Top HSC Physics Tips to know with Detailed Examples |

Top HSC Physics Tips to know with Detailed Examples

To our Year 12 students, Physics is a subject that many have said is challenging. So to ease your stress here are our best 5 tips with applied examples to ensure that you are on the right track!

No matter which of these feelings you are experiencing, here are some useful tips to make your Year 12 experience a bit easier. Hear from the experts at Uplift Education, the best HSC coaching centre in NSW.

Tip 1 – Approach multiple choice questions using a process of elimination

Make sure that you approach multiple choice questions using a process of elimination. Instead of rushing to find the correct answer immediately, eliminate the 3 incorrect answers. For many examples, this is a much easier and less time consuming task. Use questions like “Does this answer make sense?” “Is the number the right order of magnitude?” “Are the units correct?” to come to the correct answer.

For example, we can look at this question:

Which of the following is false?
a) as an electron moves against the electric field, it gains EPE.
b) the motor effect states that a current carrying conductor experiences a force parallel to the magnetic field.
c) Kirchoff’s law of voltages is a corollary of the law of conservation of energy.
d) the law of conservation of energy states that energy can not be created or destroyed, only transformed.

Using the “conventional” method of finding the correct answer, we would need to have covered and understood our Module 6 content, making this a question only suitable for Year 12 – they are the ones that know that a current carrying wire experiences a force perpendicular to the field, right? However, using a process of elimination, this question now becomes one a Year 11 student can even answer, they would be able to confirm A, B, and D as being true, concluding that B must be false. So, our year 11 student can answer this question even though they don’t have all the tools to understand the question. Use this to your advantage!

Tip 2 – Start off with a plan for longer responses

In wordy questions, start off with a plan. The beginning of your plan should be the premises you start with. These are generally a given based off the question. At the end should be your conclusion (where you’ve decided on how your answer will conclude). Your job is to populate the middle with what connects the two. This makes sure you have a cohesive, targeted answer to the question.

For example, let’s look at last year’s 2019 Physics paper, take Question 25 for example.
The question asking the student to connect the diagram of an electromagnetic wave with Maxwell’s Predictions was what most would describe as a simple question. In fact it was straight out of the syllabus!
However, in the marker’s comments, they relayed that they were receiving meandering and unclear answers that failed to establish a link between the premise and the conclusion.
Just take a look at that! That just so happens to be what the planning stage prompts you to supply!

So let’s see this in action:

PROMPT: what about the prompt? > How do you relate this to the conclusion?
MODEL: it has oscillating electric and magnetic fields. > Maxwell’s 2nd Law (Faraday) predicts this model > the model as V, which is perpendicular to both > Predicted to be C, giving a theoretical values for the speed of light.

Tip 3 – Spend time simply looking at marking criterias

The day before your exam, spend a bit of time simply looking at marking criterias. This will give you an idea of how to convert the different types of questions you get into bullet points you need to address – making sure you do not misunderstand a question.
There are a few “conventions” that teachers use when asking questions in exams. You have probably seen a few of these already through the NESA verb definitions (eg discuss means to give at least 2 advantages and two disadvantages – then reach a conclusion) but it is valuable to see it more concretely so you aren’t caught out in an exam.

For example, when looking at Question 23 in last year’s HSC 2019 paper, you were asked to plot the results of an experiment. While the question did not specify to plot the line of best fit, it was expected of students to do so as well as extrapolate that line to results they did not have. Should the marking criteria have been read prior to the exam the students would have instinctually known to do so. Hence it is so important to familarise yourself with marking criterias. There are also more insidious examples that show up – in mathematical questions especially, like how Significant Figures work when multiplying as opposed to adding. Make sure you read criterias carefully so you aren’t missing these!

Tip 4 – Never underestimate the power of a diagram!

Making graphs, tables, and models will not only help you understand a question better, but will make you great at conveying that information to a marker. For example, compare and contrast questions are almost always superbly answered using a table as opposed to a slab of text. Switching to this way of answering questions will have both your marks and your teachers thanking you!

When looking at an example, let’s take Question 25, a comment we saw in the marker’s comments is “In better responses, students were able to label or annotate the diagram provided to clarify their response.” Even though this was not asked for in the question, we see that markers will accept and even compliment this style of answering questions. So make sure that you do this in your responses!

Tip 5 – In the mathematical questions, always make sure to check your answer using unit analysis

This means that if your answer is in m/s, you must check that you divided some value of distance (which is where you got the m) over some value of time (which is where you got the t). This is a simple check that you can do to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

For example, a common mistake we see is:
When calculating energy use, students commonly get work confused with power, especially when working with circuits. In these questions, we see that P = VI while W = VIt. Checking units, we see that if you know the answer is in joules, then W = VIt is the clear choice, as V is measured in J/C, I is measured in C/s and t is measured in s. subbing into the formula, this gives us that J/C * C/s * t = J, which confirms this to be the correct formula!