angela in ohio Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) My dd is interested in Computer Science or Engineering. She would like to do Physics next year, and then do Chemistry after that, so that she can build on the Physics in her free time, use the information to do science fair projects in that area, etc. She is currently finishing Algebra II, will hopefullly do AOPS Algebra 3 (or 2 first, if necessary,) and will be taking Geometry/Trigonometry next year (VTI.) Is there any reason she couldn't do Physics first? I know I took it concurrently with Calc, but I can't remember if my Trig/Pre-Calc year helped with it any. She could even do another year of (harder) Physics her senior year, maybe even at the univeristy, if she had to, as she has three years of high school science left. If this would work out okay, is there a Physics course that is more accessible without Pre-Calc/Trig? TIA! Edited February 1, 2011 by angela in ohio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 There is no reason not to do physics before chemistry - you don't need chem for physics, rather vice versa. I actually prefer to start the science sequence with physics. Without precalc, but for a student with science interest, I would recommend an algebra/trig based course. (The trig involved can be learned in two hours - just need SOHCAHTOA, nothing more.) My 13 y/o is doing a course using Knight,Jones, Fields College Physics as a text, and is doing very well. After calc, she could take a calc based physics course her senior year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 There is no reason not to do physics before chemistry - you don't need chem for physics, rather vice versa. I actually prefer to start the science sequence with physics.Without precalc, but for a student with science interest, I would recommend an algebra/trig based course. (The trig involved can be learned in two hours - just need SOHCAHTOA, nothing more.) My 13 y/o is doing a course using Knight,Jones, Fields College Physics as a text, and is doing very well. After calc, she could take a calc based physics course her senior year. :iagree: You could also take a look at either Giancoli's or Kinetic Book's algebra & trig- based physics. I've known students who have used both successfully with similar backgrounds. I would have her study some triangle trig beforehand, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 You know it's a good day when you post a question and two of the people whose posts you read the most answer you first! :001_smile: I'm off to look up those books. We can do a summer trig boot camp; she's done a bit, actually. She says what she really wants is to do Physics for three years and just squeeze a year of Chem in somewhere because she has to. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 She says what she really wants is to do Physics for three years and just squeeze a year of Chem in somewhere because she has to. :D You know what, that's not as strange as it sounds - there is plenty of cool physics out there that is never taught in a typical high school sequence. Usually, it's all just mechanics and electromagnetism, with a little bit of modern physics and thermodynamics thrown in. You can definitely fill a second year with additional topics: spend two whole semesters on mechanics and e&m; then do thermo, relativity, atomic and particle physics, and solid state for another year. There is enough you could do with only algebra as your math background.... and then do one third year calc based mechanics/e&m. Chemistry is really only an application of physics - maybe that makes it more palatable for her:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyChelle Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Your plan sounds fine. There is no reason to do chemistry first. Chemistry only requires basic math and light algebra (generally speaking) and is more about memorization, while physics = math on steroids. The only thing that could hold her back is math. So as long as she keeps up on her math, you are good. The only danger is moving too quickly through physics and getting ahead of herself mathematically speaking. (Says the person who took Thermodynamics before completing Calculus II :willy_nilly:.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 She says what she really wants is to do Physics for three years and just squeeze a year of Chem in somewhere because she has to. :D Around here it's physics >> chemistry >> biology. She sounds like one of my own. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 There's no reason why she'd have to do chemistry first. Chemistry usually comes before physics because it requires less math ability. My middle dd is doing Giancoli's Physics this year with Kinetic Books Algebra II and will be doing chemistry next year. I was planning to use Prentice Hall Chemistry, but she looked through the book pretty thoroughly and said that the book was insultingly easy after Giancoli's, so I ordered several chemistry books through amazon that I'm going to look through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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