Physics formulas: what I need to know

[LesterBurnham]

Hi all,
new to the forum, last minute decision to sit GAMSAT and just started study yesterday and thinking I am wasting my time already. I do have time off from now until then though
Looking through the physics, I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the formulas, motion, energy, waves etc. Do I need to lock myself in a room and beat them into my head (last count 36 formulas), or is it enough to know the theory and the formulas will be provided.
Thanks

[*MrThrifty*]

I'm not 100% sure to be honest but as far as I know you are not required to know more than A level standard. I would expect to learn the formulas- ones you know a few it is easy to work out formulas when you know what you need to work out and the values provided. Physics is great because as far as I remember (I sat A level physics approx 5 years ago now) it is mostly common sense providing you understand the concepts and don't mind a bit of maths.

A good A level revision guide like one of the ones from WH Smith should be sufficient. They also have questions to attempt too. Hope that helps :-)

[Imhotep]

For the GAMSAT exam I sat in September I had memorised some formulae, but didn't need them. Everything I needed to answer the questions was provided (even if you needed to convert from a word explanation to a formula - which isn't too difficult). That doesn't mean the next one will be the same (I found the September exam to be quite different to the official sample questions to be honest).

On balance I wouldn't spend a disproportionate amount of time on learning the formulae (especially since physics is only about 20% of section 3). I think the most difficult questions (at least for me) were the organic chemistry. Ultimately I only managed to work my way through a chemistry A-level revision book and glanced quickly through the A-level biology and physics (even though it claims you need first year undergraduate chemistry/biology) and still got a good score.

I may be repeating myself but I found that all the information needed was supplied in the question and that simply being familiar with the ideas was enough to get me through that section. Which is not to say preparation isn’t necessary, just don’t panic about memorising every detail.

Stephen

[aapl]

Well, you should memorise the basic formulae but the complicated ones will be given to you, however, you should be able to recognised every formulae on sight and understand what each variables represent and at what circumstance the formula should be used. This is what I think after sitting the exam with regard to the level of difficulty;

Chemistry: A-level / 1st year degree level
Biology: A-level / 1st year degree level
Physics: A-level

There are some chemistry stuff which is not covered in A-level that has come up in the exam and so it's best to look at the sample and practice papers and see what they are.

[LesterBurnham]

Thanks Mr Thrifty, Imhotep and aapl, you've given me some optimism. I was pushing through the niceties of waves and feeling like I was drowning (poor pun, I know). I have been also circling around organic chemistry and have bought the complete idiots guide as recommended on some other forum posts, looks pretty good.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.

[maikol]

try hyperphysics in Google, it gets a bit advanced but is perfect for understanding a lot of physics (even degree level), and apart from this nothing is more valuable than practice

[Arch_Angel]

None

[Echani]

They'll give you a lot of the formulae, but knowing them beforehand will save you a bit of time, which is fairly important. They won't give you everything however, and they might not give them to you in a way you recognize. If you're feeling pressed for time I'd learn off the basic ones and some of the more complex - optics, waves, etc - don't take a risk and assume they'll give you everything.