 

[NightGod]

With it not being calc based, you should be fine. Just finished algebra-based Phys I/II this last term and there was a total of one problem (from the homework) that pre-supposed Physics I, and none of us made the connection until the teacher pointed it out, anyway, because they went about it an obscure way. Assuming your school has no requirement for Phys I as a pre-req, I'd say go for it. Add in the additional factor of having a live-in tutor and you should have zero issues.

 

[fcshot]

With it not being calc based, you should be fine. Just finished algebra-based Phys I/II this last term and there was a total of one problem (from the homework) that pre-supposed Physics I, and none of us made the connection until the teacher pointed it out, anyway, because they went about it an obscure way. Assuming your school has no requirement for Phys I as a pre-req, I'd say go for it. Add in the additional factor of having a live-in tutor and you should have zero issues.

Cool, that's really reassuring. I'm paying out of my own pocket so the last thing I'd want is for it to be a waste of money. Thanks for the replies.

 

[235788]

You really probably could....

 

[costales]

Physics II typically begins with electromagnetic fields which assumes a working knowledge of vectors and forces. All you need to do is go to the first chapter on forces and look at Newton's second law (F = ma), how to decompose a force along the axes, how to calculate a magnitude. You don't have to study the equations of motion - that's low-yield stuff for Phys II. Or, watch this video and you're done:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/...mechanics-fall-1999/video-lectures/lecture-6/

 

[deleted357625]

You could do it man. i got a B in physics 1 didn't learn NOTHING! Went into physics 2 forgetting all physics 1 and got an A.

 

[NightGod]

Physics II typically begins with electromagnetic fields which assumes a working knowledge of vectors and forces. All you need to do is go to the first chapter on forces and look at Newton's second law (F = ma), how to decompose a force along the axes, how to calculate a magnitude. You don't have to study the equations of motion - that's low-yield stuff for Phys II. Or, watch this video and you're done:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/...mechanics-fall-1999/video-lectures/lecture-6/

Fair enough, you will need to learn vectors. Nothing more advanced than you knew from college level trig, though. Honestly, when we got to it in class it had been about 4 months since any of us used vectors so he did a five minute review and it all came back. If you can do that and handle equations with multiple variables (BTW, the Physics textbook we had came with a nice review of all the math you need in the Appendix), you're golden on the math part.

 

[TriagePreMed]

With it not being calc based, you should be fine. Just finished algebra-based Phys I/II this last term and there was a total of one problem (from the homework) that pre-supposed Physics I, and none of us made the connection until the teacher pointed it out, anyway, because they went about it an obscure way. Assuming your school has no requirement for Phys I as a pre-req, I'd say go for it. Add in the additional factor of having a live-in tutor and you should have zero issues.

This definitely was not the case with my class. The OP should be warned that teaching style matters and there's a reason why it's "physics 2" and not labelled another way.

 

[dirigo]

Ha! Same thing happened to me. I took Physics II in the summer and then Physics I in the following fall. Yes you can do this and I found II easier than I.

 

[osprey099]

I couldn't get into Gen. Physics I for the summer-- only Physics II appears to be open. I've heard that it's pretty common for students to take them out of order, but I wanted to make sure it'd be fine. My brother is also a Physics minor so worst case scenario I have someone to help me if the material is too unfamiliar. I have taken all prereqs aside from Physics so in terms of problem-solving I hope to be fine, the thing is, it is an accelerated month-long course. Will I be fine? Thanks in advance.

In my opinion, Physics 2 before Physics 1 is definitely fine, although I think physics 2 is harder than physics 1. Here's my reasoning:

Physics 1 topics: kinematics, force, momentum, work/energy, periodic motion/waves, maybe sound

Physics 2 topics: charge, circuits, relativity, optics

These topics do not have a lot in common, if anything in common. I took physics 1 before physics 2 but I didn't feel like anything I learned in physics 1 helped me in physics 2. But that's just my opinion.

 

[deleted357625]

Ha! Same thing happened to me. I took Physics II in the summer and then Physics I in the following fall. Yes you can do this and I found II easier than I.

same here

 

[yellowperil]

You could do it man. i got a B in physics 1 didn't learn NOTHING! Went into physics 2 forgetting all physics 1 and got an A.

Hahahah, me too except I got B+ on physic 1 and A on physic 2.