Physics: A Bridging Course

Physics: A Bridging Course is designed for students who are about to take Physics for the first time, need to refresh their knowledge after a break from study, or who have tried Physics and found it difficult.

The purpose of the course is not to cover the entire HSC Physics syllabus, but instead to provide a good general introduction to the subject so that students can understand the lecture and laboratory material from the beginning of the year. It is not about the coverage of content but rather the development of skills.

• To become familiar with problem solving techniques.
• To start to learn to think in the way a physics student needs to.
• To cover some basic content from mechanics and other preliminary topics in physics.

Enrol online or contact the University's Centre for Continuing Education
Phone: 02 9036 4769
Email:

Postal:
Centre for Continuing Education
Locked Bag 2020
Glebe NSW 2037

• Measurement and Units
• Motion along a straight line
• Vectors and Motion in 2 and 3 dimensions
• Force and Motion
• Work and Energy
• Conservation of Energy
• Systems of Particles
• Collisions
• Oscillations
• Electric Charge (time permitting)
• Currents and Electricity (time permitting)

The course comprises lectures and tutorials to consolidate the information presented. A typical day consists of a 1.5 hour lecture followed by a 2.5 hour tutorial in both the morning and the afternoon. There is a 1 hour lunch break during the middle of the day.

Lectures are interactive with the students participating in large classroom activities. The tutorials are group based with students examining what they have learnt by practising problems and exploring demonstrations more closely.

The Physics Bridging course overlaps with the Chemistry Bridging course. To ensure students can cover all the material, additional Physics sessions have been scheduled after the completion of the Chemistry course. There is no additional cost for these sessions, but attendance is strictly limited to those enrolled in both courses. If you will need to attend the additional sessions please register with Phil Dooley on (02) 9351 3201 or .

The next Physics Bridging Course will be held during February 2008. Full details will be available from early November at www.cce.usyd.edu.au/pretertiary or call 9036 4789.

Most of the material covered in the lectures and tutorial will be included in course notes and an exercise book, however a suitable text book may also prove useful. The text book may contain more detailed information not provided in the course notes.

PHYS1001 Regular, PHYS1003 Technological, PHYS1901 and PHYS1902 Advanced — University Physics (12th edition, with Modern Physics) by Young and Freedman.

PHYS1002 Fundamental and PHYS1004 Environmental — College Physics by Knight, Jones and Field. (Depending on your choice of units, the textbook you need may be different in first and second semesters. We will facilitate exchange of textbooks between students to ensure you only need buy one textbook for the year.)

Phil Dooley
ph: 02 9351 3201
email: