- #1
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Hi,
I wasn't too sure what forum to put this question in, so I apologize if it is in the wrong one.
I have been looking at the past exams for the USA physics olympiad ( https://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2016/exams.cfm ). I have been pretty good with the fnet=ma exams, but when it comes to the semi-final exam/USAPhO exam, I can barely answer a single question. I can figure some stuff out here and there, but for the most part I'm stuck the entire time. I am taking AP Physics C next year (although I do know some calculus-based physics), which will help with some of that, but from what I know about the curriculum in C, it doesn't begin to cover some of the quantum and relativity in there. So, my questions are:
1. At what stage in physics education is most of the material on those exams learned?
2. As someone who wants to be a theoretical physicist, by the time I graduate from high school, should I be able to answer those questions easily? And, on a related note, would any theoretical physicist be able to look at those problems and immediately know how to solve them?
3. How should I go about learning the materials on those exams?
I'd love to try and get on the US team (which I will try to do anyways, because it doesn't hurt to try), so any other tips would be appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance.
I wasn't too sure what forum to put this question in, so I apologize if it is in the wrong one.
I have been looking at the past exams for the USA physics olympiad ( https://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2016/exams.cfm ). I have been pretty good with the fnet=ma exams, but when it comes to the semi-final exam/USAPhO exam, I can barely answer a single question. I can figure some stuff out here and there, but for the most part I'm stuck the entire time. I am taking AP Physics C next year (although I do know some calculus-based physics), which will help with some of that, but from what I know about the curriculum in C, it doesn't begin to cover some of the quantum and relativity in there. So, my questions are:
1. At what stage in physics education is most of the material on those exams learned?
2. As someone who wants to be a theoretical physicist, by the time I graduate from high school, should I be able to answer those questions easily? And, on a related note, would any theoretical physicist be able to look at those problems and immediately know how to solve them?
3. How should I go about learning the materials on those exams?
I'd love to try and get on the US team (which I will try to do anyways, because it doesn't hurt to try), so any other tips would be appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance.