One of the worst styles of revising for O Level Physics is blindly memorising the concepts, formulas, or past questions and going into the exam to apply this knowledge. Examiners will more often than not change the questions slightly from existing questions, and a memorising approach will not do the student any favours as they will not be equipped to deal with novel situations.
The best approach to prepare for Physics exams is to break down the question into its many parts and know what each piece of the question represents. It is highly important for the student to know what is being asked of the student and which topics a question tests the student on. If the student knows which topic it involves, the student must analyse the question to see which formulas apply.
Another important aspect to look out for is the units, as different things in Physics have specific units. Mass is measured in kilograms (kg), while forces are measured in Newtons (N). Questions for Physics will often trick the student as the student could forget to convert their answer into the appropriate units at the end, they will lose marks. Students should check their answers multiple times to make sure that they do not rush through the process of presenting a proper final answer, as that can cost them unnecessarily.
Lastly, students should strive to make sure they understand the concept surrounding a formula. A formula will contain different elements which the student must plug in the figures for. However, the student should know what the elements of a certain formula are. For the work done formula, work done is obtained by multiplying force (f) by the distance (d). Students should not blindly memorise the formula, understanding that for every work which is done, like moving a box, it depends on the force which moves the box by a certain distance. The “work done” refers to when a force moves an object.
