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Politicians, academics and business types are very keen for students to study physics.
There’s no denying that Physics is ‘mathsy’ and if you can’t add two and two you might find it hard going. However, it’s not nearly as complicated as honours maths and it’s a hell of a lot more practical. If you like to solve problems or puzzles, if you like to build or create in artistic ways that require an understanding of electricity, motion, light or sound, if you’re drawn to cars, planes or speed or if you tend to wonder about the forces behind natural phenomena, you might love physics.
People with an artistic tendency often avoid physics because they see it as logical and artless. However, an artist may find his or her way into architecture, large scale sculpting, lighting design, automation or film – all of which require knowledge of the physical sciences. Leonardo Da Vinci was a physicist as well as an artist. He saw no distinction between the two disciplines - hence his ability to innovate.
Physics is the science concerned with the study of matter and natural forces. Owen Graham of St Killian’s in Clonskeagh recently studied Leaving Cert Physics and he found the experience rewarding. “Physics is one of the only Leaving Cert subjects that demands a lot of problem solving, rather than a lot of rote learning”, he says. “Unlike maths, where you are always dealing with abstract problems, physics is about using maths to solve real problems. You need to be comfortable with maths, but not a whiz. A lot of the more complicated mathematical processes are not required.”
According to Graham, the physics course has become more modern in recent years, and students find themselves dealing with physics problems that mat serve them in many walks of life from designing electric guitars to Formula One engineering.
The subjects covered in the Leaving Certificate Physics syllabus include mechanics, temperature, heat, light, sound and electricity. If you didn’t enjoy science at Junior Certificate level, maybe physics is not for you. Before you rule it out though, consider some of the careers that you may also be ruling out. Alison Hacket at the Institute of Physics in Ireland lists just a few of the jobs that require physics. “If you want to work as an environmentalist, a meteorologist, a medical researcher, a financial analyst, a space scientist, an oceanographer, a computer engineer or a radiologist, you’ll need physics,” says Hacket.
In case that list leaves you cold, here are some of the actual activities that these professionals are involved in; sourcing clean energy, predicting earthquakes, saving premature babies, restoring hearing loss, applying chaos theory to world markets, designing rockets, harnessing water energy, designing computer games or screening for fatal diseases.
If you love physics already, you won’t need much convincing. If you think you hate it, it might not be for you. However, give physics some thought and investigate for yourself. The following link will take you to a websites that explains Leaving Certificate Physics – maybe you’ll be inspired.
Our school website also has many of the mandatory experiments written up as well as notes and sample tests.