What would you like the preliminary and HSC physics courses to be like? (1 Viewer)

[Schoey93]

Hello all,

It has been said that this year's HSC physics paper contained an unprecedented amount of mathematical calculations that were more difficult than the calculations i past HSC papers. A lot of people undoubtedly feel that the course is moving in the right direction and that more mathematics in HSC physics is a good thing.

So, how much mathematical content would you like to see in the HSC physics courses in an ideal world?

James

 

[cutemouse]

Btw, Pure Physics =/= 100% maths.

Just letting you know

 

[Schoey93]

A physicist told me the difference between a pure physicist and an applied physicist is like the difference between a mathematician and a physicist. Is that incorrect?

Edit: What would you know? You're the guy who does physics exams without a calculator (lol).

 

[cutemouse]

A physicist told me the difference between a pure physicist and an applied physicist is like the difference between a mathematician and a physicist. Is that incorrect?

Then what is pure maths and applied maths?

Edit: What would you know? You're the guy who does physics exams without a calculator (lol).

What would YOU know? You don't know the difference between mathematics and physics.

 

[Aerath]

Edit: What would you know? You're the guy who does physics exams without a calculator (lol).

I really have no idea what 'real' physics is, but that comment is pretty awesome.

 

[untouchablecuz]

pure physics? what in the hell is pure physics?

physics is ABOUT the concepts and uses mathematics as a tool to investigate and model these concepts. ergo, physics =/= mathematics

 

[cutemouse]

By Pure Physics I assumed that he meant stuff like analysing forces on an object, calculating velocities etc. ie the "old fashioned" Physics.

Yeah the guy's an idiot.

 

[youngminii]

I really have no idea what 'real' physics is, but that comment is pretty awesome.

Agreed

Physics uses two main tools: Mathematics (theory) and experiments (practical).
Perhaps he meant more mathematical explanations (and experiments I suppose) instead of the "transistors have had *this much* impact on the world".

 

[biopia]

Lol, I love maths. I loved this years paper. I can understand why some people would disagree with that though.
If I did the course again, I would love more calculations and maths. Just my opinion haha.

 

[kaz1]

Just remove the impact on society crap, have way more calculations and then the course would be awesome.

 

[shady145]

just remove the impact on society crap, have way more calculations and then the course would be awesome.

+1

 

[cutemouse]

Just remove the impact on society crap, have way more calculations and then the course would be awesome.

That's what the old Physics course used to be like.

It was very numerical and you'd get the odd question like "Explain what happens when a magnet is dropped down a copper tube" etc..

That being said, the "maths" in Physics at the moment isn't really maths in my opinion. I mean come on, you're given the god damn formulas (unlike the old course) and all you need to do is find out which variables to substitute. It's like the first topic of 2U maths (also covered in Year 7-10).

Also, the problem was that, in the old course, they had asked everything they could in three different ways, hence a new course was needed.

 

[Schoey93]

By Pure Physics I assumed that he meant stuff like analysing forces on an object, calculating velocities etc. ie the "old fashioned" Physics.

Yeah the guy's an idiot.

Pure physics is a real discipline, just like pure mathematics. You can specialise in either pure or applied physics at university. I know this because my uncle has two married friends who are physicists (actually, astronomers, but their degrees are in physics) and they said that for their first degree they each did Bachelor of Science (Applied Physics).

I am an idiot though.

 

[boganxcore]

WikiAnswers - Compare pure physics from applied physics

is this correct?

 

[cutemouse]

Pure physics is a real discipline, just like pure mathematics.

Point is, in "pure Physics", or any physics for the matter, they do not use 100% maths. There are concepts involved and as the others said, maths is just a tool.

What do astronomers do anyway? "Oh hey, look at that star OMFG!!! It just exploded!!!" or "Oh no, red shift, the universe is expanding at 1 million km a second!!!"

 

[kaz1]

What do astronomers do anyway? "Oh hey, look at that star OMFG!!! It just exploded!!!" or "Oh no, red shift, the universe is expanding at 1 million km a second!!!"

You clearly didn't do the Astrophysics option. Analysing spectral lines is pretty intense.

 

[cutemouse]

You clearly didn't do the Astrophysics option. Analysing spectral lines is pretty intense.

Is that like red shifts?

 

[Schoey93]

Point is, in "pure Physics", or any physics for the matter, they do not use 100% maths. There are concepts involved and as the others said, maths is just a tool.

What do astronomers do anyway? "Oh hey, look at that star OMFG!!! It just exploded!!!" or "Oh no, red shift, the universe is expanding at 1 million km a second!!!"

I'm not exactly sure what astronomers do, but I can assure you that they do much more than that. You need a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and a PhD (Applied Physics) to work as a senior astronomer. It's not as simple as you think. The universe is very complex. You should and probably do know that. So please don't make stupid comments. Also, please refrain from hijacking this thread like you did with the "Was that a maths exam?" thread. Thank you.

Edit: if pure physics isn't 100% mathematics, could someone please deleted that phrase from the poll? Thanks.

 

[biopia]

Is that like red shifts?

Yes, a significant part is to do with red shifts.
Just from a stars spectral lines you can figure out that stars surface temperature, chemical composition, translational velocity and rotational velocity, where the latter two are to do with red shifting and blue shifting. I am sure there would be more that can be devised from spectral analysis, but that is what is taught in the Astro topic Spectral analysis also comes into binary stars, so it definitely plays a big part.

It is all about identification so we can have as much information about the universe as possible. I think this would be that main concern of an astrophysicist, but I am only making an educated guess.